Jesus is Just Alright?
What do you think about when you think about Jesus?
In the 1970’s the song, “Jesus is Just Alright,” was made famous by the Doobie Brothers. What’s interesting is that the Doobie Brothers weren’t a Christian band. In fact, they didn’t even write this song.
It was written by Arthur Reid Reynolds and was originally recorded by the gospel group The Art Reynolds Singers in 1966.
It just so happened that when they were recording this song in the studio, Gene Parsons, who was the drummer for a Rock n Roll band called The Byrds, was listening. He loved the song and introduced it to his band. They recorded the song and released it, which is where the Doobie Brothers heard the song! Their version of the song became the most popular version and rose to #35 on the charts! That is, until it was recorded in the 90’s by DC Talk.
The lyrics to this popular song from the 70’s say that Jesus is Just Alright, which was a way of saying that Jesus is “cool,” he’s “ok” with me. This idea that no matter what other people think or say, I’m ok with Jesus.
What’s interesting is that when the Doobie Brothers played this song in the 70s, Christians, who were known as “One Wayers” during that time and were a part of the Jesus Movement of that decade, would come to the front of the stage. They would throw scriptures on stage and raise their hands.
In the middle of this rock concert these Jesus followers were having a worship moment!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV199jt1VmM[/embedyt]Is Jesus Just Alright or is He Lord?
Fast forward 40 or 50 years, we’re now living in a world where I’m not sure if Jesus is still alright with us or not.
There are still those of us who claim to follow Jesus but truth be told, we spend very little time with him. There are those who do our best to make it to church on Sunday, but we’re more interested in our preferences than we are in growing as disciples of Jesus.
We’re quick to list the ways in which Jesus is alright with us… after all, we’re not guilty of that sin, we’re not a bad person. And we do a lot of good, we give to the church, we participate when we can.
The problem is obvious though, isn’t it?
Jesus isn’t looking for people who are just alright with him.
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this to a group of people who had gathered to hear him teach.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ – Matthew 7.21-23
If you ask me, those are pretty strong words from Jesus.
They may be the words we need to hear today to move us from being people who are just alright with Jesus to people who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here’s the good news, when you decide to follow Jesus, to be more than just alright with Jesus to actually following him, one day you’ll hear Jesus say these words:
“Well done my good and faithful servant. Well done.”
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