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Judah Smith: The Good Cop, Bad Cop Gospel

It’s not good news just for people who are already good, for those who are self-controlled and disciplined enough to have all their ducks in a row. It’s good news for the people who can’t even find their ducks. They haven’t seen some of their ducks in years. Their lives are a mess. But they can come to Jesus and find instant acceptance. They belong long before they believe and long before they behave.

“Man, I don’t belong here.”

“Sure you do.”

“No, look, everyone’s dressed up all nice.”

“That’s just how they feel comfortable. They won’t care how you dress. They won’t even notice.”

“I need to go out for a smoke.”

“No problem, I’ll save your seat.”

“Can my partner and I come to your church? Do we belong?”

“Of course! Sit up here with me. You’re among friends.”

For some of us, there’s a little voice inside asking, So, when are you going to lead your friend to Jesus? He needs to get saved!

Here’s a tip. Jesus is really good at saving people. I’m not. So I’m going to let him do that, if you don’t mind. I’m going to just make sure my friend knows he belongs.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we should never tell people about Jesus. Actually, I’m convinced that when we grasp the goodness of God, when we are full of the joy of his salvation, we won’t be able to keep our mouths shut. We will tell them about Jesus because he has changed our lives. We will tell them about Jesus out of genuine love and compassion, because we know that without Jesus we would be in the same boat, and we want them to experience the happiness we have found.

That is way more appealing to people than force-feeding them salvation because we feel guilty about their eternal destinies.

Sometimes our approach reminds me of that profound, cinematic masterpiece Nacho Libre.

NACHO: “I’m a little concerned right now about your salvation and stuff. How come you have not been baptized?”

ESQUELETO: “Because I never got around to it, okay? I don’t know why you always have to be judging me because I only believe in science.”

And we sneak up behind them and dunk their heads in a bowl, and we feel better about ourselves. We did our religious duty. But they haven’t changed. They haven’t met Jesus. They haven’t met joy. 

Discover more about Judah’s book Jesus Is ___: Find a New Way to Be Human at www.JesusIsBook.com.  

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judahsmith@churchleaders.com'
Judah Smith and his wife, Chelsea, are the lead pastors of The City Church in Seattle, Washington. They were youth ministry pastors for ten years—ranked as one of the top five “most dynamic” youth groups in the country by Ministry Today—before stepping into their new role in 2009. Outreach has recognized City Church as being one of the fastest growing churches in the country. It has four satellite locations orbiting the Seattle, WA metropolitan area. Judah is in high demand as speaker, both in the U.S. and abroad, is the author of several books including Jesus Is ___., and is a popular voice on Twitter (@judahsmith). Judah and Chelsea have three children: Zion, Eliott, and Grace.