Susie talks with author, counselor and teach John Eldredge of Ransomed Heart Ministries about his book, Beautiful Outlaw.
John encourages people to look beyond their stereotypical, sanitized, “stained glass”pictures of Jesus.
“Yes he’s beautiful, but Jesus, he isn’t just going around being nice to people, he’s not just walking around with children on his shoulders and sheep around him. He is an exquisitely powerful man.”
They discuss how Jesus really encompasses all the best character qualities. He is not just someone we want to have around on Sundays, he’s for all days and all times.
Not only is Jesus’ personality more full, powerful, wild, redeeming and kind than we can imagine it’s also something that comes off on his followers. When we grow in the faith and become more like him, we start to emulate is personality. When we are close to him, his life permeates ours.
John stresses that when we watch Jesus we see love incarnate. What he does is love and what we ought to do is love. The story of the Samaritan woman is a clear example of Jesus’ radical love.
Susie talks with John about the fear of what people think and how Jesus threw that fear out the window to minister to the lost and hurting.
“When you’re letting people’s opinions of you paralyze you you’re not following God, you’re following something that’s far from faith. You’re paralyzed by fear.”
According to John, when, in contrast, we follow God without hesitation we open ourselves up to a life of adventure with God. Rejecting fear allows us to experience freedom and wholeness unlike anything we’ve felt before.
In the interview Susie and John also talk about the playfulness of God, Easter and the poison of religion.
Key Scriptures: John 1:4, John 4, Luke 24:13-43
