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Coloring Outside The Lines

Read: John 8:47-59

During Jesus earthy ministry He maintained a continuous dialog between Himself and a group of religious opponents. In John 8:47-59 we see where this continual conversation goes from being heated to explosive. Jesus tells them that they say that they know God but they do not. He goes on to make the further claim that He does. If we were to look at this in the original Greek text what He was basically saying was that He was a part of God’s household but they were not.

Then He continued to pour gas on the fire by telling them that Abraham had rejoiced at seeing Him come into the world. This could only happen one way-if He existed before Abraham. In claiming to have existed before Abraham, He was saying that He was God. To the unbelieving mind this meant only one thing-BLASPHEMY. All these years they had been waiting for this very thing to happen. They had painted a picture in their minds of how it would transpire. BUT, Jesus did not fit the picture and He insisted on coloring outside the lines.

Not only did He ruin their pretty picture but He had finally blown their minds. They felt He had committed a sin worthy of death. Their verbally thrown pebbles become physical stones aimed at killing Him. However, because His earthly mission was not yet completed He hid and then went out of the temple. He left the temple but His claim did not leave His opponent’s minds. To them He is just a devilish man continuing to color outside the lines. When I taught in the public schools we did projects that were called “parent pleasers.”

Those were the beautiful gifts that the children took home on special occasions. Many parents would comment that they planned to keep them as mementos. Doing those projects was stressful because everything had to be placed just right. They brought the parents joy but were not much fun for the children. What I enjoyed most were the times that the children were provided with various craft materials and could create whatever they wanted. I always took time to ask them about their pictures and their answers were amazing.

Yet, I watched again and again when parents picked up their children, the looks on their faces, when their little ones would with pride show them their beautiful artwork. They would dismiss it, ignore it, and sometimes even belittle them. The most common annoyance was their failure to color inside the lines. In our faith walk we experience this same thing. Everyone likes it when people go with the flow. Think inside the box and everything is fine. Paint a pretty picture, share an insightful speech and everyone is happy.

Problems begin when wrong thought processes are revealed or new truths are embraced. When that occurs sometimes it requires going against the flow or raising a new standard which means coloring outside the lines. Had our forefathers NOT been willing to do this, then Christendom would be extinct. With boldness and full trust in God they colored outside the lines on a regular basis.

This is how the Gospel message has been spread down through the generations. People brave enough to color outside the lines have proclaimed the message of freedom in Christ that this world needs to hear. They did not make everyone happy but they painted for all the true picture of what it means to joyfully spread the Good News. Each one of us knows someone who is in need of Jesus.

We see them on a daily basis as we go about our lives. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit to witness, but most of all we need to be willing to go against the flow and color outside the lines. People may throw some verbal stones but, with the God of all truth on our side, we will always escape unharmed having carried out our Father’s will. There is a big world out there waiting for us to reach them. They will not look, talk, or smell the way we’ve pictured potential believers, but they are waiting for us to cross that line.
Be “creative” in sharing the Gospel. Stick to the truth, of course, but don’t feel that you have to follow a method or formula. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and above all else follow the example of the greatest minister of all times, Jesus, and color outside the lines!