The Lie That Christianity is for “Good” People

What "More Like Jesus" Means | Mark 2:18

Mark 2:18 When I was a teenager, I’d walk the hospital wards with my dad. He was a chaplain at the VA hospital in Temple, Texas, and sometimes I’d go with him on rounds. Old men and women in white gowns, smoking bottom-end generic cigarettes with that stale smell, sitting around lobbies of white walls and fluorescent lights. At first it was kind of creepy. Over time, it became tragic. This may sound dumb, but to my teenage self, I realized something important: all of them were people. Most were quite lonely. And yet, in that place—surrounded by brokenness and addiction and loneliness—I saw something real. I saw my dad sit with them. Listen to them. Pray with them. I saw a few of them respond to his presence, like coming out of a fog. Contrast that with my church. Get full access to More Like Jesus by Len Wilson at lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe [https://lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Problem With Adding Jesus | Mark 2:18-22

Mark 2:18-22 It is now the third time they have confronted Jesus, and their pestering seems increasingly less like curiosity and more like accusation. Their question has an edge: John’s disciples fast, they say. Our disciples fast. Why don’t yours? The Pharisees are asking a question about rules, which reminds me of my first car. Get full access to More Like Jesus by Len Wilson at lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe [https://lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Lie That Jesus Is Just Another Option

The tension of living within the rules while also pushing boundaries defined my younger years. I grew up thinking of Christianity as a moral framework. But I also loved rock and roll. I drove too fast. I pushed against the edges. The moral code felt restrictive. For years, I thought the problem was me. If I could just be good enough, if I could just follow the rules better, then I’d experience the abundant life Jesus talked about. But a part of me wondered: What if being good isn’t the point of life? Get full access to More Like Jesus by Len Wilson at lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe [https://lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

I Thought I Was One of the Good Ones | Mark 2:17

When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus responded with a now-famous line: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” At first glance, this seems straightforward: sick people need doctors, healthy people don’t. Jesus came for the broken, not the put-together. But there’s something sharper happening here. Something ironic. Jesus isn’t saying the Pharisees are healthy. He’s saying they think they’re healthy, and their delusion is precisely their sickness. Get full access to More Like Jesus by Len Wilson at lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe [https://lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Deplorables | Mark 2:15-16

Levi has just left his tax booth to follow Jesus. But before he disappears into his new life, he throws a dinner party. Outside, watching through the windows, the Pharisees are scandalized. “Why does he eat with them?” When I was younger, I often heard this story preached a certain way, which was essentially: “Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners, so we should hang out with them too.” The message sounded compassionate. But something about it always bothered me. It felt smug. The problem with that interpretation is that it puts us on the wrong side of the table. Get full access to More Like Jesus by Len Wilson at lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe [https://lenwilson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]