The Rebel Jesus

I heard a Christmas song on radio this morning that was more honest than anything I've heard in a while.

God is taking me on a journey lately where He is showing me how non-Christians view us and the Christian faith. I don't know why, but I'm along for the ride.

This song seems to speak as an outsider looking in on how the Christians are not really living the Christian life of giving to the poor all year round, but only at Christmas, when the mood fits.

The Rebel Jesus as sung by Bebo Norman
(written by Jackson Browne)

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
and the music of the season
and the merchant's windows are all bright
with the faces of the children
and the families hurry into their homes
as the sky darkens and freezes
We'll be gathering around our hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
and the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by the Prince of Peace
and they call him by the Savior
and they pray to Him upon the seats
and in every bold endeavor
and they fill His chuches with their pride and gold
as their faith in Him increases
but they've turned the nature that I worship in
from a temple to a robber's den
in the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
and we guard our fine posessions
and once a year when christmas comes
we give to our relations
and perhaps we give a little to the poor
if the generosity should seize us
but if anyone of us should interfere
in the business of why there are poor
we'll get the same as the rebel Jesus

But pardon me if I have seemed
to take the tone of judgment
for I've no wish to come between
this day and your enjoyment
in a life of hardship
and of earthly toil
there's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
from a heathen and a pagan
on the side of the rebel Jesus