Thieves and Sluts and Liars

Last night I was talking with Hagan York, and we somehow came across a topic that led us to talking about the song "My Jesus" by Todd Agnew. We listened to the song, but the rest of the people we were hanging out with wanted to hear the song. So, I played the song for them too.

www.myspace.com/toddagnew

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Why do you look so much like the world?

Chorus:
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
do we pray to be blessed with the
Wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Chorus:

And who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes, curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Chorus:

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reached for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beal St. to the stained glass crowd
But I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus
Can I be like You
I want to be like my Jesus

But, we never even finished the song. We got hung up on whether "sluts" was an appropriate word. My arguument was that it was fine. It describes prostitutes, whores, the unfaithful in general. Sure there is shock value, but it is not unbiblical. Others argued that they had total disrespect for Todd Agnew and this song now because he used the word "slut" in a Christian song. To each his own/her own I guess.
Let me tell you the real problem here. The real problem is that we had the wrong perspective. We focused on the insignificance of one word and missed the main point of the song. The song talks about our view of Jesus compared with what the Scripture says about Him. He spent time with the poor, tax collectors, dregs of society, and even the prostitutes because HE LOVED THEM. He humbled himself to live among the most sinful people. The challenge of this song is for us to attain that same mindset. Are we willing to love others? Are we willing to sacrifice as Jesus did? The true issue is being Christ-like when it's hard for us, not whether or not "sluts" is the best use of a word.
I fell asleeping thinking about this, and it hit me about 1230 this morning that I do this all the time. How many times has Christ spoken and I missed the point? How many times have I prided myself on theology thinking that theology is what is needed to reach lost people only to know that Christ tells us that love lets the world know we are Christians, not theology though theology isn't bad. How many times have I missed the point?