El Pollo Loco - read the warning label

Went to eat at El Pollo Loco. Every item listed on the menu had the calories listed. I suppose full disclosure is important but it kind of takes the joy out of eating, at least for me.We have warning labels on packs of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, tools, power cords, toys, and who knows what else. Even pillows have warning labels; those tags that make you feel like you doing something illegal if you cut them off. Pillows! Really, “Warning! Do not use horizontally, sleep might occur.”Jesus, the Bible, might soon be required to have a warning label, and rightly so. “Warning! If followed he/it will radically change your life.” The truth is we prefer to be comfortably changed, but we resist to be radically changed. The problem is that in order to be comfortably changed you have to change Jesus and be selective about God’s word (the Bible). We prefer for Jesus to change things in our kingdom (however large or small that is) rather than fit us for his kingdom.If you eat at El Pollo Loco enough it won’t be long before you no longer notice the calorie numbers. All those warning labels, we hardly, if at all, notice them anymore, “they are more about compliance and litigation anyway.” We can get like that when it comes to Christ and God’s word as well. We can settle into habits, continue with habits, excuse our habits, warning labels be damned.“Why are you talking with her?” Jesus’ disciples demanded to know, her being a single, outcast Samaritan woman. The goal was to get in and out of Samaria as fast as possible, not to have conversations. They obviously did not see what Jesus saw, they did not feel what Jesus felt, they did not care about what Jesus cared about. The story about the Samaritan woman and her village (John 4: 1-45) would have never gotten written with the safe, small, and earthly Christ his disciples had in their minds. They wanted Jesus to change their nation, he wants to change every single person. They thought this was a waste of time, Jesus decided to give it more time.The people of Sychar, that Samaritan town his disciples and most Jews were glad to see in the review mirror, asked Jesus to stay. Can you hear his disciples, “No, no, no, very bad idea, this will be all over Twitter, this will be bad publicity.” But stay he did, and thus they did too. Sad, that Jesus has to take us were we don’t want to be but should be, that he has to make us stay because we want to run to the safe and familiar, that he has to force us to the radical side, the one with the warning label, of his love, of mercy and grace, of seeing and caring about people in light of his kingdom and eternity.El Pollo Loco’s calorie numbers are real, that fat burrito really is over half of the calories you need for an entire day. The warning labels on pack of cigarettes are telling the truth, smoking is really bad for your health. The real Jesus, the eternal word of God, is not safe, is not comfortable, but demanding, radical, and life-changing – read the warning label:As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 (NLT)To God be all glory. Love you , Pastor Hans