The Problem with “I love Jesus, but…”

You’ve seen the t-shirts. Maybe the coffee mugs. It’s supposed to be cute and funny.

“I love Jesus, but I _________ a little.”

The blank is most often filled with drink and cuss. Recently, I’ve heard the phrase when referring to premarital sex. I suppose the blank could be filled in with any number of activities the world considers acceptable.

I’ve been studying I Peter the last couple of weeks. The first part of chapter one (vs. 1-12) reminds the persecuted Christians of that time of the hope they have in Jesus Christ. We have that same hope. We have been given abundant mercy, an incorruptible inheritance, and a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter reassured them that their suffering would only be “for a season” and encouraged them to focus on the promise of Heaven. We, too, can be encouraged to focus on our eternal home in Heaven.

After this reminder, the chapter moves into some direction for how we are to live out are faith (vs. 13-21). You could call it “Faith in Action.” We are to gird up the loins of our minds (prepare our minds, be disciplined), be sober (temperate, righteous, godly), hope to the end (focus on the eternal), not fashioning ourselves according to the former lusts (we are new creatures – 2 Cor. 5:17), and be holy.

Webster’s 1828 defines holy in this way:  Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. Applied to the Supreme Being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character; and man is more or less holy, as his heart is more or less sanctified, or purified from evil dispositions. We call a man holy, when his heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God, and his life is regulated by the divine precepts. Hence, holy is used as nearly synonymous with good, pious, godly.

Notice that, according to this definition, that we can become more or less holy as our heart is more or less sanctified (set apart) or purified from evil.

When I’ve studied I Peter in the past, my focus has stopped here at verse sixteen: “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

How can I be holy? How can I be more sanctified? More purified from evil?

Only by clinging to The Word of God. Studying It. Meditating on It. Applying It to my life. Obeying It.

But the chapter doesn’t end there, and this is what spoke to me the most this week.

“And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” (vs. 17).

Specifically the phrase, “…pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” caught my attention. As Christians we are simply dwelling here on Earth for a time. Our home is in heaven. The hymn that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through…” comes to mind.

We are to live here “in fear” which means with reverence or godly fear. If we are saved, we need to act like it! We need to give God the reverence He deserves. He is a HOLY God who has given us access to Him by sacrificing His PERFECT Son. We need to live in a way that brings Him honor and glory, recognizing His position over us, and striving to conform to the image of Christ.

We need to stop trying to make God “like us” and project our standards on Him. That is what is wrong with the phrase, “I love Jesus, but…” There is no but. The statement should stop with, “I love Jesus.” When we put a but there, we are adding what we think is okay in God’s eyes. We are adding what we have excused as acceptable. We are adding our own personal standards.

God’s Word is the standard. It has not and will not change!

I know, I know. Some of you may think this is too harsh. It’s just a cute little phrase. It doesn’t hurt anything. Maybe you are even thinking, it’s just a little cussing, drinking, sex, or…(you fill in the blank).

We are called to be holy, to be set apart, to abstain from all appearance of evil. We are told to sojourn here in fear, giving God the reverence and respect He deserves. We have been given a relationship with The HOLY God through the sacrifice of His PERFECT Son. If we truly understand the weight of that sacrifice, we would realize there is no room for a but…