The Outside Jesus

When we compare the 1st century lifestyle and mission of Jesus with the 21st century lifestyle and mission of church culture, one thing becomes clear: We have a penchant for the inside Jesus.

There are two aspects of Jesus’ life and mission: His inside ministry and his outside ministry. His inside ministry was focused on his life with the disciples, those close to him, and his work within the religious structures of his day—inside the synagogue and the Temple. His outside ministry was comprised of his connection with the everyday people, often those on the margins, those forbidden entry into the righteous circles, the heavy drinkers, the sexually immoral and the tax collectors. Most of this facet of Jesus’ life was also literally outside, in the marketplaces, on the hillsides, by pools, in porticos and at parties.

Reading through the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life it’s evident that the outside ministry of Jesus takes precedent. When we collate the outside versus the inside Jesus, the outside wins in every Gospel. And for good reason. In Jesus’ own words his mission was not to come for the inside, but for the out, “I have come, not for the healthy, but for the sick.”

Even when Jesus was ministering to those on the inside, he often chose to do it in the context of the outside world. When he wanted to teach his disciples more about the mission, he took them fishing; when he wanted to unpack the presence of the kingdom, he went into villages where the sick lay waiting for a miracle; when he wanted to teach them about faith, he showed them a foreigner who had powerful faith; and when he wanted to teach them about the pull of money, he showed them someone who wasn’t willing to give it up.

When challenging others to follow him, Jesus’ message wasn’t to persuade them with the comforts of life on the inside, either, but with uncomfortable prophesies like, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20, TNIV). When Jesus called others to become disciples it was always in the context of the outside mission. Jesus never said, “Come follow so that we can stay in the synagogue together,” or, “Come follow me and we’ll barricade ourselves from the darkness of the world.”

In fact, one gets the feeling that Jesus almost had an aversion to the synagogue the way he was in and out so quickly.