Jesus isn't Prince.

I am the type of person that when I get a certain thought it consumes me. It starts dancing in my mind and it sets itself on repeat all throughout the day, even to the point where I can’t sleep. Whether that is a good think or a bad thing I am not sure, but I guess that is just how the Lord wired me. I analyze things and process things so deeply.

If you have not heard, Prince died yesterday. I will be honest with you, I know maybe three Prince songs, but that doesn’t negate the fact the world shifted a little yesterday. The radio stations have been talking nonstop about his greatness, and playing his music. The headlines blew up, and twitter exploded with so many people paying their respects and expressing how sad they were to hear the news. This morning I was getting my haircut, scrolling through the iTunes charts and was blown away. Prince has dominated the charts. I guess people went crazy and started buying all of his music again. I am talking the #1 through the #25 spot were all Prince. Stay with me, I promise I am getting somewhere.

Then it hit me. Why do we do this?

When was the last time the radio played a Prince song? When was the last time his songs topped the itunes chart? He was an incredible musician no doubt, but he was old news to most. People want the latest and greatest, so it takes something “bad” for people to revisit what they once knew to be great.

We do this with Jesus. More often than we think. It is as if we find Him, we enjoy Him for the time being, and when something “better” comes along or He becomes “old news” He manifests into an afterthought. We treat Him like an artist. We like his music, but a couple weeks from now we won’t be listening to it, and we will not revisit Him until something bad happens.

Somewhere along the drive, we tossed Jesus out of the window and kept on driving, and it isn’t until something falls apart, or something happens that leaves us devastated and in question that we pull the car over and try to find Him.

It isn’t until something bad happens that we revisit what we once knew. It isn’t until then He gets to top the charts in our lives again. We will gladly, and easily give Him back that #1 spot, but on a chart that is  “who is to blame.” 

People who have so far removed Jesus from their vocabulary will in an instant shout out, “why did God do this?” But more than that, people who are Jesus followers do this too. They claim to love the Lord but they have a back up plan stored somewhere, just in case He doesn’t pan out. They live in a game of tug of war, being pulled back and forth between plan A and plan B, but when bad things happen they let go of the rope and fall right back into Jesus.

Let me clarify, there is grace for when we stray. There is always a “welcome home” mat waiting at the door for us, and a seat at the table. But somewhere along the way we have to stop treating Jesus like an artist that used to be popular.

If this is the mindset we are living in then we do not really love Him. Because if this is the mindset we are living in, we are basing our love for Him off of what He does and not who He is. People loved Prince, but they did not really know Prince. They loved him for his music. As soon as he wasn’t making new music, people were not as concerned with him. It was all about what he was doing/giving them.

I have not been able to shake this thought all day. The thought that: I don’t get to base my love for Jesus off what He does or doesn’t do. I don’t get to turn my back when He does something I don’t understand, and I don’t get to praise Him just when I think things are good.

I am reading a book right now and the common thread being weaved throughout the whole story is: stop performing to earn someone’s love. Just be.

Ultimately, we want someone to love us not for what we do, but for who we are. So why don’t we do this with the Lord? Let us not base our love for Him off what He does for us, or off how we think He is performing. We have to be madly in love with who He is. If we root ourselves in that place, when things happen, it will not let our love for Him swerve. Yes, hard times are going to come. Yes, we are going to sometimes question His plans, but from our lips will still come praise.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. " [Romans 8:28]

All things work together for the good of those who love him. To love Him, to really love Him, is to choose Him, every second of every day. It is to let Him hold a constant spot on the chart at #1. It is to let Him dominate the headlines of your life day in and day out.

I don’t want to treat Jesus like people are treating Prince. I don’t want to treat Jesus like a “used to be popular musician.” I don’t want to just play His music when things are bad, and I don’t want to just play His music because I finally revisited it and realized how great it was again. I want His music to be the soundtrack that I dance to day in and day out.

He is good.

He is safe.

He is sure.

He is constant.

He is love.

He is grace.

He is truth.

He is peace.

He could never do anything for us again, and we would still have a million reasons to be in love with who He is. Cause in the end, Jesus isn’t a prince. He is a King, and a King doesn’t get to be treated the same way a prince does.