Choice for Jesus
what do we know for certain about Jesus that is relevant and
truly helpful to
everybody today? Do certain basic facts and clear certainties
exist about Jesus that can
form a basis for realistic objective logical faith?
The Sources
The sources for knowing
Jesus begin with the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts and go on to include your personal spiritual
experience and your faith tradition, which might be helpful and might also be
part of the problem. Where do you get your spiritual information? What have been
your basic sources for religion, faith, spiritual direction and strength, and
your vision of God and of yourself?
What have your parents,
family and friends taught you about Jesus? What has your church taught and
conditioned you to believe? What have you worked out for yourself? What has been
the role of gospel songs and hymns along with religious art and images in
shaping your view of Jesus? Many sources have shaped your vision of Jesus.
Seeing through the dark
curtain
Jesus is a vague out of
focus image for all of us. Too many conflicting voices claim to speak the truth.
The voices that most firmly demand that they have the truth are often the most
incorrect and misleading. Religious groups and churches that claim absolute
authority and demand absolute obedience are usually the ones that most reduce
Jesus to a set of beliefs, doctrines, rules and propositions and that discourage
people from thinking for themselves and enjoying the real freedom of the Spirit
of Jesus in their lives.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is "the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29, 36). But, what does that mean?
Multiple layers of confusion and misinformation, along with political, religious
and financial manipulations, and celebrations of ignorance in the name of God
for the past 2,000 years of church history have darkened our access to Jesus. We
do indeed see Jesus through a glass darkly and not face-to-face.
Where is the shortcut to
Jesus? Does a basic simple direct uncluttered vision of Jesus exist? Can we
construct a brief overview of the details of Jesus that is easy to grasp and
relevant to each individual here and now? Is a simply vision possible? I think
so.
The following steps might be
a helpful framework for new directions in knowing and following Jesus.
Twelve steps to
recovering Jesus
1 Admit that you have a vague
incorrect view of Jesus and that religion has
misled and confused you.
2 Turn
to God who is already within you as your basic source for knowing and
following
the Spirit of Jesus.
3 Take the time to learn the
basic content of the Four Gospels and the Book of
Acts.
4 Question everything in the
Jesus traditions that does not make sense or
ring true to you.
5 Search for and write
down a list of the actions and teachings of
Jesus in the Gospels that
demonstrate something human and accessible that you can
realistically follow and
do yourself, such as accepting and celebrating your own humanity
and having
compassion for other people.
6 Find or start a small group
in your home that can provide a setting for
dialogue, discussion, encouragement,
learning, changing and growing.
7 Fearlessly face and
challenge the misinformation and confusions about
Jesus that seem to interfere
most with your own acceptance of Jesus as
real and relevant to you.
8 Start over in your own
spiritual journey by letting go of legalistic
judgmental religious literature,
people and groups. Don't listen to the
ignorant misinformation of
fundamentalists and other forms of
self-serving religious confusion.
9 Search for and find
resources from other people both ancient and
modern that also have struggled
with their own understanding of Jesus and
have challenged the traditions and
tried to cut through the gloom to see the
real Jesus. See also : the English page of
HOLYHOME.NL
10
Accept yourself as you are, just as Jesus accepted himself, and build a
self-esteem
basis for being able to accept and follow the real Jesus that is
beginning to emerge in
your personal search and study.
11 Take others along with you
in your journey of discovery and
clarification whenever you have opportunity.
12 Act positively and with
compassion on what you are learning and
experiencing about the real Jesus.
Jesus in a simply
vision
All of us are simply minds
about many things. None of us completely master anything. Abandoning traditional
visions of Jesus is not abandoning the real Jesus. Letting go of misinformation
and confusions about Jesus is not letting go of the real Jesus. The reason that
we are simply minds about Jesus is because we have been simply by religious
manipulations and misinformation.
Jesus - His Names
God - Jesus is called God in several
passages in the Bible. Along with His sinless life, miracles, and resurrection
from the dead, His claims to be God stand firm (John 20:28).
Lord - In the New Testament, this
term is used as a salutation to honor a man of distinction. The disciples used
this term to salute Jesus as their teacher and master (Matthew 22:43-44).
Word - This title was used by the
apostle John to describe the mission of Jesus. The title states Jesus' Godhead
and eternal and absolute deity (John 1:1, 14).
Messiah - The long awaited "anointed
one" who would deliver Israel. Jesus came to deliver mankind from sin and death
(John 4:25-26).
Alpha and Omega - These two
characters were the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This
descriptive title expresses the eternal nature of God - the beginning and the
end (Revelation 1:8; 22:13).
Savior - Jesus is the person who
rescues mankind from an eternity in hell.
Redeemer - "One who frees or delivers
another from difficulty, danger, or bondage, usually by the payment of a ransom
price."1 In the New Testament, Jesus is viewed as the ultimate Redeemer who gave
His life as a ransom (Mark 10:45, Titus 2:14).
Light of the World - Jesus is the
Person who brings true knowledge of God. Those who reject this light bring
judgment upon themselves (John 8:12; 3:19-21).
Lamb of God - This title refers to
the Old Testament sacrificial system where God accepted the blood of animals as
atonement for sin (John 1:29, 36). Jesus' blood made atonement for sin!
Ruler of Creation - Christ existed
before the creation of the world and He is sovereign over it (Revelation 3:14).
Mediator - Because Jesus is fully
God, He can represent God to man. Because He is fully man, Jesus can represent
man to God. Reconciliation is possible (1 Timothy 2:5).
Bread of Life - Jesus is the one and
only supplier of true spiritual nourishment (John 6:35).
Way, Truth, and Life - Jesus is the
only way to heaven, the only source of truth, and the foundation of all life
(John 14:6)!
High hopes for positive
change
We have high hopes for
positive changes in how all of us find relevant spiritual resources and healthy
spirituality in a fresh look at who Jesus really is for us today in our rapidly
changing world. In every area of life, we are constantly being challenged to
"let go and move on." We either: "let go and move on," or we are dead in the
water and sinking fast.
Paul in Philippians 3:1-14
described how he had to move out of one spiritual house and into another place
in order to have Jesus in his life: "I count all things (legalistic judgmental
religion) to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be
garbage (literally "animal feces"!) in order that I may gain Christ." When Paul
said: "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus," he was letting go of abusive legalistic religion in order to know and
follow Jesus.
To live is to change. To
learn and grow demands and creates change. Walking through new doors can be
threatening. Stepping off of familiar ground onto a new path can be scary, but
staying put on trembling sinking ground can be deadly. If the traditional
abusive religious images of Jesus have not worked for you, let go and move on to
something that does.
and make the choice for live
