WHICH JESUS? 4/29/08
by SteveBrian McLaren, in his new book, Everything Must Change, has a chapter titled “Which Jesus?” In it, he talks about all the various images of Jesus there are in our world today. In my own reading and study, I’ve discovered that there are about as many Jesuses as there are books about him. Some of them tell of the sweet, gentle Jesus who just told everyone to be nice, good, and loving. That Jesus would never have aroused much passion or excitement, and those sentiments certainly would not have gotten him killed.
Others tell of a fiery wizard, a frightening prophet warning of imminent destruction and damnation. Still others descibe a social revolutionary who was always fighting for the underdog. Others present him as the ultimate celebrity…Jesus Christ, Superstar.
The question is, who’s right? Is he best understood as a kind-hearted magician? A teacher of good living? A stern law-giver? A angry rabble rouser? Take your pick, go to the library and find plenty of writers who will back you up.
McLaren’s contention, and my firm belief, is that the emerging view of Jesus, which is based on careful study of the Gospels, is that Jesus’ true nature is love and grace rather than violence and domination, and that Jesus’ message, rather than being about himself, is primarily about the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that Kingdom is here and now, invited us to participate in it, and told us not to carry a staff (weapon). More about what that means tomorrow.
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I am very moved by this idea, to participate in the Kingdom of God. But I am frankly unnerved by the call to leave the staff behind. Leave behind my security?
Also this phrase from Mark 6:
“Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil[b] spirits.
8These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.”
I am not concerned about the ‘except a staff’ part, but the ‘take no food nor clothes, more than what’s on yer back’ part.
I find this difficult to imagine, let alone do! Let myself become vulnerable? Poor? Dependent on the kindness of strangers? I don’t see many of us doing this today.
How and why should I step out of my comforable life?
Is more required than my charity? My courtesy and compassion?
I’m not sure that Jesus’ directions to the original 12 apply to us without making adjustments for our times. The originals probably didn’t have much more than the clothes on their backs, since they were all of peasant stock. These directions, it seems to me, are very specific to the 12, but the spirit of them is certainly applicable to us…take only what you need, learn to get by on what you have…that way we have more to share with those who have nothing.