Is the Church jealous of Jesus?

Over the Christmas break, I read a book called "Great to Good" by Pastor Jae Hoon Lee from South Korea.  This book was written in response to the book, "Good to Great."  In his book, Pastor Lee asks whether or not the church is jealous of Jesus (not in terms of zealous protection but in terms of envy).  That question perked my ears (or eyes?) up. 

What does he mean by this?  How can the church be jealous of Jesus?

He refers to the book of John, and how in John 3:29, John the Baptist portrays himself as the friend of the bridegroom - what we might call the "best man" today.  [John 3:29 - The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.] The role of the best man is to support the groom and focus attention on him.  The best man finds joy in witnessing the grooms' delight as he welcomes his bride.  If the best man seeks to overshadow the groom and catch the bride's attention, he becomes an adversary.

Pastor Lee posits that one significant factor contributing to the Church's decline in power and influence is its own jealousy of Christ.  This same jealousy manifested itself in the envy of Jewish leaders of Jesus' lifetime.  He writes, "These leaders, out of jealous desire to maintain religious control of their community, exerted pressure on Roman authorities and ultimately brought about Christ's crucifixion" (emphasis added). 

I think the key phrase that explains this position is "out of jealous desire to maintain religious control." It is so easy for the church to switch from being the best man and pointing to Jesus, to becoming an institution that seeks to maintain religious control. Rather, the church is to play a paradoxical role.  The more it grows and flourishes, the more it must diminish and deny itself. But unfortunately, that is often not the case with the church, nor with us as individuals.  Rather, the opposite takes place.  

A.W. Tozer writes in a book "I Call It Heresy," that we have a "widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need him, as Savior, but we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want."  Ouch. I take what I want, what I need, but I postpone my obedience for my own convenience.  

We do this as individuals, and we also do this as the church.  We get caught up in religion rather than following how Jesus lived, and we too end up crucifying Him again.

We see this in Judas, who was chosen and discipled by Jesus, walked alongside Jesus, and yet ultimately betrayed Jesus.  One of the key ways that the church shows its jealousy is by becoming an institution rather than a movement.  Institutions preserve culture, while movements create culture.  In doing this, the church as gathered in the building, believes that it is the body of Christ, not the people.  When this happens, it is not us who are being stretched, carrying our cross, hanging on the cross in the agony of conflict.  It is the "church."

As we constantly teach in DML, we need to remind ourselves that the church is never a place, but always a people.  

The church is never a fold, but always a flock.  

The church is never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly.

The church is who prays, not where you pray.

Luke 4:18-21 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus has given us a command to love.  That is WHO He is.  Let us be the best man and let Jesus shine.  Let us be jealous of Jesus not in terms of envy but in terms of zealous protection of WHO He is and therefore WHO we are.