I’m doing a sermon series entitled SPIRITual at the Core – How God’s Spirit works in the human spirit. A couple of Sundays ago I said that when God’s Spirit fills us, we “make Jesus look good.” One of our parishioners wrote and asked me about my use of the phrase. It was a very good question and it was the catalyst for an interesting online dialogue.
Since the question is indeed pertinent, I’m including our unedited e-mail exchange for my blog readers. I’d be very interested in your thoughts, as well. Do you think we can “make Jesus look good?”
Good morning, Pastor Steve
I have been reflecting on Sunday’s sermon and wanted to thank you for what appeared like a return to our Pentecostal traditions.
However, you left me totally perplexed when you repeatedly told us to, “Make Jesus look good.” I have given it a great deal of thought and cannot see how sinners saved by grace have the power to make Jesus anything? For me to even consider that I have the ability to make him look good; seems arrogant and insulting towards our Savior.
How can I who depends on him for everything including my next breath, make him look good? I cannot. I can only try to live in such a way that I do not bring shame to his holy name. I can also, to the best of my ability, love him and obey his commandments. This seems a very different thing than trying to make him look good.
Steve, I need your help. When you say, “Make Jesus look good,” what exactly are you expecting me to do?
Blessings on your day…..pe
Hi Pat,
Thanks for the good question.
Language is complex – vernacular changes. The job of a communicator of the gospel is to do so in a manner that is as clear as possible and that touches the heart and brings understanding.
The phrase “making Jesus look good” is an attempt to get at the biblical mandate to glorify God. One might ask the same question you posed about making Jesus look good to the concept of glorifying God. How is it possible that a sinful human being can in any way increase or add to the glory of God? We can’t, of course. But at the same time, we are constantly called upon to behave in such a way that God may be glorified. We “add” to that glory by being obedient and faithful and courageous and thereby causing others to see Jesus working through us.
One of the scriptures I have in mind when I use that phrase is 1 Peter 4:10-11, in which we’re encouraged to faithfully administer the gifts of grace that God has given us in their multicolored forms in order that God may be praised. As the variegated light of Jesus shines through our gifts, God is glorified through Jesus Christ – or in short, Jesus looks good.
I believe that that spirit of that phrase is accurate, but certainly it can be misinterpreted. One of my profs in seminary pointed out to us that any one statement that we speak in a message, taken by itself, is heresy. Every truth needs balance. And certainly the truth that Jesus wants to shine through us in order that his Father might be glorified (look good before the seen and unseen world) is one that can be heresy if pushed too far. That’s why I tried to balance that statement in a broader context.
Perhaps the phrase came out too strongly because I used it as a centerpiece illustration in calling attention to the stained glass. I do think that the congregation understood the tenor of what I was trying to convey. But I never want them to stumble over my phraseology. I’ll definitely be aware of your perspective when, in the future, I continue to try to encourage our body to, in word and deed, bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.
Thanks again, Pat, for opening up the dialog. I appreciate it.
Blessings
Steve
Steve, thanks for your rapid response. Prior to writing you I asked Keith what he thought it was to make Jesus look good. He was having his own difficulties with the concept but later sent me a web link. http://picklinginhispresence.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/mma-jesus-ufc-jesus-ninja-jesus-trying-to-make-jesus-look-good/ It seems that attempts to make Jesus look good is the topic de jour in the theological arena. There is a video embedded in the middle of the page that you might find interesting if not disturbing in light of contemporary language and vernacular changes and the point of making Jesus look good is not made until near the end.
Anyway, making Jesus look good as a concept just doesn’t seem to work for me. I asked you about it because you mentioned it more than once and I thought that it was important to understand what you were intending to communicate. After all my thinking and your response, there is one thing of which I am sure. That being, Jesus continues to make me look good. I know this because I know that I am an absolute zero without him, everything and everyone that is good or I call good, in my life is a gift from him. As one lyricist wrote, “If it were not for the LORD, where would I be?” Yes, that is my question, where would I be? And as Paul said, I thank my God for Christ Jesus and I thank you too Steve.
Have a wonderful week…..pe
Hi Pat,
Thanks for the comments. I read through the article… interesting. Especially so, since both pastors being talked about are local.
That made me think, maybe I ought to google the phrase. Turns out a number of pastors are using the phrase “making Jesus look good” in sermons or in blogs.
I am in complete agreement with you that it is Jesus who makes me look good. In Pascal’s words, I am nothing but a reed – and yet he lets his glory shine through me. Amazing love!
In short, I’ll definitely be careful in using the phrase. But if I do use it, I won’t be implying that Jesus is insufficient in his image and it needs improvement. But I think what so often happens is that we, the church, make Jesus look bad through our sinfulness, our pettiness, our cowardice, our judgmental attitude. If it’s possible for the church through our actions to make Jesus look bad in the eyes of the world, then it’s also possible for us to make him look good in the eyes of the world – to glorify him before men.
Hey, do you mind if I use our dialog in my blog? It might be interesting and helpful for others to think about.
Blessings
Steve
Good morning, Pastor Steve,
Yes, by all means include others in our discussion. I greatly appreciate your thoughtful comments and would not like to be selfish about them:-).
Steve, you have answered my question more than adequately and I am ready to move on. If I may, however, I would like to make one final comment before removing my fingers from the keys. You wrote that we, the church, can make Jesus look bad. I have heard this before and have perhaps even said it myself, but now, I’m not sure that this is possible either. Jesus is, and we can neither add to or diminish him in anyway. However, we are talking appearance and I therefore find that I need to give this more thought. It’s not as easy as it first appears.
Blessings, my friend, you are important to Our Father and to us. See you at his house on the Sabbath…..pe
Steve Pecota - a Pastor in Seattle 
There have been and still are a few ‘charasmatic’ (movement) pastors in our area. It seems many of them blow up in a scandal of some sort. After the pastor is forced to leave, the church goes away. I guess I’m saying that church building shouldn’t focus on any man unless he’s the ‘Son of Man.’
Thanks for your comments, John. The focus is key, that’s for certain.
The gift of discernment vs. cynicism. That’s a sermon. Unfortunately, I know on which side I fall. I guess, the ministry of Rodney Howard Brown and his laughing ministry, put me on the side of cynicysm. What really put me on the wrong side is that Hank Hanegraaff, the purveyor of non-doctrinal teaching was involved in financial malfeasance. I remember coming in to Calvary in the 1980’s. I was told that tounges and interpretation would bring people in. I felt nothing but discomfort. I was told that to be a member of the church that speaking in tongues (baptism in the holy spirit) not the enfilling of the spirit was THE only sign. My son was involved in a bible camp where he was made extremely uncomfortable on this same issue. I guess grace will bring me home……
Steve, it’s great to find your blog.
While I’m not sure what you meant (not having heard your sermon), this is an interesting discussion. I think that the key is in the metaphor of the vessel.
We make God look good (or bad) in only one way: to the extent that we allow God’s nature to be seen in its pure light, we make him/Jesus (they are one) look good. Conversely, to the extent that we filter the light of God’s nature through our own, we distort or darken his light. Our great task as Christians is to allow God to be seen more purely through our lives. (My righteousness is as filthy rags, and always will be!)
That requires that we discipline (modern psych probably would say “sublimate,” but what’s that compared to the sublime?) our selfish natures to the godly nature to which Christ calls us. Whatever the world may say, is it really a loss if I learn to allow the Spirit to pour God’s grace through me, unalloyed by my selfish nature?
The more I can become a VESSEL through which the Spirit can express God’s grace (not my righteousness, wisdom, or brilliance), the more I can allow God’s glory to be seen. In this way, and I think in only that way, I can “make Jesus look good”: that God’s nature is seen through me, not mine.
By the way, I personally do not find this an easy thing to do.
Great to hear from you, Russ. I appreciate your emphasis on the vessel. Always amazes me that the variegation of the pure light through the imperfect vessel can be so beautiful.
And yes, this is no easy calling! In marriage perhaps the least easy of all.
Speaking of marriage, have you read Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage? It reads like the Marriage Encounter textbook that never got written. Quite compelling.
Steve,
I just ordered Keller’s book. I’ll let you know what I think after I’ve read it. Greetings to Karen.
My Karen, this morning, is on her way to SoCal for a course. She’ll be staying with Gables. It would be a lot of fun to get the three couples together sometime.
I agree that “making Jesus look good” is a good modern equivalent of the phrase “glorify God”. It also is what is implied in the phrase “bless God”, which includes the idea of causing God to be highly spoken of. The results of God at work in our lives should cause people around us to think highly of Him. As the Body of Christ, we are the tangible, visible representation of God in this world, all that most people will every see of Him. We all know people whose conduct, attitudes, reactions are an embarrassment to the Kingdom, repelling people from any desire to seek a relationship with Him. As Pat says, we can’t make Jesus any better, any greater than He is, but we can represent Him better.
Thanks for your comments, Andy. Thanks for the thought about “blessing God” being much the same thing. I know your prayer, like mine, is that our church (small c) will represent him well, just as we pray that the Church (big C) will do that all over the world.
Interesting topic! I think if you really want to get down to semantics, technically we can’t really make Jesus look good or bad. However, I think people do PERCEIVE that humans are making Jesus look good or bad. I have been saddened over the years to hear people make excuses for not going to church such as, “I was hurt by people at my last church so I don’t go anymore” or “People in the church are a bunch of hypocrites.” What people are really doing often times when they give such excuses, is rejecting Jesus because of the humanity of people. This really isn’t fair of course, because Jesus didn’t hurt them, people did.
When I hear people give excuses like that for rejecting Jesus, I try and explain to them that they really shouldn’t be looking to people to get to know who Jesus is. The best place to get to know Him is through His word, prayer, etc.
Having said the above, I do like your point, Pastor Steve, which I think is that we should all make it our goal to act Christlike, and in so doing, bring glory to His name. That is part of what being a Christ follower is about. Letting our character hopefully reflect Christ. Obviously none of us can do that perfectly. Therefore, people need to make their own decisions about who Christ is apart from watching flawed humans. However, if our lives do emit the “fragrance of Christ,” hopefully people will be drawn to Christ as they witness His love coming through us.
So, in closing, ultimately, we should try and “make Jesus look good” because people will sometimes judge who Jesus is based on our actions.
Always nice to hear from you, Janine. It is sad that people end up rejecting Jesus (or the church) because of the hurts that his people instill. But it is the reality. Isn’t it amazing that flawed humans can actually emit the fragrance of Christ? I love that!
Not trying to correct any previous comments. Just adding my perspective.
“make God look good”
I think the struggle is over the nuances of “make.” If you had said, “Art makes an artist look good,” we’d probably not be having this discussion. We know that the art is not the artist and the nuance is that something about the artist is revealed through the art. “Make God look good” is influenced by an overriding sense of contrast that doesn’t exist between art and artist. The contrast of sinful, evil humans making a holy, pure God look good seems assurd *only* with Jesus and the Gospel removed. The good news is that Jesus’ death and resurrection doesn’t just balance that absurdity even more it declares believers “holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Col. 1:22). A believer is free from guilt; free *not* to perform; free to be nobody and allow something about Jesus to be revealed through her. Jesus will always and only make God look good. In this way, dependant on the gospel of Jesus, believers “make God look good.” It has absolutely *nothing* to do with our behavior.
“make God look bad”
This I think is a different nuance of “make.” If it had been said, “Jon makes his dad look bad.” In this case “make” has a sense of “to reflect upon.” I think that’s the sense we’re using here now. Now we’re talking about behavior, character, attitude plus more. So the Church–that insipid stew of sinful believers in progress towards being more like Jesus–does reflect badly upon God. The fact that God doesn’t care that believers make him look bad is actually the good news! He loves the imperfect believer anyway and still declares her “holy, blameless, beyond reproach.” This isn’t a denial of the reality that believers commit sin but rather a state of relationship. I’m confident that my dad loves me even when I make him look bad. I don’t expect less from God. Is the Church going to get better (be less bad)? I hope not. Because God’s love wants more and more sinners to come to love him and start their own progress towards being like Jesus, if the Church doesn’t make God look bad then she’s not doing her job! That is *not* a hopeless statement.
so what are we “making?”
Above I’m really trying to emphasize freedom (not really trying to correct anything anyone has said). “Discipline” is another word with several nuances that can be confused: punishment, not breaking rules, etc. I prefer the nuance “practice.” No novice becomes an expert without practice. Practice means failures but has an overriding sense of progress towards perfection. Believers need practice (and teaching from others further along in progress) to become more like Jesus. They also need grace (internally and externally) as they progress. If the Church could overcome the perception that it’s “a bunch of judgmental perfectionists” to where she is preceived as a group of practitioners apprenticed to a master then perhaps how she “looks” and what she “makes” would change from being offensive to a sense of hope.
Hey Jon,
Good thoughts on how we use the term “make.” I sure do agree that the fact that God gives us the freedom to reflect poorly on him is actually one of the most significant aspects of the good news. It keeps me coming back to the refrain, “Amazing love, how can it be…”
Steve
What an interesting discussion! The phrase, “Make Jesus look good.” did not cause confusion for me. After reading the question posed by Pat and the response from the others. In the context of the sermon series and my own growth Christ, I know the only way I can reflect Jesus Christ to the world is through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Baptisim in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues at age 31, has given me the eternal glorious power surge to make it possible for me to walk in Christ. In that sense, Jesus is reflected through the Holy Spirit in me to the world. For the Holy Spirit to be reflected in my life, I must be obedient. This is done through Scripture reading, prayer, meditation, fellowship and accountability to other Christians … the list can continue.
Great question posed by Pat Elder. I appreciate Pat’s gift of digging deep and making me think. The responses were helpful and encouraging. Hope this abbreviated response from my own experience can help encourage others.
Thank you Pastor Steve for sharing.
Evie Marwood
Thanks for your thoughts, Evie. “Eternal glorious power surge…” I love your choice of words! Isn’t it amazing what God chooses to do in us?
Steve,
I think the following quote gives us a hint as to how Irenaeus might weigh-in on this very fascinating discussion:
“God did not make the first man because he needed company, but because he wanted someone to whom he could show his generosity and love. God did not tell us to follow him because he needed our help but because he knew that serving him would make us whole. Our work for God – our service – adds nothing to his power or his achievements. He does not need anything we can give him, not even our obedience. But that does not mean that our work and service for him is meaningless or without value. God has promised to those who serve and follow him life, immortality and eternal glory. These rewards are specifically for servants who actually serve, and followers who actually follow.”
Keith Elder
Great quote, Keith. Thanks for bringing in that perspective.