The "J" Word...
Jesus.
We are convinced that the best possible way to figure out what God is all about is to follow the way of Jesus.
A big issue for many…
Some people have questions about why Christians seems so obsessed with Jesus’ death. What’s the deal about his dying on a cross?
(You’ll notice that these observations have little to do with the doctrines of the Trinity, incarnation, atonement, or the like. That's not because these doctrines aren't important, but rather because this is a book on finding faith, not furnishing it or fine-tuning it.)
Jesus
1. He is INTELLECTUALLY HONEST.
2. He is SCANDALOUSLY INCLUSIVE.
3. He is RELATIONALLY ELECTRIC.
4. He is GRACIOUSLY DEMANDING.
5. He is POWERFULLY NONCOERCIVE.
1. HE IS INTELLECTUALLY HONEST.
If there was one thing Jesus was clearly against, it was hypocrisy, pretense, cover-up, dishonesty. He wouldn't want you to recite a creed you weren't convinced of. He wouldn't want you to pretend. He’d rather have you say, "Lord, I believe, but yet I don't believe at the same time. I have my doubts, but I'd like to work them through. Help me.”
One of the most fascinating phrases to come frequently from Jesus' lips was this: "Believe because." That's why those who attempt to be faithful to Jesus and to show their complete allegiance to Jesus by saying, "Jesus is the only way! Jesus is the only way!" can be wrong even if they're right. In other words, even if Jesus is the only way, exactly as they understand him to be, Jesus himself wouldn't go around claiming that for himself without providing evidence; he wouldn't demand people to believe that without giving them good reason. Can you imagine Jesus saying, "Believe that I am the only way. Why? Because I said so, that's why! And if you don't believe, then you're going straight to hell!" But isn't that how we present him through our slogans?
No, again and again we find Jesus saying, not "Believe because I said so!" but rather "Believe because of the quality of my teachings. Believe because you see the miracles I do. Believe because you see my disciples love one another. Believe because you see my followers displaying a mysterious but real unity. Believe because my words prove true in experience. Believe because you can see my profile in the writings of the ancient prophets. Believe because God somehow makes it clear to you. Believe because credible people tell you that they saw me alive after being killed. Believe because the fruit of my life was good."
In other words, the faith that Jesus calls for is an intellectually honest faith, not a phony, forced, or inflated faith. If you see things that seem unjust or that just don't make sense—like religious people giving all their money to the church, while neglecting their elderly parents, or like pastors working hard to make converts who then become more miserable and unfree than they were before, or like churches being fastidious about minor matters (like rigorously avoiding labor on the Sabbath) while overlooking major matters (like loving their wives, treating their children gently, or loving their neighbors of other races)—if you see these kinds of things, you don't have to pretend they're okay. You can be honest. You can call a spade a spade; dirt, dirt; and manure, manure. He won't chide you for telling the truth. If you read the accounts of his life, this complete, transparent honesty comes through.
If Jesus is right, then God doesn't want a faith that is false, forced, make-believe, faked; he wants a faith that is honest—full of doubt and hope, questioning and risking, tentative exploration, gentle persuasion, and hard-won conviction. In my search for a faith that is real, I find that tremendously exhilarating!
2. HE IS SCANDALOUSLY INCLUSIVE.
Jesus was not exclusive, at least not in the way the "Jesus is the only way" slogan sometimes makes him sound. "But just a minute, Brian. Didn't Jesus' disciple John quote him as saying, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6)? Isn't this "only way" language coming from Jesus' own mouth?
I would respond, "Yes. Absolutely. And I believe what Jesus said. But don't misconstrue that one statement; don't try to use it in a way Jesus himself never would use it." Instead of Jesus being the way, the slogan makes it sound as if he's in the way—as if there are people trying to come to God and truth and life, but Jesus is blocking their path, keeping them out until they in some way acknowledge him. That's absurd. Rather, the reverse was true: Jesus was always the one helping in those whom others kept out! In the gospel narratives, we repeatedly see this theme of tension between exclusive followers (or disciples) and an inclusive Jesus.
For example, his disciples tried to exclude children, but Jesus said, "Let them come!" His disciples tried to exclude non-Jews, but Jesus said of one of them—a Roman centurion, no less!—"I have never seen such faith in all of Israel!" His disciples tried to exclude people who were doing spiritual works in his name, but didn't travel in their circle, but Jesus said, "Those who aren't against me are for me."
My friend Neil Livingstone says it something like this: In a world of religious in-groups and out-groups, Jesus created a "come on in" group. The kingdom of God is open to everyone who will come, he said. It's like a party to which everyone is invited, rich or poor, employed or unemployed, clean or dirty.
Driving Conflict
Even more dramatic than the tension between Jesus and his disciples was the tension between Jesus and the most highly religious leaders of his day, known as the "Pharisees," meaning the "Separated Ones." In many ways, this tension is the driving conflict in the drama of Jesus' plotline.
Though it meant he earned the derisive label "friend of sinners," Jesus scandalized the Separated Ones by refusing to separate himself from prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, rabble. The Separated Ones feared being contaminated by the sin of the sinful; Jesus, in contrast, knew that the intense power of his love could decontaminate the sinners by bringing them to repentance.
3. HE IS RELATIONALLY ELECTRIC.
As you read the gospel accounts, watch him interact with Peter— now encouraging him, now confronting him, now encouraging him again, bringing him along so patiently, yet so relentlessly. With Peter as with all the disciples, Jesus has the toughness and tenderness of the best of coaches, determined to turn paunchy couch potatoes into star athletes with lean muscles and strong backbones and a will to win. It's a little scary, but I find myself wanting to sign on the team.
Or watch him interact with a nameless young leader, successful and bright, a sincere spiritual seeker. Watch him feel along the edges of this fellow's character to the one fault line that must be confronted: his love for money. Watch him challenge the man, not rushing him or pressuring him to change immediately, giving him time, letting him leave, regarding him with love even as he walks away.
Watch him with a woman, a multiple divorcee, a member of a despised minority group, chatting naturally as a friend, beside a well in Samaria, gently kindling her curiosity, teasing out her spiritual thirst as he discusses physical thirst. Watch him bring up the sensitive issue of her sexual relationship with men, and watch him do so in a way that she runs back to town and invites these men, along with everyone else who had no doubt whispered about her affairs, to come meet Jesus too. Amazing!
You might say, "But how do you know these stories are true? How do you know that someone didn't make them up?" Of course,
I don't “know”... absolute certainty is not available on many, if any, things in this life for us. But I can say this: These stories are so improbable, so unexpected, so challenging to the status quo, so idiosyncratic, so earthy and rough and unedited and unrehearsed, that they simply seem to have the ring of truth to them, and so I believe them. And more, the truths that these stories yield are so inspiring that if they are fiction, whoever made them up would appear to deserve the honor we Christians give to Christ himself! But then again, if the stories are fraudulent, we are left with a paradox: It seems unlikely that a fraud—someone capable of perpetrating such a grand hoax—could ever come up with such spiritually inspiring fabrications. It seems unlikely that someone so sinister and dishonest could create stories of such simple genuineness and unpretentious grandeur.
Here's what strikes me after all these years of interacting with these stories: The electricity I sense as Jesus interacts with this amazing assortment of people, from prostitutes to Pharisees, from revolutionaries to military officers, resonates powerfully with the spiritual dynamic I sense in my own relationship with God. I sense this same electricity in my experience of life. Again, it rings true.
4. HE IS GRACIOUSLY DEMANDING.
Two kinds of religion are common in the world, it seems to me. First, there is no shortage of religion that is demanding—and graceless. Do this, don't eat that, travel here, say that, give this, accept that, observe this, forego that. And if you fail, you lose. Game over.
Second, and probably even more common these days, is gracious religion free of demand. You treat your wife like dirt? It's okay; after all, you weren't properly potty trained as a child. You broke your wedding vows? Nobody's perfect; it's okay You make lots of money and keep it all to yourself? Not everybody's a Mother Teresa; it's okay You drink too much, or listen too little, or complain excessively, or show gratitude infrequently or never? So do lots of other people, and we must maintain a good self-image, so it's okay
Do you see the problem? Graceless demands leave us feeling guilty and defeated. Demandless grace leaves us apathetic and self-righteous. What we need is a demand that calls us to live a better life than we are currently living. But that call must come with compassion and grace, so that when we fail, we hear, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." This is exactly what I find in Jesus ... and that strikes me as a livable path, a yoke I can bear, a yoke that is in fact easier and lighter than any other option I have tried or heard of. Another ring of truth.
5. HE IS POWERFULLY NONCOERCIVE.
Jesus was known for speaking in parables, in stories that would yield meaning on many levels. If you wanted to stop at the surface level, you could. If you wanted to go deeper, you could. The point was always on the deeper level, but Jesus never forced the crowds to dig for it, and never threw it in their face. Thus his approach with the general public was remarkably subtle and nonconfrontational; it was gentle, not harsh; magnetic, not pushy; inviting, not driving ... an opportunity, not a threat. Take it or leave it. It's your choice. As he did with that successful young leader, he'll watch you walk away if you choose—no lectures, no getting in the last word.
A few lines from one of the ancient prophets (Isaiah) seemed to fit him perfectly: He wouldn't be heard yelling in the streets. He wouldn't snuff out a dimly burning candle. He wouldn't break a bruised reed. No, his approach would be gentle, like a shepherd carrying a lamb in his arms ... not driving it, not whacking it, not threatening it ... gently carrying it along.
And that approach makes perfect sense in the development of a faith that is real. It has to be free and unforced, a choice rather than a necessity."
This description of Jesus’ style rings true to us. It’s who we are discovering Jesus to be as we get more acquainted. We also happen to believe that he is the most accurate portrait of God that has ever appeared on the planet.
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