To Embrace All of Christ, Steer Clear of Quashing Him and Cherry-Picking His Teachings

During young adulthood, Mark, who was uninterested in Christ, worked as a laborer painting houses. He often worked alongside another young man, who was a strong believer in Christ. On one occasion, this Christian co-worker asked Mark a simple yet profound question: “Who do you believe Jesus Christ is?” Not wanting to engage in the conversation, Mark acted like he did not hear the question and stepped down from the ladder and moved to the other side of the house to continue painting. He quashed the topic. Just like he would later put the lid back on the paint can, Mark intended to put a lid on any conversation about Jesus. 

The Crossroads: A Decision of Wholehearted Commitment

Later, as they continued painting together on that side of the home, the Christian asked the same question. This time, to get the guy to stop asking, Mark begrudgingly said, “I suppose He’s the Son of God.”

With that reply, the Christian asked, “Since you believe He is the Son of God, don’t you think that requires something of you?” 

It was as if a sword pierced his heart. At that moment, he discerned the implication. It was more than intellectual assent; it demanded a wholehearted commitment to Christ and the Scriptures. Because of that question, over the next several days, he realized he stood at a crossroads, facing a decision. Would he fully commit to Jesus and His Word, letting go of his selfish interests and beliefs, or would he keep Jesus and His claims contained in a box, keeping a lid on the box so that he could chase his worldly desires?

Surrendering to Christ: Breaking Free from Quashing

The question lingered in his mind: Would he be all in, or would he quash any Jesus talk to avoid the call to surrender to the Son of God? 

Would he keep moving the ladder for the rest of his life?

Years ago, I wrote this in my notes for a sermon I preached: “The more important Christ becomes to us, the more weight we place on His words.” One of the points I intended with this statement was that if we do not value very highly what Jesus says, then He is not as important to us as He ought to be.

In that season of Mark’s life, though he claimed to believe Jesus was the Son of God, he did not value Christ, so he suppressed the truth about Him. And, in quashing the truth about Him, he didn’t want to hear about who Christ was and what He required.

The Transformation: From Quashing to Surrendering - A Journey of Faith

However, the implication of Jesus as the Son of God, Lord of lords, and King of kings, eventually convicted Mark and he fully surrendered to His will. He confessed his sins, accepted that Christ paid for those sins on the cross, asked Christ to forgive Him, and invited Jesus into His heart to be Lord of his life. He began studying and teaching the Bible and sharing his faith in Christ with others. 

After working many years as a civil engineer, he entered full-time Christian ministry. A percentage of the people with whom he ministered did not quash all conversations about Jesus as he did, for which he gave thanks, but he took notice of what we call “cherry-picking believers.” As one might pick only the personally desirable cherries and ignore the rest, he observed how some Christians selectively choose only the promises of God favorable to their earthly goals and expect God to fulfill these but ignore the commands of God that confront their wrong attitudes and actions. 

Cherry-Picking vs. Wholehearted Embrace: Navigating Selective Application of Christ's Teachings

He saw a tendency in them that had once been in him. Though his quashing was more extreme than their cherry-picking, at the end of the day both fell under the category of suppressing the truth they didn’t want to hear.

Of course, all of us struggle as fallen creatures to perfectly obey all that Christ requires. But this is not what Mark had taken notice of. Like Mark, they said that they believed Jesus was the Son of God, but they selected the words they wished to apply and suppressed all others words they did not wish to hear. They cherry-picked Jesus’ delicious words that favored their agenda and quashed those that did not.

For instance, some believers—those I classify as carnal believers—like to quote what Jesus said about “not judging others” but ignore His call to be pure and to stop sinning sexually. Again, this is not about being imperfect (which we all are) but still aware of one’s sin and asking for God’s grace and forgiveness. These carnal believers simply choose to ignore what Scripture says about sexual immorality. 

Often I hear of believers moving in with each other, which includes having sex while remaining unmarried. When a friend says, “Did you know Jesus referred to sexual sins as adultery and fornication, and fornication is two unmarried people having sex?” the one confronted becomes infuriated. 

Mentally thumbing through the Gospels, they look for something Jesus said that affirms their self-serving desires—for many, it is “Do not judge”—while quashing the teaching about sexual immorality in the eyes of the Lord. But as He said to the woman caught in adultery (John 8), He would also say to them: “Go and sin no more.” However, they do not want to hear that.

In actuality, they are not only cherry-picking about what Jesus said about sexual sin, but also cherry-picking about what Jesus said about not judging. They misinterpret His meaning entirely. They think His direction applies to the believer, meaning we should not tell them that their fornication is a sin. So to stop that confrontation, they claim Jesus supports their sexual conduct and others should not judge them. In their eyes, the sinner here is the judgmental Christian, not them. 

What Did Jesus Say about Those Who Quash and Cherry-Pick?

However, for the record, Jesus never said do not judge as though that ended the matter. No, the context of His comment “do not judge” is that a person is to first judge themselves by taking the log out of one’s own eye and then confront the speck in the eye of the other person. He never said: “never judge.” (See Matthew 7:1-5 for full context of “do not judge.) Though we have no right to damn, as believers who are called to care for and love one another, we must discern and confront. 

Did Jesus say anything about people like Mark in his early years when he wanted to quash the truth, or about the cherry-pickers he noticed later in his life?

Yes. He acknowledges how a person can maneuver to quash the truth. In Mark 3:5-6, we read, “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”

Why do such people quash everything they can about Jesus? Perhaps John 3:19-21 sheds some light on this: “People loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (ESV).

What about cherry pickers? Jesus described such in John 6:26-27 when He said, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles” (GNT). In other words, they claimed to believe in Him not because they were ready to enter through the narrow gate and follow Him no matter what but because they enjoyed all the fish and bread!

My wife, Sarah, often comments, “People do not fully follow Jesus because they do not have a fear of God.” I suppose that is a major reason some quash the teaching of Christ or cherry-pick from His words. They do not have a holy reverence for who Christ is and what He instructs. 

Ironically, they do not have enough of a fear of God to follow Him wholly, but they have a fear of Him in the sense that they fear surrendering to Him. They think He will make them do what they do not want to do. Either way, some are set on quashing any discussion about Him because they fear giving their lives over to Him, like Mark, so they move the ladder to the other side of the house, suppressing the topic altogether. Others fear specific commands, so they suppress those while cherry-picking from the desirable promises.

In evaluating our commitment to Christ, a crucial question arises: Are we fully embracing Jesus and His teachings, as best we can, or are we quashing His truth at odds with our desires or cherry-picking from His words to suit our desires?