Soft And Tender. Jesus? You’re Kidding Me, Right?

Back in 1880, Will Thompson wrote a song entitled Softly and Tenderly. This is the first stanza.

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling for you and for me

See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching

Watching for you and for me.”

Jesus calls us softly and tenderly, huh?

Not hardly.

When Moses was out tending the sheep and minding his own business, he saw a bush that was burning, except it wasn’t. It wasn’t burning up, just burning. He turned to look at it.

“When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground’” (Exodus 3:4–5).¹

In Moses’ first encounter with the Lord, He called him to lead His people out of the slavery and darkness of Egypt. He communicated this via a burning bush. One could characterize this call as surprising, astounding, and challenging, but soft and tender? Not at all.

Before the Lord called Isaiah, the prophet experienced this:

“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’” (Isaiah 6:4–5).

Soft and tender? Not at all.

Okay, the reader may say, but this is back in the Old Testament when God did things, um, differently back then.

 Hmm.

This is how Jesus called the Apostle Paul:

“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do’” (Acts 9:3–6).

Perhaps Paul hit the dirt softly and tenderly.

I don’t know why we Christians want to present Jesus to the world as someone who is soft and tender. To make Him more palatable to unbelievers? To contrast Him with the God of the Old Testament who was cruel and judgmental? Well, then, I guess we’ll have to ignore this passage about Jesus:

“From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:15–16).

Soft and tender? How about sovereign, full of wrath, and all-powerful?

Let’s stop the nonsense concerning our great and majestic God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Yes, He is kind and good and loving. But He is also powerful beyond our ability to comprehend. He calls, and our souls are shaken.

¹All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Crossway Bibles.

Gif courtesy Tumblr.