It's Time for 'Christians' To Get to Know Jesus

Complimentary Story
   In September 1997, Rich Mullins travelled to an abandoned church in the local countryside and recorded nine demos for what would be the most personally exciting project of his career.  Since May of that year, he had expressed great eagerness, to those closest to him, that the next album would be a culmination of his desire to stimulate a rekindled devotion to the comprehension, emulation, and love for Jesus Christ.  It would be called “Ten Songs for Jesus.”  Nine days later, Rich Mullins was killed in an automobile accident.  The album was produced and released, posthumously, with the help of Christian music’s most popular artists and included the original demos from that empty church along with a mastered version of each song by his bandmates “the Ragamuffins” and a few of his dearest friends.

   Recently, I began listening to Mullins’ music after an extended hiatus and hearing the recordings from that album gave me a shot of conviction that it was time to press further into Jesus.  I am not a talented lyricist, nor am I a remarkably gifted writer, but I desire to walk through the doors that God has opened.  And as Rich Mullins pursued a renewed dedication to chasing the scriptural Jesus through music, maybe I can dedicate each article I pen in 2021 to a different topic regarding Jesus and His ministry. 

   Frankly, I am concerned about American society’s contemporary image of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Many Christians seem to express tepid appreciation for His ethical guidance as they sprinkle it with their own individual opinions on morality while twisting His empathetic, sacrificial, soul-saving love into an artificial sentiment defined by some combination of relative human kindness and the modern cultural idiom “live and let live.”  Pagans, likewise, oblige their preferred Beatitudes, but find the most pleasure in imagining Jesus as the classic Bohemian, a non-conformist avant-garde whose affection for “outsiders” signified universal tolerance without judgment.  His parables and teachings are often misunderstood, manipulated, or ignored which prevents their proper application for ordinary circumstances, the New Testament is frequently cherrypicked by pastors attempting to provide their lukewarm flocks with superficial encouragement about God’s plan for their lives while omitting talk of sin and Jesus’ exclusive claims to salvation, and secularists and liberal denominations, alike, garner public support for socialized political systems by touting Jesus as a social revolutionary that would have supported universal healthcare and government welfare because He healed the sick and fed the hungry.

   When one considers the evangelical Christian church, one would think an understanding of Jesus Christ fundamental to every “believer.”  However, research conducted by Lifeway and Ligonier Ministries, in 2020, demonstrated a stunning lack of theological comprehension and an apparent decrease of Christological knowledge in the American church.  While it is evident that most American evangelicals agree on some elementary tenets of the Christian faith, their understanding of the person of Jesus Christ appears uncertain.  For example, almost all evangelicals believe in the Trinitarian doctrine, however, 65% believe that Jesus was actually God’s “first and greatest” creation, rather than God Himself, while 75% of evangelicals give Jesus “first-place” honors in the Trinity.  Even more notably, a sizeable minority of “believers” (30%) doubt Jesus’ divinity, instead proposing that He was simply a “great teacher.”  Further, 51% of evangelicals believe that God accepts the worship of all religions, despite Jesus’ claim, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). Staggeringly, just five years ago, 52% of Americans were conflicted about whether Jesus committed a sin during His lifetime!

   How, then, are evangelicals witnessing?  What are unbelievers being told?  Or are Christians saying nothing at all, leaving the agnostic to his own wisdom?  

   Christians seem to have permitted the world to shape Jesus’ teachings and legacy into a tool against His church to silence them into abdication toward the progression of establishing a life without further concern than the assurance of temporary, subjective happiness.  When Christians do not express support for public initiatives like universal healthcare or mass vaccinations, they are charged with not “loving their neighbor.”  Behind the earthly belief that because Jesus “would love first,” He would “accept people as they are” they are accused of judgment, bigotry, and hate when they question the LGBTQ agenda.  If a Christian describes the eternal consequences of rejecting Jesus to an unbeliever, the immediate response is “If this is what a Christian looks like, I don’t want anything to do with it!”

   Those in the body of Christ are becoming convinced that they would be better Christians if they simply kept their mouths shut.  So, under the guise of not wanting to risk alienation of discourse with unbelievers, they adapt to the changing culture by adjusting their traditional understanding of Jesus, making His ministry congenial to pagan beliefs.  Unfortunately, such a development of blatant indifference to essential theology about Jesus Christ is dulling our senses to the reality of eternal outcomes for not only those around us, but even ourselves.  If there is such conflict about Jesus within the Church, what hope do unbelievers have?  

   The evangelical stance on modern political issues is not the primary concern.  The troublesome habit, even among Christians, is that people develop an opinion about a given issue and then find something that Jesus said during His ministry that supports that ideology.  Was He the Son of God displaying His great power to achieve glory for the Father or was He simply an ideological radical paving the way for social justice?  Why did Jesus heal the sick?  Why did Jesus even come?   

   What was the first word that escaped Jesus’ mouth upon the commencement of His ministry in Matthew?  Why did He address a Gentile woman as a “dog?”  Why did He tell His disciples NOT to preach to the Gentiles?  Why did He sit with “outsiders?”  Why did He refer to His own disciples as part of a “perverse generation,” even addressing His beloved Peter as “Satan?”  Why did He emphatically state that His purpose was “not to bring peace, but a sword?”  What is Christology?

   Jesus demonstrated power, compassion, and unparalleled sacrifice.  His love was entrenched in the compulsion to save all people from their broken nature.  However, He warned that there would be those who He will not recognize as His own.  He called people names, flipped over tables in His anger, and expressed unwavering intolerance for anything that opposed God the Father.  

   I wish to pursue dialogue about Jesus Christ because not only do I desire a renewed understanding, but, apparently, American evangelicals need a refresher.  I want to obey His commands.  I want to imitate Him so that through His strength, my perfected weakness will achieve His glory.  Honestly, I also want this to be unsettling, because we need to stop making Jesus into a God of our own image and seek who He truly is.  

   After all, Paul commanded to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” 

   Let’s talk about Jesus this year.

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