Extremely Radical

Extremely radical. If you're doing things weirdly contrary to the norm and get both loved and murdered for it, you're nothing short of an extreme radical. Jesus was like that. 

If Jesus were ordinary and tame, as ordinary and tame as your usual stereo-type, traditional, formal, and respectable church pastor, he'd just be loved, not murdered (or shall we say "persecuted" to use a milder term). Umm, on second thought, most pastors like this whom I know are not really respected; they're quietly tolerated.

Extremely radical persons are highly respected--so highly regarded that they're seen as a serious threat. When you are persecuted for your extreme radicalism people secretly fear and regard you highly, though they hate you for it. 

But Jesus' extreme radicalism was not out of rebellion. It was a nature. God is unique--and that uniqueness is always to the extreme, because God is all powerful. The Word says, "There is no God like God." Or, "Who is a God like you who pardons sins?" Whatever you see in the world, Jesus is the exact opposite of it. Not intentionally, but as his nature. He simply is extremely radical. It's in His inner person, in His DNA.

And whoever is a true follower of Jesus should be as He is, not intentionally or by self-effort. It should be by nature. Thus, the extremely radical Christ must be formed in you [Gal.4.19], and God Himself should do it in you.

The first extremely radical thing Jesus did was to give up everything. He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. No one today does this. They all want to build their name, to be seen as a success model, to be recognized and looked up to. That's the reason they're crazy about mega churches and being seen together with popular politicians. They use God to build their own empires, not the true Kingdom of God on earth, not the glorious church of Jesus Christ. 

If you want to be famous like that, you compromise. And that means you begin to look like them---formal, traditional, stereo-type, and respectable. You look powerful being with the powers-that-be but you're powerless inside--you're merely their puppet. Once you subscribe to the requirements of worldly fame you shun extreme radicalism, and you fail to be what the Master Jesus was and is. 

Of course, they love you. You won't be privileged to experience persecution for the Name. But if you get hated and murdered for Jesus because of your righteous LIFE and character empowered by Jesus Himself 100 percent in you, you are an extremely radical citizen of God's Kingdom. You don't belong in this world, anymore than Jesus belonged here. The world is not worthy of you.

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