Articles
Why nobody can be neutral about Jesus
In Matthew 12:30 Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” Some think this is the most exclusivist statement Jesus ever made. And it is … according our culture’s post-modern, pluralistic, overly tolerant mindset. According to Jesus, however, it’s the bitter truth.
We cannot straddle the fence when it comes to Jesus. We are either on His side or on the Enemy’s side. There is no third option.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matt. 6:24). Just as we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve no master. By default we are either serving one or the other.
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes the following argument that neutrality about Jesus is impossible:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say.
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse.
“You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
Five countries of the European Union describe themselves as neutral or non-combatant: Austria, Ireland, Finland, Malta and Sweden; but they were to come under attack, they would be forced to change their position.
People who want to be neutral about Jesus are like the Kentucky man who tried to be neutral during the Civil War. Since he didn’t want to be identified with either the Yankees or the Rebels, he wore grey pants and a dark blue shirt. As a result, he got shot at from both sides! There is no middle-ground when it comes to Jesus.
