It’s the 1st century in the middle-east–Jesus preaches a message so unbelievably counter-culture that people have no idea what to make of Him. Some think He’s a poor Jew that doubles as the savior of the world, and others think He’s more demon-possessed than Emily Rose; some think He’s a reincarnated prophet from centuries past, and others think He’s the town drunk (I mean if you saw Him today tagged on facebook holding a glass of wine, you might think so too). Wherever He takes and lives His message, controversy ensues. On one occasion the people try to crown Him a king, and on another occasion the air rings with, “Crucify the man!”

And today, even we see that message’s power. Who isn’t most divided in their soul in spirit by the words of Jesus, over-and-above all other passages of Scripture? Nothing cuts deeper to the intentions of our heart and judges where we stand more than when we find ourselves in the wake of His words.

So where has the power of Jesus’ ministry gone in our churches? Or is it gone? Are we still experiencing the radical life that Jesus preached, the one that caused such varied reactions?

Today we seem to “contextualize” the radical teachings of Jesus into something much more palatable for our suburban tastes. For example: ”Would you like to commit yourself to service? How ’bout you join our greeting team and say ‘hello’ to people for an hour as they enter a service. Don’t break your back and get burnt-out with that one! Would you like to give? Be a ‘cheerful giver,’ give 10% of your salary to our multi-million dollar building fund. It’s easy to stay cheerful when you keep 90% for yourself! Would you like to change our culture? Participate in a rally that condemns the behaviors of other beliefs. Nevermind the fact that Jesus condemned the religious! Would you like to step out in faith? Invite your friend to listen to a service. Besides, we’re having ice-cream afterwards! Would you like to be missional? Buy the coffees next time you go out with your coworkers who make upwards of $100,000 a year. That’ll make the message come alive–meet some physical needs for people who have no physical needs!” And the list goes on.

The truth is we’re drowning in the watered-down and diluted teachings we proclaim and attribute to Jesus. Now we’re just a bunch of religious people who do a few socially awkward things (and a few socially offensive things) without any true Biblical purpose behind them.

Well, we’re told that we’re working with a bit of a gap in terms of history. You can’t simply take Jesus’ words and directly translate them to your life, can you? That’s poor interpretation of Scripture. You need the Pope, or at least a pastor (who graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in business), to explain how His teachings translate to our lives today. I mean, Jesus uses all kinds of techniques in His teaching like rabbinic hyperbole, and parables to get His point across. And He lived in 1st century Palestine, and we live in 21st century America. There’s a real disconnect there, right?

Well to the early disciples there didn’t seem to be any kind of disconnect. Granted, they were in a similar historical context, but they were the ones who would understand more than anyone if Jesus was exaggerating His message. But they didn’t seem to think Jesus was stretching the truth when they gave up their property and pooled their resources to care for the needy, and when they put aside their intellectual differences and had “everything in common,” and when they participated in long prayer meetings and fasting, and when they got murdered, and when they got imprisoned. They seemed to take Jesus’ sayings quite literally if you ask me.

But if we’re not taking them literally, then what are we doing? Well in our free-time we like to solidify our suburban subculture of Christianity by purposely segragating ourselves. We put stickers on our cars that let others know we are “not of this world.” As if it weren’t obvious enough already when we intentionally study the Scriptures and pray at the most socially-trafficked area–the local Starbucks. And others of us? Well, we don’t want to be associated with the modern Christian subculture, so we do nothing at all.

Jesus and the early Christians weren’t “of this world” either, but they didn’t have to go out of their way to prove it. They just lived it. And they didn’t shrink back from socially-unpopular association. The culture of their day thought the Lord’s Supper was a cannibalistic event, and that their congregational meetings were sexual orgies. They were being called cannibalistic nymphomaniacs, and we’re worried about being called hypocrites. When we are.

So, in view of the entire universe that is the internet, I ask again, what was the radical life that made Jesus hated in the 1st century? Giving up one’s possessions; caring for the poor, I repeat, actually caring for the poor; altogether giving up the pursuit of material gain; relinquishing the sexual passions of the flesh; being ambassadors of reconciliation with an infinite supply of forgiveness; being concerned with the well-being of your fellow man as if he were your very own self; truly standing for a miraculous event like the rising of Jesus from the dead, not as if you invented the idea, not for the purpose of proving others wrong, but as if you believe it actually happened.

Those things still seem awfully radical today.

Maybe it’s time we quit contextualizing a radical faith that doesn’t need to be contextualized. It’s not too difficult to see that giving up possessions in the 1st century equates to giving up possessions in the 21st–and the same for every other command as well.

Jesus promised His followers would be hated if they actually followed Him. Jesus was hated by His culture to the point of death, and so were His early followers. And Jesus promises the same things for us, and says we will be rewarded for being hated. We are, by-and-large, hated by our culture today. But we foolishly impose this hatred upon ourselves in a different way than early Christians. We are hated for simple reasons–lacking tact, and being needlessly offensive and overbearing. We are hated because we contextualize Jesus’ teachings into a comfortable lifestyle, that just ends up some kind of faux-religious weirdness. And we are hated because we impose new messages of condemnation within those that Jesus spoke, messages of condemnation for those who are far from God.

What if we were hated, not because we are trying so hard to be different, but because we are different. What if we were hated, not because we participate in foolish and unbiblical theatrics, but because we look like Jesus.

What if churches gave up multi-million dollar building projects? What if people sold their property and pooled their resources to make sure greater needs are met? What if churches laid aside non-essentials for the sake of unity? What if people found the poor outside the walls of their suburban context and began to serve them? What if we didn’t love money, sex, and leisure so much? Maybe then culture would hate us, not because we make ourselves look foolish, awkward or obstinate, but because we live convicting and radical lives in the same vein as Jesus–lives that illuminate the emptiness of their own.