Last night, all 5 of us loaded up in the van to run a few errands. While we were out, we decided to stop by Burger King for dinner. This is a rare occurrence for us. Since viewing the anti-Mickey-D’s documentary SuperSize Me a few years back, Sunny has taken a virtual vow of abstinence toward all forms of fast food. But it was convenient and we were hungry, so before long we were all enjoying a bountiful feast of processed chicken gizzards and cola. It was great.

On my way back to our table after taking Joshua to potty, I overheard a conversation at another booth. Actually, I only overheard one sentence of the conversation, but that was enough to catch my ear. As we walked by, a big, burly, FSU-parka-wearing guy in his mid-40’s bellowed in a fairly loud voice, “Well, Jesus makes me nervous!” Joshua instinctively looked at the man and, with his classic inquisitive expression, asked, “What?” to no one in particular. We quickly shuffled back to our table and finished our meal. 10 minutes later, we were on our way home.

I guess I was struck by FSU’s comment because I’m not used to thinking of Jesus in those terms. The whole time we were running our errands, we listened to songs that hailed the birth of Jesus, tender and mild with cattle lowing and rumpa-pum-pum. How could this Jesus make anybody nervous, I thought to myself. The juxtaposition of the whole moment was interesting, too. While we were in the bathroom, I asked Joshua our usual series of Bible trivia questions, things like “Who built the ark?” and “Who was in the lion’s den?” and “Who saw the burning bush?” (To watch the whole performance, click here.) It just seems like the Deut. 6 thing to do, you know? Two seconds before we walked by FSU’s table, I had just asked Joshua the question, “Who walked on the water?”, to which he correctly answered, “JESUS!” My three-and-a-half year old son seemed to be infinitely more comfortable with Jesus than FSU did and I took pride in that. I suppose I gave myself an inward pat on the back for being such a good parent, for raising a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, or something like that.

But on the way home, I started to reflect even more on FSU’s comment. What if he’s right, I thought. Isn’t Jesus supposed to make us a little nervous? He certainly made his enemies nervous. I mean, you don’t kill a guy for walking around telling people to “Be nice” and “Obey Mommy and Daddy” and all the other things that the flannelgraph Jesus of my childhood used to tell us. Seriously, who would crucify Mr. Rogers? No, the real Jesus made the religious authorities nervous with His declaration of the coming Kingdom of God. He made them nervous because He didn’t play by their rules. He worked on the Sabbath. He didn’t wash His hands before He ate. Worse yet, He dined with sinners. People were more important to Him than issues, and that made them nervous and irate. And for this, they killed him.

I started thinking about my relationship with Jesus. And I started to wonder if maybe I’m a little too comfortable with Him sometimes. Maybe I gloss over the parts of his character that make me nervous, selectively focusing on the aspects of his teaching and life that are congruent with who I think he should be. Maybe by emphasizing Him as an ever-present friend I’ve sold myself an incomplete image of Him as Messiah. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there’s plenty about Him that makes me nervous.

Consider the following points from His Sermon on the Mount:

• Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. That makes me nervous, because it seems to imply that association with Christ will bring insult and persecution from the powers.

• Anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. And anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell. That makes me nervous, because I have a temper, because I often say things that I shouldn’t.

• If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. This makes me nervous, because I want my giving to be conditioned on a whole lot of issues that Jesus doesn’t even mention.

• Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. This makes me nervous, because I don’t pray for my enemies and I’m certainly not perfect.

• If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. Do I really need to explain why this one makes me nervous?

I guess what I’m saying here is that I have to guard myself against a complacent attitude when it comes to Jesus. I’m certainly thankful for the relationship I have with Him, the relationship He initiated and sustains. But in that relationship, there needs to be room for Him to still surprise me. To make me nervous.

Otherwise, I’m not sure I’m seeing the real Jesus.

And I don’t want to see any other kind.