Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
A simple question perhaps. And yet my experience leads me to say that a lot of people might actually be confused by who stepped forward in response to it.
I, like many of you I'm sure, interact with Jesus daily. I also interact about Jesus daily. Those might be the same thing, but there is probably a subtle difference. What has struck me consistently over the past few years is how often in my interactions, with Jesus and about Jesus, myself or another person seems to be confused about the real Jesus.
I would venture to suggest that if the things I hear in conversation, read on social media, and see from many of those near me who follow this Jesus are true, than this is the Jesus we should all expect to meet soon.
I hope that most, if not all of you, cringed a little at that. (Spoiler alert we aren't done)
What has become increasingly harder for me to swallow is all the ways in which I see the person-hood of Jesus hijacked everyday. Not by non-religious folks mind you, but by those hard-working, God-fearing, Christians who fill auditoriums every Sunday to worship. Many of my brothers and sisters who fall in this category seem to believe that a follower of Jesus looks like a good American. The reason for this is, at some point in the past (let's be fair many points) the actions of our secular nation seemed to line up with what a good follower of Jesus should look like.
Or what the most vocal religious leaders told us a good follower of Jesus looked like.
I'm not here to argue the validity of any of those claims. I see little value in that. Sadly, until someone donates a TARDIS to me, I have no way of changing any of that. We should be aware that not every action from the past that looked Christ-like at the time was. What I'm more interested in is raising your awareness to, at the very least, acknowledge that in many ways our King's image has been stolen and used to peddle materialism, nationalism, individualism and a host of other "ism's."
Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
There is so much confusion about the real Jesus, that during the days following the Haiti earthquake a stark contrast was seen. While many vocal religious leaders in our country spoke about God's judgment on a sinful nation, an adult establishment in Ohio posted this:
Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
The animated show "American Dad" produced an episode in their fifth season entitled: Rapture's Delight. This episode depicts a mocking enactment of the second coming of Christ. Featuring a war between humanity and demons, the lead character's wife dating Jesus (he can date this time around), and every good follower of Jesus receiving their own personal heaven.
Obviously this is hyperbolic and latches on to the worst things that have been claimed about Jesus. Can you blame them? I can't. It is not the fault of others if we don't even know what Jesus looks like.
There is an old "Mad TV" video that is kind of funny called: Jesus vs. Terminator. (Warning: some viewers might find this content a bit sacrilegious)
Again, there is a mixture of confusion and mockery in this portrayal of Jesus. But is that not to be a little expected when those who claim to follow Jesus don't know what He looks like.
"SNL" released their own version of an alternate history for Jesus following director Quentin Tarantino's recent film. They called their piece: DJesus Uncrossed. (Warning: contains graphic violence and graphic language)
While this obviously doesn't reflect how Jesus actually chose to interact with this world, it does come strikingly close to what some of those who claim to follow him look like. What I see more and more is Christians who are good at using scripture to justify their existing positions. What they fail to do is allow it (what they claim to be the very word of God) to change them to actually look like Jesus.
Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?
Herein lies the real place of christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming to close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
- Soren Kierkegaard "Provocations" p. 201-202
Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
But maybe there is hope. Perhaps if you and I can agree that we should take the words of Jesus seriously. If we all decided to just follow no matter what the cost to ourselves. If we stopped hiding behind our human reasoning and really let God act on our lives. Maybe some of the confusion can be lifted. Perhaps a few people might see Jesus, finally. So, if you'll indulge me one more time I'd like to revise my question...
Will the real followers of the real Jesus Christ please stand up?
