Worldview. Preconceptions. Lens. Perspective.
These have become pretty popular buzz words in the Christian community over the course of the last couple decades. Everyone is very much aware of the worldviews of individuals and the resulting preconceptions that those encourage. Sometimes I wonder if we've maybe missed the fact that those terms go beyond which religion you're a part of to the very heart of every idea we have as human beings.
Today I'd like to talk a little bit about our perspective when it comes to Jesus. You see, I feel like when it comes to Jesus, those of us Christians who have been part of the church since before we can remember tend to have rather... inaccurate portraits. We have built ourselves a comfortable... well I guess a good term for it would be the Jesus-sphere. We have our Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies now even, and I think that we can lose sight of some important facts when we get lost inside of the Christian culture we've created.
The band Downhere has a great song (I'll link to a video of it at the end of this post, and yes I realize the irony of critiquing our Christian culture using a Christian song) called "The Real Jesus". The song talks about all the places that Jesus shows up in our culture today and all the different roles that he plays, and I think it really brings up a great point.
Who is the real Jesus? Moving beyond the reformed-liberal, cessationist-charismatic, catholic-protestant, so on and so forth debates, which do have an importance but I don't think so much for this particular conversation, I think it's a great question. I mean really, who is he? Somebody want to throw out a definition? Probably not, which is a good thing in some ways.
I think we all have our own personal perspective of Jesus. We of the Young and the Reformed probably see Jesus as a loving, powerful, authoritative character. Some liberals might see him as a bold pioneer of social justice and one pursuing the Kingdom of God on earth. I could on and on, and others could do it better than me, but I want to focus on something here. I think these ideas of Jesus can often become idols in our minds. God told us not to make physical idols, but when we create an image of him in our minds, is that much better. But I'd like to talk about a more positive topic today so we'll move on to the idea of knowing the Real Jesus.
How do we know Jesus? Do we know him by reading the Bible? Or the newest book from our favorite Christian writer? Or through daily devotional prayer? Or through constantly listening to music measured in JPMs (Jesus' per minute)? Do we know him by seeking justice for others? Or by loving our neighbor? Or by fasting and spending time in silent meditation?
Well, in a way, I think we can get to know Jesus through each and every one of those means. But at the same time, not a single one of those by itself will aid in our relationship with God, and that's because it is a relationship. How do the greatest relationships in our lives get developed? By directing our hearts toward that person we're seeking a relationship with and by spending time with them and directing our efforts toward them.
So how do we translate this into our relationship with God? I think something that often gets lost in translation when we're talking about our relationship with God is the Augustinian/Edwardian idea of the affections. Both Augustine and Edwards focused quite a bit on the subject of the affections, essentially the idea that our hearts are naturally inclined towards something, and what that object is determines our actions. Basically what I'm trying to say is this: Where's your heart at? Do you hunger spiritually for more knowledge of the Lord? Do you praise him in spirit and truth, emotionally and intellectually when you hear that Christian music? Do you want to talk to him throughout the day to express your love for him and joy about the blessings he has given you?
If the answer to these questions is no, maybe your heart is in the wrong place. Is there something else that your heart is hungering after? What do you wake up in the morning being driven by? I don't know what the answers to this question are, but I challenge you to figure it out. Don't let your relationship with Christ be driven solely by your mind, get your affections involved, fall in love with Jesus Christ.
May the Lord draw you closer to him and capture your heart.
Jon
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