The Seven Bad Habits of Jesus

THE SEVEN BAD HABITS OF JESUS

1-Jesus was in the habit of attending Sabbath/Synagogue (meeting place) services.

His parents took him until he would go on his own.

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was his custom, (habit)

He entered the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.” (Luke 4:16)

All of us who confess to be His followers and rarely or never assemble with other Christians for worship and teaching do well to note. Either Jesus’ example is skewed or we are missing something. If you promise not to tell, I think it might be me with the bad habit.

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Yes, that may be in the bible, but Jesus never met the people down at my church, or He wouldn’t ask me to be seen with them. It’s not so  popular to be seen in a church anymore.

2-Quoting the scriptures and changing them to suit himself

Jesus consistently used the scriptures to teach others and He unashamedly re-defined life-matters such as giving, sabbath, praying, fasting, forgiveness, use of wealth, trust, anxiety, marriage, divorce, and the list goes on. Jesus had the nerve to forgive and heal on the Sabbath for example. He accused the religious leaders of malpractice. He called them the “blind leading the blind”–“children of the devil.” Jesus’ claim to be God and Messiah was the height of heresy and He ultimately died for repeatedly insisting on this. Jesus believed and taught that Adam, Eve, Heaven, Hell, Noah, Jonah, Sodom and Sin and Satan were literal and real.

3-Humbling Himself

He made all sorts of nonsensical statements like, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

Two of His apostles were arguing about which was the greatest. He said to them, “Who do people think is the greatest, a person who is served or one who serves? Isn’t it the one who is served? But I have been with you as a servant.” (Luke 22:27)

I say, how can we possible get ahead in this world by following such a servant example as this? What’s to stop people from taking advantage of us?

4-Asking all the wrong questions

The Gospel writers record nearly 200 questions asked by Jesus. Most of them got him in trouble because they placed undue pressure on His accusers to answer Him to their own satisfaction. Everyone knows that compliance, not confrontation is proper for hope in our enlightened and progressive world. Matthew 16:15 reveals a confused Jesus who relied upon others for His own identity.

“When Jesus and His disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, He asked them, “What do people say about the Son of Man?” the disciples answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

 Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Today, we all know that no tolerant religion on the planet would agree with Simon Peter. The only answer to such a question as was posed to Peter is that Jesus was a nice guy, maybe a prophet, (a bit on the crazy side for thinking himself to be God) and that we perhaps could try to like him from a distance. We might also say a few good words about him as our conscience or religion will allow.

5-Loving the unlovely

Jesus never made it very far in life because he refused to live for money, fame and power. He insisted on associating with the poor and downtrodden. He never realized that these kinds of people would only drag him down and take from Him without giving in return.

He even confessed, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. But the Son of Man doesn’t have a place to call His own.” (Matthew 8:20)

This caused him to reveal further character defect. “When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when His people rise from death.” (Luke 14:12-14)

This Jesus would even topple the tables of today’s “prosperity gospel” preachers. Shame!

6-Requiring love and forgiveness as a litmus test

Don’t you just hate it when someone says “IF” or “BUT”? Jesus had a bad habit of doing this. For example, He makes my love for Him and my forgiveness of others to be proven in the form of obedience. He said to His disciples, “If you love me, you will do as I command.” (John 14:15)

John later wrote, “If we love and obey God, we know that we will love His children. We show our love for God by obeying His commandments, and they are not hard to follow.” (I John 5:2-3)

Need further proof of His distorted way of living?

“This is what I say to all who will listen to me: Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you.” “Don’t judge others and God won’t judge you. Don’t be hard on others and God won’t be hard on you. Forgive others and God will forgive you.” (Luke 6:27, 28, 37) Yea, right.

7-Speaking in parables and making us think too hard

We see Jesus’ divisive nature in His stories. He separates the truth-seekers from the rabble-rousers and users. Once again, he quotes the bible to tell us what our resistant hearts prefer not to hear. He makes me look into my own mirror and I hate that.

“These people will listen and listen, but never understand. They will look and look, but never see. All of them have stubborn minds! Their ears are stopped up, and their eyes are covered. They cannot see, or hear or understand. If they could, they would turn to me, and I would heal them.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

 

My big question: Why couldn’t He just have said,

“Everybody—listen to me. Ya’ll try real hard to be good people, go to church a couple of times a year, throw a few pennies in the offering plate, help others as you can, forgive others when they deserve it and get back with me on all the rest. See you in heaven. Jesus.”

? I suppose he had too many bad habits to break for such simplicity.