I have to say I was intrigued when I received the book, Sneezing Jesus. The title is intriguing. What could Sneezing Jesus be about?
The book asks the question: Are you ready to be human? This seems counterintuitive. After all, aren’t we all human?
Sneezing Jesus delves into this question and more. And reveals truths that you may not have thought about before.
Within the first few pages of Sneezing Jesus, Hardin had me hooked. He makes the point that Jesus saddled Himself with indigestion and urination and all manner of humanness. Too often, we overlook Jesus’ human-side as we look at His divine side.
But where does this take us? What do Jesus’ indigestion and urination and other bodily functions have to do with being human? More importantly, what does it have to do with us spreading Jesus’ love to others?
I want to discuss this and more as I share 5 thoughts on Sneezing Jesus.
5 Thoughts On Sneezing Jesus
1. Right now matters:
Those of us in the faith community often long for the time when we’ll be taken from this world, either through supernatural or natural means. We long to be in our true home.
In this longing, we forget that there’s something important happening. The HERE and NOW matters.
If Jesus was willing to come to Earth and live as a human being, the Earth matters. The people HERE matter. The current time matters.
Don’t neglect now because of what is to come.
2. People reject truth:
Sneezing Jesus recounts the story of the demon-possessed man named Legion. You can find this story in Mark 5:1-20 in the Bible.
He was called Legion because of the number of demons possessing his body. Jesus knew He could do something for this man.
Jesus chose to exercise the demons. Not to just anywhere but to a herd of swine. The swine went crazy and ran straight off of a cliff, plunging into the water below. The swine drowned and the man was set free.
When the herdsmen and villagers wanted nothing to do with Jesus. They asked Him to leave.
The man who brought truth to a crazy man. The one who set people free. And the one who could heal all ills.
HE was asked to leave. The people rejected the truth Jesus brought.
People are still rejecting truth. They hate to be confronted with truth because it shows how far gone they are.
Whether this happens in the church or in business, people have a hard time grappling with the truth. Don’t be offended when people reject the truth-bringers.
3. We cannot be Christ-like if we act differently than Jesus:
Does this one sting you as much as it stings me?
I know there are times I act anything like Jesus. I run away from those Jesus would move towards. And that’s not Christ-likeness.
In Sneezing Jesus, Hardin says:
Jesus moved toward people, not away. He moved to the heart of the story and didn’t get lost in the details. Jesus humbled himself even to the point of death. Our heart’s posture should say, “We’ve already had a bath. It’s just out feet that are dirty.”
We need to be moving towards people. We need to be inviting people into our stories and joining theirs.
Stop acting differently than Jesus. Be Jesus to those in your life by moving towards them.
4. People will be unaware of the heaviness:
Jesus carried a heavy weight. He knew He was going to die. He had a cross to bear.
Yet His closest friends couldn’t see the weight Jesus had to carry. They continued to seek out their own desires.
Hardin reminds us that James and John asked Jesus to give them seats on His right and His left. Others couldn’t stay awake with Him as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
No one understood the heaviness Jesus faced.
We still don’t understand the heaviness Jesus faced. We often don’t understand the heaviness we face in our day-to-day lives as we try to lead well and live like Jesus.
Look around you. See the heaviness in your life. See the heaviness in the lives of others.
Then be there for them.
5. Sneeze Jesus:
Sneezing Jesus turns from viewing Jesus as human to viewing you and me as messengers of Jesus Christ. We are to be spreading His message.
The best way to spread the message of Jesus is to be SNEEZING Jesus.
To sneeze Jesus, we have to KNOW Jesus. This means we have to be in the Word. We have to pray and meditate on who He is. We have to KNOW Jesus.
Then we have to be willing to spread Jesus to others. Like a sneeze.
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