Smallest Seed

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." O

You fall first before you rise.  Because we're humans, this has become a sort of SOP--a standard operating procedure. We first fall into pride and self centeredness and rebellion, then God disciplines or punishes us, then we stand up again, if we repent and surrender to God.  Once we become born again, the same SOP happens. We join a church, be active there, fall into pride and self-centerdness and rebellion (all while "serving God" in church), then God disciplines us. If we repent and surrender totally to Him, we rise up again to quit our "church" ministry and do His will alone. If not, we regret our fall and say sorry to God, then continue in our rebellion while "serving" God.  "Therefore, I have begun to destroy you due to your sins," [Micah 6.13]. This is followed by a series of hard work "for God" without real fruit that remains. You eat but remain hungry, store up but remain empty, plant but not harvest, press