Modern Jesus vs Biblical Jesus 3

            Teachings regarding the Modern Jesus tell us that Jesus serves our will, not God’s will; plus, He hates to offend anyone. Frankly, that sounds preposterous. Jesus Himself sought His father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, after first asking the cup that He was about to drink be taken away. He knew what must be one; however, He was able to know what was about to take place and in His humanity, wished to avoid it. What a horrible vision to have; to see in your mind’s eye that which was going to be happening to you in graphic detail. To me, it is perfectly understandable to be hesitant, though only for a moment.

            There’s nowhere in the New Testament that even insinuates that Jesus was concerned about offending anyone. While He never went out of His way to be critical, if the situation warranted it, as with the religious leaders, He was bound to tell the truth in spite of anyone’s feelings. Anyone who was offended was more than likely guilty of doing the very thing Jesus was speaking about.

            In reality, the Biblical Jesus regularly exalted His Father’s will. He does not live to serve us. To believe that Jesus serves us is to believe a false teaching. He also doesn’t go out with the purpose of being offensive, but by its very nature, the truth ends up being highly offensive to those who are resistant to it.

            This whole Modern Jesus kick is, as I see it, an effort to marginalize and humanize Jesus at the expense of His deity and God’s perfect and perpetual will. To not accept the Bible for what it proclaims itself to be, along with not portraying Jesus as He is in scripture, smacks of deconstruction, which is a “thing” that is happening among Christians. That “movement”, though not officially declared as such, leads me to believe that while any Christian is susceptible to it, those who have more questions than answers, and more doubts than acceptance, have gotten sucked into this delusion. Rather than taking the time to seek out proper answers, they use their doubts to catapult themselves into a realm of confusion and continued misunderstanding. I know and understand all too well that some things in God’s economy simply aren’t understandable and answers, at times, simply aren’t there. To take that as a sign that either God isn’t real, or His Word is compromised is weak. Some folks are not willing to put their belief in something they cannot prove out. Was their conversion real? That is not for me to say. God is the judge; we are His conduits ... ambassadors of the gospel message. Modern Jesus isn’t real. It is a perversion of the truth.

            There is no such thing as “old-fashioned” within the realm of Christianity. And there’s nothing wrong with being traditional, as long as the traditions are biblical in nature. There is no need to modernize the beliefs of Christianity because some folks say they seem antiquated. The truth is the truth and there is only one truth. The truth of God. You can choose not to believe that, not realizing that God Himself gives you the free will right now to not believe. Whenever you choose to either believe or not believe, know why you’re making that decision. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries