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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – My existence depends on having a certain level of popularity. The audience size for this broadcast is measured. The number of clicks for each blog or podcast is known. If those numbers are low or are declining, I wouldn’t be here.
What I have to keep reminding myself is that popularity is never cemented in place.
Look at what happened to Jesus Christ in a single week. On Palm Sunday, Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem. Palm branches and people’s cloaks are laid down on the road before him. Jews are celebrating the arrival of their Messiah into the holy city.
We are told during Christ’s entry to the Holy City that “Jesus wept”. He realized that his arrival was not what the thundering crowd was expecting. The conventional wisdom was that the Son of God would be a mighty military leader who would throw off Roman oppression and usher in a period of economic prosperity. He was not about finances. He was about our souls.
Those same crowds would be yelling, “crusify him” just five days later in Pilate’s court.
Jesus didn’t give the people what they wanted, and they turned on him.
There is a lesson about this for Lent. Jesus, all-powerful God himself on earth, would have waved the Roman legions away with his fingers. He could have willed a successful harvest and a profitable life for all the Jews in Palestine.
He didn’t. His purpose was to establish God’s kingdom on earth; not to deliver a financial bill-of-goods. When He wouldn’t debase himself into a general or a banker, the crowds had no use for him.
As I sit behind this microphone, I might be more popular if I didn’t talk at all about politics or religion. People disagree about the issues of the day. Some people who have views different than my own hate me. We should all follow Jesus’ example. Say what you think is right. Stand resolutely for those things. People who stand only for popularity will twist and turn in the winds of others’ opinions. When the winds change, they will be blown away.
Thank you for taking a few moments to consider being a monthly donor for the Gospel TLC, a live-in facility for up to 16 men who would otherwise be homeless who are trying to leave addiction behind. If you’d like to give, you can make a cash donation by following this link.
The Gospel TLC also needs daily food and household items; things like milk, juice, and meats, and household items like dryer sheets, paper towels, and ziplock bags. They can be dropped off at their building near the hospital in Weston on Crosse Point Boulevard.
Chris Conley
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