"Remember, the people who know me are the one who are free to live and love without any agenda."
William P Young, The Shack
I was contemplating the other day how the world looks at Jesus. How is it that you look at Jesus? When you think of Him, what is that first thing that you think of? Well, many well meaning people get stuck on the idea of a contemporary Jesus. That is, a generic, stripped down version of the Jesus who you think you knew. When I think of Jesus, I think of the indwelling Christ who lives in me. I was assisted in this revelation by the words of the apostle Paul. Paul writes in Galatians that it is Jesus who now lives within him {Galatians 2:20}. This is who I think of when I think of Jesus. Yet, it wasn't always that way. I used to follow the leader and adhere to the contemporary version of the risen Lord. I saw Jesus as being holy, kind and loving. This, in a nutshell, is the essence of the contemporary Jesus. Jesus is looked upon for His love and mercy, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, there is so much more to Jesus than just this contemporary belief. One can very well know about Jesus and yet know nothing OF Him. If you know more about Jesus than you know of Him, you may be following a contemporary Jesus. Contemporary Jesus is easy to understand. We simply know the attributes which Jesus possesses and celebrate Him as a result of these. Jesus is admired because He is loving. Jesus is to be revered because of His mercy. All of these are true. There is no disputing that this is the man He was. However, when we peel away the shell of the contemporary Jesus, we're left with the man few have ever known. Few know that it is Jesus who became sin on account for all {2 Corinthians 5:21}. Fewer still know that it is Christ Jesus who put that sin to death once and for all {Romans 6:10}. This is part of the true nature of Christ which few people have yet to realize. I suggest that the contemporary Jesus is built around the narrative and theology of the story of Jesus as taught for centuries by the mainstream church. The Jesus which I know is more than a story.
Who, being the effulgence of His glory and emblem of His assumption, besides carrying on all by His powerful declaration, making a cleansing of sins, is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heights.
Hebrews 1: 3, Concordant New Testament
Is the belief in a contemporary version of Jesus a bad thing? Not always. I can testify that believing in the contemporary stories of Jesus eventually led me into a deep relationship with Him. However, it all began with my understanding of who Jesus was. I know that Jesus was my Lord and savior. I knew that He bled and died to free me of my sin nature. So it is that I had a early understanding of who Jesus was. I would not discount the preaching of the personality and works of Christ, as this may in fact lead others to desiring a deeper relationship with Him. However, the issue which I continue to see is the teachings of the church centering on the popular version of Jesus only. Maybe this is what keeps the pews filled on Sundays. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that he had fed them with milk and not solid food as they were not able to handle much more{1 Corinthians 3:2}. I see this in the mainstream church of today. Paul spoke to those in Corinth as carnal rather than newborns in Christ Jesus. He saw the church at Corinth as carnal, filled with envy and divisions amongst the body {1 Corinthians 3:3}. Does this sound like any church you've had the opportunity to be in? This is where the contemporary Jesus is spoken. However, I would rather have someone know about the life of Christ than know nothing of Him. We can trust that in His timing, the Father will reveal His Son unto them.
As recently born babes, long for the unadulterated milk of the word that by it you may be growing into salvation, if so to be that you taste that the Lord is kind.
1 Peter 2: 2-3, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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