Gentle Jesus?

 When you think of Jesus, what comes to your mind?

A lightly tanned man with a sculpted beard and long flowing locks of hair that would make Fabio jealous? Bright piercing blue eyes that see your soul? Is he holding a lamb or gazing at the sky?

https://adam4d.com/which-jesus/

We tend to think of Jesus as sweet or meek and mild. In Your God Is Too Small, author J.B Phillips says this about a meek and mild god:

“This word “mild” is apparently deliberately used to describe a man who did not hesitate to challenge and expose the hypocrisies of the religious people of His day: a man who had such “personality” that He walked unscathed through a murderous crowd; a man so far from being a nonentity that He was regarded by the authorities as a public danger; a man who could be moved to violent anger by shameless exploitation or smug complacent orthodoxy; a man of such courage that He deliberately walked to what He knew would mean death, despite the earnest please of well meaning friends.

“Jesus Christ might well be called “meek,” in the sense of being selfless and humble and utterly devoted to what He considered right, whatever the personal cost; but “mild,” never!” 

PG 27

“He taught men not to sit in judgment upon one another, but He never suggested that they should turn a blind eye to evil or pretend other people were faultless. He Himself indulged no roseate visions of human nature: He “knew what was in man,” as St. John tersely puts it.”

“To speak the truth was obviously more important than to make His hearers comfortable: though, equally obviously, His genuine love for men gave Him tact, wisdom and sympathy. He was Love in action, but He was not meek and mild.”

PG 29-30

I want you to look at the Old Testament, and every time you see “the angel of the LORD,” put Jesus’ name there. That’s pre-incarnate Jesus. 

He saved Hagar and Ishmael, told Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac, and spoke to Moses from the burning bush. 

Jesus met Balaam with a sword in his hand. The donkey had the sense to stop. 

Jesus blessed Jael for driving a spike through an enemy’s head. 

As Commander of Yahweh’s army, he met Joshua and told him he was not on the side of Israel when Joshua asked whose side he was on. Jesus said he’s all about the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus spoke to young Samuel before he became the mighty prophet and judge that anointed Saul and David. 

In 1st Kings, he brought Elijah food and told him to prophesy against Ahab.

Later, the Assyrians had Jerusalem surrounded, and it looked like Jesus killed 185,000 soldiers one night, as chronicled in 2nd Kings. 

Zechariah had Heaven’s riders reporting to Jesus, who prayed for mercy on Israel, rebuked Satan, and restored the current High Priest. 

That’s the Old Covenant, you may think. But, Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.“

There is an important thing to remember: Jesus is God of the Son. Therefore, he can administer justice in ways we cannot, like with 185,000 soldiers. 

I looked at Jesus in the book of Luke. What kind of man was he emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and self-identity? 

Emotionally

Jesus’ forty-day fast in the desert while facing down Satan shows his resilience and self-control. We get hangry if we miss more than one meal. 

Jesus boldly and consistently confronted spiritual evil. One time he stared down 1,000 demons at one time. 

Yet he’s also gentle with the broken and humble. In the Gospel of John, he cried at his friend’s tomb. Then he shouted at him to stop being dead and come out. 

When people are being foolish, Jesus will be firm (Luke 9). He yelled at a synagogue leader who told people not to come to be healed on the Sabbath. That’s like Jesus yelling at your pastor. 

When King Herod Antipas wanted to kill Jesus, messengers came to tell him. Jesus told them to say to him it’s not his time to die. 

Yet, Jesus laments over Jerusalem’s hard-heartedness. He gives second chances to people, even those considered society’s dregs. 

Jesus mourns unrepentance. 

We see his self-control when he’s arrested. Jesus is holding back. He could have stopped it with ease. Instead, Heaven’s army is at his beck and call, if he doesn’t handle them like the 185,000. 

Then at the trial, he kept his composure and forgave personal offenses. 

Jesus was self-assured, self-controlled, and in touch with his emotional side. But he wasn’t driven by it. 

Relationally

Jesus helps those who ask for help and those who don’t. If some interrupted him while he was in a hurry, he’d help them too. He prioritized people and elevated women. 

When culture saw kids as an inconvenience, he loved and blessed them, rebuking his disciples who saw them as a bother. 

Jesus didn’t show partiality. 

When verbally challenged, he’d respond with questions, his responses deliberate and cunning, turning the tables on his adversaries. 

Jesus would entertain questions if the crowd could learn from them but would call out his questioners for what they were (Luke 20). He used teaching moments but also raised his voice in correcting moments. But not always. At times, he corrected with an analogy. 

Jesus raised his voice with a group of self-righteous Pharisees. Still, at dinner with an arrogant, ungracious member of the group, he quietly put him on blast. 

Jesus knew he was divisive. He offended the righteous moralists by eating with the bad and was honest with the sinners about them being sinners. 

Jesus would raise his voice, warn people, and call people out as bad examples when explaining things. 

Once, he was invited to dinner. While there, he healed a man, then told everyone how they could be better, humble themselves, and invite those who couldn’t return the favor. 

Jesus was upfront and transparent about the cost of following him. He wouldn’t stay where he wasn’t welcome. 

Could we get away with this? Yelling at people, calling it like it is—that sounds fun. 

Let’s look at the spiritual side of Jesus and see part of the reason he could do that.

Spiritually

Jesus understood the whole of Scripture and its application of it. He used quotes from it as counterattacks when tempted. He also prayed before big decisions and made time to rest and spend time with God. 

He gave glory to God, not seeking it for himself. Because of this, God glorified him. 

Jesus knew who he was, whose he was, and put it out there. He set boundaries and wouldn’t compromise the mission. Jesus drew a line in the sand, saying you’re either with him or against him (Luke 11). 

Then he gave his life to save us, giving everyone a lifetime of chances to come to him as savior and King. Jesus died for friends and enemies alike. 

Three days later, he got up and walked out of the tomb. He was done being dead. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ll stay on his side. As we’ve seen, when I stray, he has no issue with correcting me before restoring me. 

Jesus Is A Virtue Ethicist

 Which is better? Simple compliance or wanting to do something based on your character? 

Christianity is believed to be just a bunch of rules. I think Jesus takes it deeper, to the level of virtue ethics. 

The prophets foretold a new covenant where instead of following an outside law, that law is internalized inside you by God. He turns our bent towards evil to a tendency towards good. (1)

Jesus gives examples of this in the Sermon on the Mount. 

An easy one, don’t murder anyone—one of the big ten. However, Jesus says don’t even be mad enough to want someone dead. It’s not so easy now. By this standard, I’m a murderer. 

Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life podcast is going through the passage and he says if you even dismiss someone, it’s the same as killing them. You have to listen to it for context.

Our actions have to line up with our underlying intent. Begrudging obedience isn’t obedience. It’s compliance to keep the rules and/or peace. 

James, whose book in the Bible draws heavily from the Sermon on the Mount, says, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (2)

Like the commandment to not commit adultery. Even the desire to have sex with someone other than your spouse is a sin. Intent is once again as bad as action. Fantasizing is in view here, not our natural interest in the other sex. 

Is God a buzzkill?

No, what God forbids is destructive outside his boundaries. We should do everything we can to remove the temptation or our triggers. 

Keeping in line with virtue ethics, people swear oaths or vows on something other than their own honesty. I’m immediately skeptical if someone says “I swear” or “I promise.” 

There’s a movie called Open Range, where one character said if you pay attention, a person will tell you their bad intentions. Why are they promising not to do that? 

They just revealed their evil intentions. 

Jesus says our “yes” and “no” are enough. If we’re people of integrity, who are always honest and follow through, then people will know when we say something, it will happen. 

Like a meme my Uncle Mike posted that said, “I don’t trust words. I even question actions. But I never doubt patterns.”

Do your patterns say you can be trusted? 

Theologically, in the passage, our word is all we have. We control nothing else but our actions. 

Intent and motives are two sides of the same coin. Later in the Sermon, Jesus spoke about how the Pharisees made a show of how religious they were. It became a lesson in motives. were they trying to please and impress men or God? (3)

Doing good for appearances’ sake gains no reward from God. An Instagram post of you taking a selfie with the homeless man you gave a sandwich to so you can virtue signal and get likes is a good thing on the surface. 

The motive of “look at me being a good person” isn’t the right one. What should our reasons be?

Pure, for the pleasure of it and as a response to God’s love. In fact, try to do your good deeds in secret, with no thought of reward. 

Christ-followers aren’t supposed to say look at me; we’re to say look at our King, our God. Do things to make God look good; take no credit. “This is from God, He told me to do this.”

Ask yourself, would I still do this if no one was watching?

(1) Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27

(2) James 1:14-15

(3) Galatians 1:10

Do We Look Like Jesus or the World?

 I look at my social media feeds and watch the hate and disinformation fly. I’ve heard someone say they follow Q of QaNon. That person claims to follow Jesus. 

You either follow Jesus exclusively or not at all. 

This gets to my next point in this overly-politicized time. Christians are making America an idol. It’s called Christian Nationalism.

The Church—born-again believers worldwide—are a separate nation called the Kingdom of God. We’re to be salt and light instead of just salty. 

Our mission is to get more people into that nation.

As I said in an earlier post, we’re not of this world. We’re just in it, passing through. 

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:15-17

Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount gives what some call the Constitution of the Church. Notice the keywords in Matthew 5:1-2:

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”

Not the public, his followers. The Sermon on the Mount is for Christians.

You may say that everyone is just messing up, or it would be better to follow Jesus.

Amen to that. However, I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t follow Jesus to act like a Christian. I expect Christians to act like Christians. 

Here’s a quote from a book I’m reviewing on Friday.

“Dallas Willard was once asked why Christians are so mean. He responded by saying that Christians tend to be mean to the degree that they value being right over being like Christ. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, of course, but we can make them that way when instead of receiving the words of Jesus and the writings of Paul as love letters from God to those who are chosen and loved, we use them as verbal weapons to wage war against people who don’t yet believe. I don’t want you to rush by that last sentence. 

God’s directives and “rules” in the New Testament aren’t intended to be verbal grenades that we lob at people who don’t believe. When someone doesn’t accept Jesus’ authority, we can’t expect them to listen to what the Bible teaches. When God has won over our hearts, we understand that his revealed words regarding appropriate behavior are birthed in love and ultimately given for our best interests. We won’t love God’s words until we first love God, so keep first things first. Taunting people even with the truth can become toxic in a controlling sort of way. It’s still taunting. Methods matter.”

Don’t antagonize people purposely. It’s like Ellen Page changing their name to Elliot Page. That raised a stink. 

It doesn’t matter; call them by whatever they want to be called. The goal is to win people, not make a point. 

In the Corinthian Church, they had a guy having sex with his stepmom. They were okay with it. But they were condemning people outside the church for sin. Paul wasn’t happy. 

Why? Because while Christians are a work in progress, we still have a standard to reach. We won’t reach it until we die, but every decision is a step toward it or away. 

This guy was unrepentant, so Paul said kick him out. 

The guy repented. The Corinthians asked what to do now. In 2nd Corinthians 2, Paul said welcome him back and comfort him. Reconciliation is always the goal. 

Paul said this about the Church compared to the world: 

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12-13

Worry less about the state of affairs in America and more about the state of affairs in the Church. Do we look like Jesus or the culture?

Because if we look like the culture, why would they bother to come to Jesus as we represent Him since they have what they want now?

Jesus Isn’t For America

 The first week of January was crazy and enlightening. If anyone doubted the cult status of Trump, they didn’t after. Even leading evangelicals doubled down on support, and it reflects on Jesus. 

It’s bad enough that evangelical Christians are a voting block, even though they’re not all born-again Christians but cultural Christians. We all get painted with the same brush.

Then there is the idolatry that is Trump worship or nationalism taking over people’s lives. It made one friend state they were walking away from God because of these Christian leaders. 

It reminded me of Peter asking Jesus about John. 

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is it to you? You must follow me.” John 21:20-22

What is it to you? You must follow me.

Does that mean we say nothing? First, we have to remove the speck from our eye. If you’ve pre-judged any of the other sides and haven’t said anything about your side, don’t speak. 

In evaluating issues, I like what Peter Kreeft said about Jesus in politics. Jesus is the measuring rod, the center, and human agendas and parties are left or right of Him. He doesn’t conform to them; they must conform to Him. 

Jesus isn’t for America. He’s for the Kingdom of God.

Jesus isn’t a Democrat. He isn’t a Republican. 

Jesus is the King, the Lord of Lords. If you claim to follow Him, then the Sermon on the Mount is your Constitution. Take up your cross and follow Him. Don’t worry about the other’s not acting right. 

You do right. 

If we do that right, then we’ll be salt and light. Then the next time someone sees a Jesus 2020 flag at a riot, they won’t say, “I knew Christians were just like us.”

They’ll say that person isn’t representing Jesus. 

I’ll paraphrase what one of my pastors said the weekend after the riots from my notes and the notes of my friend Brian’s as well.

Don’t ever assume we have godly leaders. Corrupt systems shouldn’t be our hope. Spoiler alert, any system invented by man is corrupt or will be soon. 

Both sides reach for more power, and when the other side gets into power, they don’t give the power back. They reach for more. 

If we align ourselves with evil, it will become more and more attractive. If we compromise to get what we want, then that compromise will be stronger than the desire. And if the person or structure/system we compromise is evil, then we have given evil a foothold in our life. 

Jesus called out people’s sin and religious people’s sin. The prophets in the Old Testament made a job of it. 

They usually weren’t popular. The kings had their own prophets, and God had his. Isaiah was a prophet of the king and the King, until a bad king took the throne. Then Isaiah’s speaking truth got him sawed in half. 

John the Baptist challenged the immorality of King Herod and was beheaded. None of the Jewish religious leaders said a word. 

Why? Because it was the Herod Dynasty that put that particular bunch into power.

I’ll close with the personal application question we were asked. Where in my life have I remained silent because of the opportunities I gain by staying silent?

Where have you compromised?

Your God Is Too Small; A Book Review

 In 2016 I bought a book that challenged the stereotypes we have for God and Jesus. I’ve since read it twice. The author, J.B. Phillips, says our concept of God is too small. He is actually much larger.

Your God is Too Small; A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike

“The trouble with many of us today, writes J.B. Phillips, is that we have not found a God big enough for our modern needs. In varying degrees we suffer from a limited idea of God. Phillips exposes such inadequate conceptions of God as “Resident Policeman, ” “Grand Old Man, ” “Meek-and-Mild, ” and “Managing Director, ” and explores ways in which we can find a truly meaningful and constructive God for ourselves.”

Part One deals with destructive concepts—unreal gods. Like their conscience is the voice of God, or thinking God is exactly like our parents. 

Here’s a quote from thinking of God as a grand old man in the sky.

“They respect the Grand Old Man and His peculiarities, but they feel no inclination to worship Him as the living God.”

We think of Jesus as meek and mild, standing, holding a lamb, while staring into the distance. J.B. asks why “mild?” 

“This word “mild” is apparently deliberately used to describe a man who did not hesitate to challenge and expose the hypocrisies of the religious people of his day: a man who had such “personality” that He walked unscathed through a murderous crowd: a man so far from being a nonentity that He was regarded by the authorities as a public danger; a man who could be moved to violent anger by shameless exploitation or by smug complacent orthodoxy; a man of such courage that He deliberately walked to what He knew would mean death, despite the earnest pleas of well-meaning friends.”

“Jesus Christ might well be called “meek” in the sense of being selfless and humble and utterly devoted to what He considered right, whatever the personal cost; but “mild,” never!”

I like this quote later on…

“God will inevitably appear to disappoint the man who is attempting to use Him as a convenience, a prop, or a comfort, for his own plans. God has never been known to disappoint the man who is sincerely wanting to cooperate with His own purposes.”

Phillips then says Part One’s point isn’t to just add to your concept of God but to help break down the preconceptions so you can see God. That’s what he begins to do in Part Two. 

He builds his argument over the chapters I’ll list now. Because I highlighted heavily here and even wrote a post or two because of this book. 

• God Unfocused
• A Clue to Reality
• Further Clues to Reality
• Is There a Focused God?
• If God Were Focused (1)
• If God Were Focused (2)
• Has A Arrived?
• Life’s Basic Principles (1)
• Life’s Basic Principles (2)
• Further Basic Questions
• Christ and the Question of Sin
• Satisfactory Reconciliation
• Demonstration with the Enemy
• The Abolition of Death
• Theory into Practice
• Summary

The book is only 124 pages long. While writing this review, I want to read it for the third time. 

Because of that, it gets a rare 6-star rating. To date, only Immediate Obedience has earned that. 

Recommend it to all Christians and people who think they know God but don’t.