Everyone Misunderstands Jesus Except You

Paul admonished Timothy and the early Church that someday something terrible was going to happen: those who once followed Jesus would decide instead to deliberately turn away from genuine discipleship. If that were not insidious enough, they would choose teachers who would validate their new theology and ideology, whatever it was. How hypocritical can you get?

Its happened. It must have. Because there are lots and lots of people that claim to be disciples of Christ, but who believe something different than you do. So they must be wayward. They are obviously following someone other than Jesus. If this were not the case, they would think like you and act like you. But rest assured--you are right and they are wrong. Now your job is to make sure that they know it. So start yelling at them a lot. If they start yelling back, yell louder. If you yell load enough, they will stop yelling and listen. Exhibit emotional abuse. Write lots of editorials that demonize them. Build lots and lots of walls. Objectify. Discriminate. Repeat. Don't bother to recycle. Did I mention yell a lot?

For those who do not have to listen to me every Sunday morning, you have just been victimized by my trademark irony.

Paul warned that one day followers of Jesus turn from following Jesus to following something else. What is worse, followers of Jesus would start finding teachers that mirrored their own theologies and ideologies, and would start calling it following Jesus. Its happening, and its been happening. I don't think its ever not been happening. And not to those people out there who believe different things than us. I mean you. Yes, you, Mr./Ms. Hip-Blogosphere Latte person. And I mean me. We all create Jesus in our own image and likeness. We all seek after the Jesus who already thinks like us and acts like us, and then we find him and are self assured in our discipleship.

So let's get over ourselves and let the Holy Spirit enter in. Lets be still and let God be God and transform us from the inside out. Lets be humble and let go of the blaming and the finger pointing and the yelling and seek Jesus, the real Jesus, the Jesus who is very much not like us and not in our image. The Jesus who won't fit into comfortable ideological categories. That Jesus. Because that Jesus can take the world with all its racism and poverty and injustice and can make it reflect the world that God wants.