Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb….—John 20:1
I have worked nightshift for over 9 years and so I have a different routine than most. Rather than sleeping during the night and working during the day I am quite used to the opposite. As such, I get a steady dose of the dark night. The unit where I work has a residential pet named Spot, an Australian shepherd who occassionally steals my food if I’m not careful. In the middle of the night he will wake up from his doggie dreams and come to the office doorway and give me the look that says I need to drop what I’m doing. As he runs around in the backyard I get the chance to look up at the stars in the dark night sky. Darkness for most people can be disturbing or even terrifying. Some may find it peaceful but I assume that that is only the case when one is in a familiar setting or reasonably safe environment.
Typically people think of daytime as the beginning of the day as that is when people wake up and start their activity. Nighttime is the time when people come indoors and end their activity so that they can sleep and get ready for the new day in the morning. Jewish tradition is much different and we see it most clearly in how they honor the Sabbath. Sabbath begins sundown on the 6th day and ends sundown on the 7th. That routine involves beginning with night and ending with the daylight. Why do they have such an odd arrangement to their day? The roots go back to the creation story itself.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
In Genesis we see the regular pattern of evening followed by morning. In the bigger picture we at first see a formless void of darkness but God speaks and light breaks forth. This pattern of night to day is a daily rhythm that testifies to the creative direction since the beginning. Light from the darkness. Life from death.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.—1 Peter 2:9
Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.—Matthew 4:15-16
Earlier I did a post on the suffering of Christ but I want to do one more thing before we arrive at the resurrection. I want to spend some time looking at someone who is very representative of where we find ourselves as Christians from time to time. Let’s look at the situation of Mary on her way to the tomb. This is not some sort of serene and peaceful darkness where Mary finds herself. Inside she is anything but peaceful. I can only imagine the fear, doubt, and grief that flooded her mind as she made her way toward the tomb. I am really good at having those internal conversations or recounting past conversations and so it is easy for me to place myself in her shoes in that sense. I’m sure she is placing the expectations she had alongside of the recent events and wondering where everything went wrong. How do you go from the celebration of Palm Sunday to this? I’m sure the whole thing was a blur. Unanswered questions start piling up with no clear place to start. It was dark.
When you turn the lights out on people there are two universal reactions: fright and freeze. When things go dark it catches people by surprise and you immediately stop what you’re doing because you can’t see and things get complicated. It’s in the dark times in life that it is easy to lose hope, give up, and stop moving forward but that’s not what we see Mary doing. Others are huddled together in hiding, unsure if they will be next if they show themselves. But Mary is making her way to the tomb and facing the one big thing that is to blame for her darkness. Later on she will get to see that amazing moment when darkness turns to light but for now it is dark.
What is your current darkness? What are the areas in life needing light and life to dawn anew? No matter how dark things are, no matter how tough the questions or severe the doubts, don’t give up hope. Don’t stop moving forward. The day is coming.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Suffering and the Perfection of Christ
In my last post I mentioned that when it comes to this particular week on the church calendar my wife and I have different preferences. My wife gets really uneasy about the whole crucifixion part of the narrative and cannot wait for Easter morning to arrive so she can celebrate the risen Lord. My attention for the weeks leading up to Easter is solely on Good Friday as that is what has had the biggest impact on me since a particular Good Friday back when I was in the 7th grade. I will write about that later but for now I want to go through some things that I think are extremely important when it comes to the suffering and death of Christ.
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.—Hebrews 2:10
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.—Hebrews 5:8-9
The thought that Jesus is somehow perfected through suffering is a challenging one. How does what he endured on the way to the cross and on the way to his ultimate death perfect him? Nothing about what we see happening to him in the gospels seems perfect in any way. It all seems so unnecessary and in my head I can’t help but hear one of those infomercial voices saying, "There has to be a better way!". A couple years ago I was going through an online conversation about the incarnation and saw these two verses paired together and they hit me like a ton of bricks.
She wrapped him in cloths and laid him in the manger.—Luke 2:7
Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock.—Luke 23:53
We generally talk about incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, during Christmas because it is there where we see God doing something new. However, these two passages about his birth and his death are what truly bookend and complete the incarnation. The incarnation isn’t complete until God in Jesus experiences the full width, depth, and breadth of humanity. God experienced all that it means to be human and that includes suffering and death. Jesus is the perfect and complete author of salvation because he was fully man that he might represent us and was fully God that he might save us.
Jesus offers us no explanation of suffering but instead offers us his participation of suffering. His participation in suffering allowed for a kind of identification with us that could not have happened otherwise. It was his participation in suffering that powerfully changed my life when I needed it. Years ago, following the funeral of a friend on Good Friday I remembered what day it was and found it puzzling. This was the worst day of my life and was what I presumed to be the worst day of Jesus’ life and I asked God a big question. What possibly could be ‘good’ about this day? The immediate realization/revelation that God in Christ knew all about pain and suffering spoke immediately and profoundly to me in the midst of my pain and suffering. I was not alone in my suffering. You are not alone in yours. Ever.
In the resurrection of Jesus we see that death does not have the final word but we live in the ‘not yet’. Our prayer is still ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ because we know that the day when all will be made right is not yet fully here. Until that day we only see a shadow or reflection of resurrection in the midst of the tremendous suffering and death in our world. But until then we can offer the simple but powerful reassurance that God is with us.
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.—Hebrews 2:10
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.—Hebrews 5:8-9
The thought that Jesus is somehow perfected through suffering is a challenging one. How does what he endured on the way to the cross and on the way to his ultimate death perfect him? Nothing about what we see happening to him in the gospels seems perfect in any way. It all seems so unnecessary and in my head I can’t help but hear one of those infomercial voices saying, "There has to be a better way!". A couple years ago I was going through an online conversation about the incarnation and saw these two verses paired together and they hit me like a ton of bricks.
She wrapped him in cloths and laid him in the manger.—Luke 2:7
Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock.—Luke 23:53
We generally talk about incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, during Christmas because it is there where we see God doing something new. However, these two passages about his birth and his death are what truly bookend and complete the incarnation. The incarnation isn’t complete until God in Jesus experiences the full width, depth, and breadth of humanity. God experienced all that it means to be human and that includes suffering and death. Jesus is the perfect and complete author of salvation because he was fully man that he might represent us and was fully God that he might save us.
Jesus offers us no explanation of suffering but instead offers us his participation of suffering. His participation in suffering allowed for a kind of identification with us that could not have happened otherwise. It was his participation in suffering that powerfully changed my life when I needed it. Years ago, following the funeral of a friend on Good Friday I remembered what day it was and found it puzzling. This was the worst day of my life and was what I presumed to be the worst day of Jesus’ life and I asked God a big question. What possibly could be ‘good’ about this day? The immediate realization/revelation that God in Christ knew all about pain and suffering spoke immediately and profoundly to me in the midst of my pain and suffering. I was not alone in my suffering. You are not alone in yours. Ever.
In the resurrection of Jesus we see that death does not have the final word but we live in the ‘not yet’. Our prayer is still ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ because we know that the day when all will be made right is not yet fully here. Until that day we only see a shadow or reflection of resurrection in the midst of the tremendous suffering and death in our world. But until then we can offer the simple but powerful reassurance that God is with us.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Worship, Participation and the Cross
Whenever I come across a song that really resonates with me I have a tendency to listen to it over and over for a lengthy period of time. My wife started helping lead children’s worship where we attend and so she has a couple music cd’s she is currently working through. A week ago one of the songs got my attention and so my wife had to deal with me playing it repeatedly all week long. On the way to church yesterday morning we listened to it a couple more times. Imagine my utter joy, and my wife’s utter misery, when the first song we sang as a congregation was that same song! The main chorus is a very simple and repetitive "Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God forever." As I sang and as I listened I couldn’t help but feel that in some way the hundreds of people that showed up to church on this particular Sunday morning decided to participate in the worship song that I had been singing all week. This song had been moving long before the congregation showed up to join in.
The truth of the matter is this sort of dynamic is present each and every time we gather for worship. Praise and adoration of God has been sung for forever in the literal sense with no breaks and on repeat as some rather interesting creatures give glory to God. God does not wait for us to strike up the band, warm up the piano seat, or whatever else we do to prepare for worship. Worship does not start with us, wait for us or depend on us and it’s going on whether we like it or not. The big question is whether or not we’ll join in on the song that is being sung. If you want to know the words to this song there are plenty of places in scripture providing the lyrics.
My favorite word recently has been ‘participation’ as I’ve seen that it can be used to describe many of life’s experiences. This past week was the last week of basketball coaching for the year as I coach the guys at work. Participation for us was not a matter of simply showing up but involved us engaging and interacting for practice and games. This participation included struggles and achievements, success and disappointment. Similarly, worship is not something you just show up for and worship is inclusive. It is wide enough to include the whole range of our experiences. Our suffering and our joy as participants are both welcomed as we gather.
I think this range is particularly important as Easter draws close. From the lows of Good Friday (which I’ve always found to be oddly named) to a victorious Easter morning we participate in so many different ways. For my wife the resurrection can’t come soon enough and a few years ago she was overjoyed when we went to a celebratory Easter service just a couple hours after a very solemn Good Friday service. I, on the other hand, find myself fighting to keep the knowledge of Easter morning at bay so as not to detract from what happens at the cross. For those that love reading mystery or thriller novels I can only imagine how much a knowledge of what happens in advance would remove the suspense of the moment.
As I approach Easter this year it seems that there are many that I know who have had to deal up close and personal with death. A father and husband. A wife and mother. A son and brother. A daughter and sister. For the loved ones left to deal with the loss I can’t imagine what an event like Easter stirs up as they hear once again about the death and resurrection of Christ. I remember where I was when the realization that Christ participated in suffering and died sunk in for the first time. Sitting on the floor of my room on a Good Friday following the funeral of a close friend it became clear to me that God is no stranger to suffering and those who suffer.
It seems like forever since I was doing an internship in Indianapolis and staying with a wonderful host family. One Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of the television in the neighboring living room at full volume. Tom, the dad, had come across a song that he fell in love with on a Gaithers VHS tape and needed the television turned all the way up so he could hear it upstairs while he got ready. When the song would finish he would come downstairs, rewind the tape, and the song would once more fill the house. Tom was not alone in his worshipful participation with this song but the rest of us really weren’t willing participants. We were taken captive more than captivated on this particular morning. When I heard that he had passed away I immediately wondered if he was happy with the current volume and intensity of worship.
Whether it be in communion, baptism, or worship, the whole range of our lives is offered up to participate in the song that was sung, is being sung, and will be sung forever, day and night:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.—Revelation 4:8
In joy or in pain we all have the opportunity to worship as we are. The question still remains, "Will we?".
The truth of the matter is this sort of dynamic is present each and every time we gather for worship. Praise and adoration of God has been sung for forever in the literal sense with no breaks and on repeat as some rather interesting creatures give glory to God. God does not wait for us to strike up the band, warm up the piano seat, or whatever else we do to prepare for worship. Worship does not start with us, wait for us or depend on us and it’s going on whether we like it or not. The big question is whether or not we’ll join in on the song that is being sung. If you want to know the words to this song there are plenty of places in scripture providing the lyrics.
My favorite word recently has been ‘participation’ as I’ve seen that it can be used to describe many of life’s experiences. This past week was the last week of basketball coaching for the year as I coach the guys at work. Participation for us was not a matter of simply showing up but involved us engaging and interacting for practice and games. This participation included struggles and achievements, success and disappointment. Similarly, worship is not something you just show up for and worship is inclusive. It is wide enough to include the whole range of our experiences. Our suffering and our joy as participants are both welcomed as we gather.
I think this range is particularly important as Easter draws close. From the lows of Good Friday (which I’ve always found to be oddly named) to a victorious Easter morning we participate in so many different ways. For my wife the resurrection can’t come soon enough and a few years ago she was overjoyed when we went to a celebratory Easter service just a couple hours after a very solemn Good Friday service. I, on the other hand, find myself fighting to keep the knowledge of Easter morning at bay so as not to detract from what happens at the cross. For those that love reading mystery or thriller novels I can only imagine how much a knowledge of what happens in advance would remove the suspense of the moment.
As I approach Easter this year it seems that there are many that I know who have had to deal up close and personal with death. A father and husband. A wife and mother. A son and brother. A daughter and sister. For the loved ones left to deal with the loss I can’t imagine what an event like Easter stirs up as they hear once again about the death and resurrection of Christ. I remember where I was when the realization that Christ participated in suffering and died sunk in for the first time. Sitting on the floor of my room on a Good Friday following the funeral of a close friend it became clear to me that God is no stranger to suffering and those who suffer.
It seems like forever since I was doing an internship in Indianapolis and staying with a wonderful host family. One Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of the television in the neighboring living room at full volume. Tom, the dad, had come across a song that he fell in love with on a Gaithers VHS tape and needed the television turned all the way up so he could hear it upstairs while he got ready. When the song would finish he would come downstairs, rewind the tape, and the song would once more fill the house. Tom was not alone in his worshipful participation with this song but the rest of us really weren’t willing participants. We were taken captive more than captivated on this particular morning. When I heard that he had passed away I immediately wondered if he was happy with the current volume and intensity of worship.
Whether it be in communion, baptism, or worship, the whole range of our lives is offered up to participate in the song that was sung, is being sung, and will be sung forever, day and night:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.—Revelation 4:8
In joy or in pain we all have the opportunity to worship as we are. The question still remains, "Will we?".
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Gun Control and Our Aversion to Helping the Poor
I have been considering sharing my thoughts on the topic of gun control for some time now but decided to wait for a couple reasons. First, I’ve found that it’s really good to let thoughts and ideas marinate a while. It is much more helpful, or flavorful, to let things soak in with the hope that doing so provides a richer outcome. It’s easy to get in a hurry, throw your thoughts into the flood of online opinions, and miss an opportunity to say something that actually stands out a bit. Second, I wanted to avoid my blog being a place where I respond to whatever is current in the news and veer away from some of the guiding principles I have in doing this whole blog thing. It was difficult at first for me to connect a topic like gun control to something like growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Some time has elapsed and some things have come to light that I find pertinent to the here and now while the gun control issue is still being discussed.
I have never been that much of a statistics kind of guy and almost always have a bit of suspicion when stats are thrown all over the place. Agendas have a way of skewing reality and misleading people and there’s no better way than throwing out numbers without citing sources. Stay with me as I go through some of this and I promise I’ll connect it to something worthwhile in the end.
When it comes to murder rates, violent crime rates, or overall crime rates we have access to an excellent compilation of truly helpful data. Local, state and federal enforcement agencies record and track data and we have the ability to see information on a large scale such as a state or on a smaller scale like a neighborhood. Not only that, but we also have this information dating back over decades so we can see important trends. Here’s a nice trend for you: Over the past 20 years the murder and violent crime rate in the U.S. has been cut in half. With all of the talk about how much is wrong right now, something has been going right for the past 20 years. I love it when people mention that Chicago has strict gun control but has a high crime rate. If you follow historical trends you can see that Chicago had a high and rising crime rate long before they passed strict gun legislation. They don’t have high crime because they have strict laws, they have strict laws because they had high crime. The pertinent question then is whether or not the gun control laws helped curb the rising trend and I don’t think there’s much support showing it helped, much less whether or not it has hurt. The argument that removing the restrictions would help lower crime also lacks evidence because they had high and rising crime before they implemented the restrictions. Why didn’t a less restrictive environment prior to the current gun control policy solve the crime issue back then? Ultimately I don’t think gun control laws have the ability to solve what needs to be solved.
A really important question that should be asked is, "Where are the highest proportion of murders and violent crimes occurring?" If these kinds of crimes are localized in any significant way then it would make sense that we should focus our attention there first. Here’s another interesting trend: Murder and violent crime rates are significantly higher, as much as double, in cities with populations of 250,000 or higher. If you go a step further you can actually see where impoverished areas within a city have an even higher rate versus the rest of the city. As I looked at crime rate city maps I was amazed how often low crime rate communities would be in particular groupings while high crime rate communities would be clustered just next door. When they talk about ‘the other side of the tracks’ that is a visible reality. A high proportion of crime happens in highly populated and highly impoverished areas irregardless of the level of gun control. We all know this to be true. We all know the part of town where it’s not the safest to be when it’s dark and where parks aren’t as inviting to play in.
That’s what makes the driving force behind the current gun control talks boggle my mind. The Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown Connecticut was an absolute tragedy but it hinders productive gun control policy. Following this tragedy people were asking how we can keep something like this from happening again. How can we keep a crime like this from happening in an affluent city of 27,000 people? This crime was not the norm in the least and we want a policy to prevent it? How about we come up with something that solves predictable crimes in the predictable portions of our states and cities that constitute a far greater proportion of overall crime than shooting sprees? And when I’m talking about ‘finding solutions’ I’m not referring to gun control policy. Cities and states need to find ways to address these issues but for the remainder of this article my concern is how can the Church address these issues!
There are two major stumbling blocks that I see when it comes to the church’s response to communities in need. The first is pretty obvious in light of what has been discussed. Isn’t it inconvenient that the poor happen to reside in areas that are dangerous? Helping the poor just might involve risk and I think that keeps people from actually helping. I can’t emphasize this point too strongly. It will NEVER be convenient to help the poor. It will be a risky venture but it is one we are clearly called to do. People have been avoiding certain parts of town for far too long and we are seeing the results. This has got to stop and if we do get over this hurdle I think we can see more measurable improvements than any piece of legislation could ever hope to accomplish.
The other stumbling block is one that I am entirely guilty of and have been for a while. The issue is a false identification of oneself as ‘poor’. Rather than identifying ‘with’ the poor we identify ‘as’ the poor. There are no doubt people who should properly identify themselves as poor but what’s ironic is some of those very people wouldn’t even think of themselves as poor. Recently my pastor returned from a large group trip to Kenya where they did a variety of service projects. One thing that he mentioned was how amazing it was that people who literally had nothing acted and worshiped as if they had all they needed. Far too often there are those of us who do actually have all we need to live but worship, or give, or complain like we don’t. It’s time for many of us to stop thinking of ourselves when we read in scripture about the poor. We need to get off of ourselves and think of who the poor are, where the poor are and how we can help. When we falsely identify ourselves as poor we will never have the eyes to see the truly poor in our midst. God’s economy is one of abundance. The issue is distribution and whether or not we’ll help in the delivery.
I have never been that much of a statistics kind of guy and almost always have a bit of suspicion when stats are thrown all over the place. Agendas have a way of skewing reality and misleading people and there’s no better way than throwing out numbers without citing sources. Stay with me as I go through some of this and I promise I’ll connect it to something worthwhile in the end.
When it comes to murder rates, violent crime rates, or overall crime rates we have access to an excellent compilation of truly helpful data. Local, state and federal enforcement agencies record and track data and we have the ability to see information on a large scale such as a state or on a smaller scale like a neighborhood. Not only that, but we also have this information dating back over decades so we can see important trends. Here’s a nice trend for you: Over the past 20 years the murder and violent crime rate in the U.S. has been cut in half. With all of the talk about how much is wrong right now, something has been going right for the past 20 years. I love it when people mention that Chicago has strict gun control but has a high crime rate. If you follow historical trends you can see that Chicago had a high and rising crime rate long before they passed strict gun legislation. They don’t have high crime because they have strict laws, they have strict laws because they had high crime. The pertinent question then is whether or not the gun control laws helped curb the rising trend and I don’t think there’s much support showing it helped, much less whether or not it has hurt. The argument that removing the restrictions would help lower crime also lacks evidence because they had high and rising crime before they implemented the restrictions. Why didn’t a less restrictive environment prior to the current gun control policy solve the crime issue back then? Ultimately I don’t think gun control laws have the ability to solve what needs to be solved.
A really important question that should be asked is, "Where are the highest proportion of murders and violent crimes occurring?" If these kinds of crimes are localized in any significant way then it would make sense that we should focus our attention there first. Here’s another interesting trend: Murder and violent crime rates are significantly higher, as much as double, in cities with populations of 250,000 or higher. If you go a step further you can actually see where impoverished areas within a city have an even higher rate versus the rest of the city. As I looked at crime rate city maps I was amazed how often low crime rate communities would be in particular groupings while high crime rate communities would be clustered just next door. When they talk about ‘the other side of the tracks’ that is a visible reality. A high proportion of crime happens in highly populated and highly impoverished areas irregardless of the level of gun control. We all know this to be true. We all know the part of town where it’s not the safest to be when it’s dark and where parks aren’t as inviting to play in.
That’s what makes the driving force behind the current gun control talks boggle my mind. The Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown Connecticut was an absolute tragedy but it hinders productive gun control policy. Following this tragedy people were asking how we can keep something like this from happening again. How can we keep a crime like this from happening in an affluent city of 27,000 people? This crime was not the norm in the least and we want a policy to prevent it? How about we come up with something that solves predictable crimes in the predictable portions of our states and cities that constitute a far greater proportion of overall crime than shooting sprees? And when I’m talking about ‘finding solutions’ I’m not referring to gun control policy. Cities and states need to find ways to address these issues but for the remainder of this article my concern is how can the Church address these issues!
There are two major stumbling blocks that I see when it comes to the church’s response to communities in need. The first is pretty obvious in light of what has been discussed. Isn’t it inconvenient that the poor happen to reside in areas that are dangerous? Helping the poor just might involve risk and I think that keeps people from actually helping. I can’t emphasize this point too strongly. It will NEVER be convenient to help the poor. It will be a risky venture but it is one we are clearly called to do. People have been avoiding certain parts of town for far too long and we are seeing the results. This has got to stop and if we do get over this hurdle I think we can see more measurable improvements than any piece of legislation could ever hope to accomplish.
The other stumbling block is one that I am entirely guilty of and have been for a while. The issue is a false identification of oneself as ‘poor’. Rather than identifying ‘with’ the poor we identify ‘as’ the poor. There are no doubt people who should properly identify themselves as poor but what’s ironic is some of those very people wouldn’t even think of themselves as poor. Recently my pastor returned from a large group trip to Kenya where they did a variety of service projects. One thing that he mentioned was how amazing it was that people who literally had nothing acted and worshiped as if they had all they needed. Far too often there are those of us who do actually have all we need to live but worship, or give, or complain like we don’t. It’s time for many of us to stop thinking of ourselves when we read in scripture about the poor. We need to get off of ourselves and think of who the poor are, where the poor are and how we can help. When we falsely identify ourselves as poor we will never have the eyes to see the truly poor in our midst. God’s economy is one of abundance. The issue is distribution and whether or not we’ll help in the delivery.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Looking Like Jesus
American Family Photo Jesus.
I recently saw a video clip portraying the life of Jesus that caught me totally off guard. I’ve seen numerous portrayals of Jesus over the years but this one got my full attention for one distinct reason. The actor didn’t look anything like me. He also didn’t look like the thousands of images I’ve seen in my life on everything from bookmarks to beautiful stained glass windows. The actor was clearly middle-eastern and had black hair in contrast to the brown haired and European looking fellow I usually see. I would venture that if I had walked in on this video clip in a context other than a church it may have taken me a little while to realize who this character even was. And chances are I would have felt foolish for not recognizing him sooner. Contrast this clip with the flyer slid under my doorway yesterday and you end up with me blogging about what Jesus looks like. I recognized the Jesus on the flyer instantaneously even though I wasn’t in a church context. He matched so many previous depictions that I was immediately familiar with him. Isn’t it crazy that the Jesus I recognize most easily as Jesus is the one that is the least accurate? The big question this flyer raised for me was "How did this happen?". How did Jesus get transformed from a Galilean to a European? I am not an art history buff but I’m guessing that art has a lot to do with how we see Jesus currently. Somewhere along the line a popular guy made his depiction of Jesus. That image stuck and has influenced much of what followed despite the inaccuracies of the popular guys depiction.
I’m not surprised in the least at this kind of development. We have a way of crafting things into our own image so we can see what we like to see. People are generally more accepting of people who seem familiar. A guy who looks like he might be your Uncle Joe or your own father is much easier to accept and have a relationship with. The best way to break past people’s barriers in regard to Jesus is to portray him in ways that are non-threatening and inoffensive. The image and story of Jesus get reshaped as we smooth out the rough edges, soften the hard teachings and do some airbrushing so we have a product we can accept and live with. The final product is a Jesus who looks like us, talks like us and lives like us.
This is a complete fabrication and we all know it. Over the past few years light has been shed on how much the models on magazine covers have been altered. People are immediately skeptical of videos and pictures online due to the ease in which people can alter them. Our world knows everything there is to know about ‘fake’ and has no problem calling things out for what they are. When the church attempts to package Jesus into what she thinks is a sellable product it is shown for what it is. Church folk may be fine living with a Jesus who looks like us but it is of no help to this world.
The more I try to follow Jesus the more I realize how much I don’t look like him at all. Perhaps that’s why I find a bit of comfort when I see him portrayed by someone who doesn’t look like me. I don’t look like Jesus. I don’t talk like Jesus. I don’t love like Jesus. There is an unbelievable amount of tension between who I am currently and who I am called to be as a disciple of Jesus Christ. That’s where his disciples live, in that tension. It’s in that tension that I hear once again the call laid forth in the verse guiding this blog:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.-- 2 Peter 3:18
As a disciple I am called to grow and I’ve got plenty of areas needing growth. Ultimately I am to grow into the likeness of Christ and the more I grow, the more I look like him. The apostle Paul puts himself in a scary position when he tells the church in Corinth to follow his example as he ‘follows the example of Christ’. (I Corinthians 11:1) Not only is he trying to do the impossible task of looking like Jesus, but he’s also trying to do it knowing there are a whole host of people watching his attempt. I can give you a list of some people I’d recommend you follow if you’re wanting to imitate Christ but I’m not on it.
Jesus walked through this world in a way that stood out because it ran counter to our kingdoms and in line with The Kingdom. The temptation is to take that standard of living he displayed and polish it down into something more humanly possible and that fits into how we want to live. When we make Jesus look like us rather than attempt to look like Jesus we miss the opportunity to see the impossible happen. When the church looks like Jesus this world will be turned upside down. Our world recognizes real deal disciples when it sees them. And how will they be recognized?
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.—John 13:35
Looking like Jesus is about loving like Jesus.
Here are a few of the photos I found interesting and had to add titles to them:
6 Pack Jesus
Surfer Jesus
Aragorn Jesus
Monty Python Jesus (edit out horse and add coconut knocking)
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