Real Jesus - Part 1: Jesus Is My Homeboy

The following is from The Crossroads Community Church message series "Real Jesus" by Pastor Shawn Kemp.

Good morning! Hey, today we are starting a new series called “Real Jesus.” We are entering into the Christmas season, and we are preparing for Christmas, and Jesus is what Christmas is all about. I mean, it’s a celebration of his birth. So, I thought, what better way to spend the month of December than focusing on Jesus.

And the way we are going to do that is we are going to be looking at some different images, different ideas of Jesus that are out there and seeing what is the truth behind them? Jesus once questioned his disciples about some of the ideas people had about him:

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” Matthew 16:13-15 (NIV)

Who do you say that I am? Our view of Jesus has a huge impact on the way we live our lives. How many of you have seen the movie Talladega Nights? Yeah, some of you are embarassed to admit it. Talladega Nights tells the story of Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR racer. And, there's this one seen where Ricky Bobby is sitting at the table with his family and best friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. And Ricky Bobby says the prayer, and he says, "Dear little baby Jesus in manger..." And he continues to address Jesus throughout the prayer as "Dear 8lb 6oz baby Jesus ... Dear tiny God ... use your little baby Jesus powers." Well, at one point in the prayer, his wife gets frustrated and says, "Ricky, I don't know why you keep referring to Jesus as a baby. He was a grown man, you know. He had a beard, for crying out loud." To which Ricky Bobby responds, "I like the baby Jesus best. When you say the prayer you can pray to teenage Jesus or grown up Jesus or whichever Jesus you like best." To which Ricky's friend Cal says, "I like to think of Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt. It's like he's formal but here for the party." Then Ricky's son Walker (his brother's name is Texas Ranger) says, "I like to think of Jesus as a ninja, battling evil samurai." Then, Cal says, "I like to think of Jesus with these giant golden eagles' wings and singing lead for Lynard Skynard surrounded by an angel band."

There are a lot of people who have a lot of different ideas about who Jesus is and what he is like. There are a lot of people who have some understanding of Jesus and maybe they even like Jesus, but do they have a proper understanding of who Jesus really is? What tends to happen is that we fashion Jesus in our own image. We make Jesus out to be the kind of Jesus that we would like for him to be. “I like to think of Jesus as a ninja.” Or, on the other hand, sometimes our view of Jesus is fashioned by the hangups and hurts and failures in our lives. Some people see Jesus as the culmination of everything that is wrong in their lives.

The point, however, is that often our images of Jesus fall far short of the real Jesus. What we wind up with is a plastic Jesus, a bobble-head Jesus who is a shallow imitation of the real deal. Listen, I’m guilty. I have this image of Jesus in my head and what I think he was like. But there are times that I am reading the Bible and I have to take a step back and reevaluate because the Jesus I find in the Bible doesn’t match the Jesus I have in my head. He’s saying something or doing something that I can’t grasp.

The real Jesus is so much better than the imitations, so much better than the plastic bobble-head Jesus. So, how do we get at the real Jesus? It’s by going back to the Bible. We constantly have to take our images of Jesus back to the real Jesus we find in the Bible and see if our images of Jesus really match up.

The Jesus in the Bible is the incredible, awesome, amazing, awe-inspiring Son of God who is worthy of worship. The Jesus in the Bible laughed and made jokes and had fun with his disciples and poked fun at people who took themselves too seriously. The Jesus in the Bible cried and hurt for people who were sorrowing and felt compassion for others. He got angry, overturning tables, using a whip, pronouncing judgment on cities that rejected him and people who turned away from him. He was often confusing and difficult to understand and hard to follow. He said things that upset the wrong people and he said things that upset the people who were closest to him. He was at the same time more and less than what people expected. He was full of paradoxes. He was God and man. He was lion and lamb. He was altogether lovely and he had nothing in his appearance that would draw us to him.

That’s the Jesus that we are going to be trying to discover as we look at some of the other ideas about Jesus that are popular out there. So, the first one we are going to look at is “Jesus Is My Homeboy.” Now, just a little explanation, if you aren’t aware of the Jesus Is My Homeboy phenomenon, it is a slogan and a logo that is on everything from T-shirts to hats to bumper stickers to underwear. It has become immensely popular, especially among Hollywood celebrities like Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, Madonna, Jessica Simpson, they’ve all been spotted wearing Jesus Is My Homeboy paraphernalia.

So, Jesus Is My Homeboy is pop culture Jesus. He’s the Jesus who everybody likes, everybody is okay with, everybody is comfortable with. He’s the Jesus who’s cool to like, the Jesus who even Hollywood celebrities can like.

So, what’s the truth behind pop culture Jesus? The truth is Jesus is popular. People like Jesus. Surveys show that most people like Jesus. People are drawn to him. Even people who don’t profess to be followers of Jesus tend to like Jesus. And it has always been that way. “When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him” Matthew 8:1 (NIV). Have you ever noticed in the Bible, the crowds tended to like Jesus? They stalked him wherever he went. I mean, the Bible says a number of times that Jesus tried to get away from the crowds but they just followed him wherever he went. Jesus drew crowds out in the middle of nowhere upwards of fifteen to twenty thousand people. And that’s before marketing strategies, public relations campaigns, radio, television, the internet, podcasts, even P.A. systems. It was all on the strength of who he was, what he did, what he taught. There was a magnetism to Jesus that drew people.

And there still is. Yeah, a lot of the people wearing the Jesus Is My Homeboy t-shirts or wearing a cross around their necks or who pray or go to church or sing Christmas songs or listen to Christian radio don’t really know a lot about Jesus, but that does not diminish the fact that people are drawn to Jesus. There’s just something about Jesus. There’s an old song that says, “There’s just something about that name.” And it’s true.

Now, there were obviously some things about Jesus that people were and are attracted to. Luke 4:40 says,

“As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one.”

Jesus was the most amazing thing to come to town. And he still is. The touch of his hand still heals everyone, no matter what your diseases are. Jesus has the power to change your life. Don’t underestimate that. People spend millions of dollars each year, travel all over the world, go to therapy, try cosmetics and surgery, try new experiences, all to try to change their lives. And all it takes is Jesus. Jesus has the power to change your life. And that’s pretty attractive.


Another thing that drew people to Jesus was apparently he was pretty fun to be around. Look at Matthew 11:19: “And I, the Son of Man, feast and drink, and you say, ‘He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of the worst sort of sinners!’” Man, I think that’s one of those images of Jesus that uptight religious people need to spend a little more time on. Apparently Jesus had so much fun that people accused him of being a drunk. Now, from what I can determine, Jesus didn’t actually get drunk. It’s just that he had so much fun, he was so free and uninhibited with his personality that people thought he was drunk. You kind of get the image that wherever Jesus went, there was a good chance that a party could break out at any moment. And I love this part, he was a friend of the worst sort of sinners. Man, we shouldn’t be surprised that people like Jesus. We shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus is popular. We shouldn’t be surprised that even “the worst sort of sinners” finds something about Jesus that is attractive. And so, we don’t need to be afraid of making Jesus attractive to people.



One of my favorite verses about Jesus is Luke 15:1-2: “All the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” This man receives sinners. Is that the worst you can come up with? This man receives sinners. Aren’t you glad? He received prostitutes, embezzling tax collectors, crude fishermen, former terrorists, lepers, adulterers. He receives homosexuals and drug addicts and alcoholics and people with eating disorders and people who have screwed up their kids and their marriages. He receives the greedy and the power hungry and the depressed and the broken. This man receives sinners. Everybody is welcome to come to Jesus.


So there is truth behind the pop-culture Jesus. Jesus is popular. But there’s more to the real Jesus than just popularity. You see, although Jesus is popular, Jesus’ teaching is often unpopular. There are a lot of people who say they like Jesus, but they don’t really know what he taught. They like the idea of Jesus. They like the image they have built of Jesus, but sometimes they don’t like what Jesus has to say. Now, let’s all be honest. We all feel that way at times. I love Jesus. Sometimes I’m not so crazy about some of the things he has to say about my life. Sometimes when I am confronted with the truth of Jesus’ teaching, I get a little uncomfortable because I realize I fall short of what he expects of me.


Now, again, it’s always been that way. There’s a verse in John that I think is one of the saddest verses in the gospels. Appropriately, it’s John 6:66, John 666. The crowds have been flocking to Jesus. He is at the peak of his popularity. The people are ready to make him king. And Jesus begins saying some things that make the people uncomfortable. He begins talking to them about the kind of commitment he expects of them. He tells them that it’s not enough just to want to make him king because he can do a few tricks, because he can put food on the table. He says, you have to be willing to lay down your life to follow me. He says, unless you are willing to eat my flesh and drink my blood, you can’t be my disciple. That might scare me off. And that’s what happened. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Jesus became more than just a superstar. When people actually began to hear his message, they began to walk away.


What are some things about Jesus’ teaching that make people uncomfortable? Well, there are a lot, but let me show you just a couple. John 14:6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” People don’t like it when we say that Jesus is the only way to God. If people get upset about that, I say, “Don’t take it up with me. You’re going to have to talk to Jesus about that one.” The exclusiveness of Jesus. Jesus says, “There’s only one way to the Father. There’s no plan B, there are no alternatives.” It’s Jesus and Jesus alone, and people don’t like that.


But I don’t think that’s the real problem people have with Jesus. That’s just a cover-up for the real issue. And the real issue really comes down to what Jesus was all about, what was the whole purpose of his life, why he came to earth. Look at 1 Peter 3:18: “Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God.” Why would anybody have a problem with that idea, that Jesus died to save sinners? Well, here’s what makes people uncomfortable. The message of the cross is that Jesus died to pay the price for sin, for our sins. You see, at the heart of the cross is the idea that we have all sinned, that there must be a punishment for sin, and that the punishment for sin is death. And Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for the life I have lived. Now, for me to accept that, I have to accept that I am a sinner.


You see, what a lot of people want to believe is, “I’m okay and you’re okay and Jesus is okay with me and the way I live my life.” But the message of Jesus and the message of the cross is that we’re not okay. None of us are okay. We are all sinners. We have all chosen to rebel against God and live our lives our way and have hurt ourselves and other people and God along the way. So to really come to the real Jesus means I have to come face to face with the monster on the inside. And most people don’t want to do that. Jesus said, Jesus: “Unless you repent, you too will all perish” Luke 13:3 (NIV). Unless you repent, unless you change your heart and your mind, unless you turn away from sin and self, you will perish. That’s not popular, but that is the message of Jesus.


Now, there’s one more thing that the pop culture Jesus leaves out. That is, following Jesus requires commitment. It doesn’t take much commitment to wear a t-shirt. It doesn’t take much to get up on stage at the Country Music Awards and thank Jesus, your momma and all your fans. Pop culture Jesus doesn’t require a lot out of you. And that’s part of what makes him so popular. You can have a religious exterior without any real commitment.


But listen, it’s not just Hollywood celebrities and musicians who have low levels of commitment. There are a lot of people who talk about Jesus, who occasionally go to church, who wear a cross around their neck, but have little commitment to Jesus.


You see, there are a lot of things in life that we make very nominal commitments to, and that’s okay. Cell phone contracts, cable television or satellite providers, gym memberships, political parties. There are all kinds of things in our lives that we have some commitment to, but it is merely a commitment of convenience.


As a result, that’s the level of commitment that we bring to Jesus. And if Jesus is just plastic bobble-head Jesus, then that’s okay. But real Jesus requires something more. Do you know what Jesus’ basic call to commitment was? Look at Matthew 4:19: “Jesus said to them, ‘Come, follow me!’” It was a call to follow him, to spend time with him, to be around him, and to be like him. The disciples spent massive amounts of time with their rabbi, all with the goal of becoming just like him.


What kind of commitment does Jesus want of us? It’s really pretty basic. He wants to do what he says, he wants us to follow his teachings. “You are my friends if you do what I command” John 15:14 (NIV). Real Jesus requires something more than just wearing a shirt or praying occasionally or saying you love him. He says, “I want you to follow my instructions for your life.” And that is what a lot of people are unwilling to do. Making Jesus your lord means making him your boss, your manager, your leader. What a lot of people want is they want Jesus in their life, they just don’t want him on the throne. And Jesus says, “That won’t work.” The way to experience the real Jesus in your life is by putting him in control of your life.


You see, the evidence that you are a Christ-follower is not a t-shirt or a fish on your car or a cross on your wall. The evidence that you are a Christ-follower is you are following Christ. “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” 1 John 2:5-6 (NIV). It’s about more than just talking the talk. It’s about walking the walk. The real Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Will you come?