Leonard Sweet explores how revolutionary Jesus Christâs public ministry was in his outstanding book The Bad Habits Of Jesus. Check out my book review by clicking here, and then enjoy some of these quotes I especially liked.
âAs the church we can be Jesus to the world, but only if we are not afraid of the spit in the dirt. To lose our earthiness is to lose our humility, which, in the end, is to lose our humanity.â
âItâs easier to donate money than to put our hand in the hand of a man or a woman who looks dirty, down, and drowned with mud. Yet the church of Jesus is not meant to be a hideaway but a hostel for all of Godâs dirtiest who need restoration and healing.â
âJesus didnât procrastinate due to slackness or indecision or perfectionism or fear of moving forward. Jesus delayed doing what He wanted or needed to do because the timing wasnât right, because He was telling time by His Fatherâs clock and making the most of the time His Father had given Him.â
âSometimes delay is the best strategy for dealing with a problem, especially problems that have not been prayed over enough in the heart or played about enough in the mind.â
âWe especially need to learn to wait on Jesus, which has both a Martha and a Mary meaning. There is the âwaiterâ meaning of âwaiting on Jesus,â which means serving Him by serving others. To put the interests of others before our own is not to be weak but to be strong enough to transcend selfishness. Thatâs why love is only for the strong, not for the weak. Only the strong can love. ⊠Then there is the âawaitâ meaning of âwaiting on Jesus,â which means patiently waiting without hating or wearing out the carpets with our pacing and fretting, sitting at His feet upon His arrival, leaning into His presence, and learning to put on the mind of Christ.âÂ
âWe all need the pendulum swing of snatching spaces of solitude and setting tables of sociability. In fact, the more plugged in and connected we are, the more we need to unplug and disconnect. A world of presence needs a time of absence.â
âSometimes the Prince of Peace was a disturber of the peace so that He could be Godâs purveyor of true peace.â
âWhen political correctness takes over in the church, itâs no longer about Jesus. ⊠The Gospel becomes not Godâs Good News but our own good intentions. ⊠Jesusâ bad habit of not being afraid to offend so offends our PC sense of rectitude that He would be liable to be arrested for indecency.â
âWhen people today work for the church instead of working for God, love a denomination more than they love God, cherish their traditions more than they cherish their relationship with God, then they steal what is due only God.â
I will be sharing more quotes from this book soon. If you would like to be notified as soon as these quotes are posted, simply enter your email address in the box in the right column and click âSign me up!â You can also follow me on Twitter and Tumblr where I share inspiring and thoughtful quotes ever day.