Comments on: A Domesticated Jesus?

By: A Domesticated Jesus? « Kowalker.com

A Domesticated Jesus? « Kowalker.com — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:05:31 +0000

[...] HT: Tullian Tchividjian [...]

By: B.

B. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:45:02 +0000

What about a pharisaical Jesus? A referee Jesus? A joyless, rule obsessed Jesus? Or what about the inward focused, overly self examining Jesus?

By: David Schwartz

David Schwartz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:47:09 +0000

How to share the gospel effectively. Now this is an art. I often feel like I’m holding a lead paint brush which weighs several hundred pounds. When I was a younger Christian, I often assaulted people with the gospel. I could sum up my method as zeal without much knowledge, or a trust and obedience but with much immaturity. Foolish as I was (and I did the same thing as Laura regarding the pharisaical treatment of my family), I was able to reach some. As I became older in the faith (and hopefully matured some), I toned down my assault and probably went to the side of witnessing through my life more. While I would probably say (after twenty three years of knowing Christ) that there is truth to both (proclaiming the truth and living the truth), I would also have to say that the main ingredient is walking by faith (we are “the just”, you know). I have read many books on witnessing, taken EE three times, passed out tracts on the “twilight zone” of Yale’s church row with a street preacher, shared with people in soup kitchens, in prisons, in Liberty City as part of a street ministry, spoken with Lubavitchers in New Haven and a whole lot more and I find the main ingredient in sharing one’s faith (I do not consider myself an expert in any sense of the word, just someone who has had a lot of practice, and seeking more) is faith and courage. We must be equipped. We must be prepared to give a defense of the gospel. In other words, we must know the gospel and be able to communicate it articulately. EE taught me that being able to share your testimony is important in this endeavor as well. But, we must equally be trusting that God will give us opportunity, and when that opportunity comes, we must seize it. I really don’t think there has been one time that I shared the gospel that I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t add a single thing”. We will never do it perfectly (as Christ would) but that’s just it. Even that is a picture of the gospel. He imposes His mercy and goodness over our failures and feeble attempts to honor and glorify Him. My brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid. Let us go forth and speak in His power and in His wisdom which is the Gospel. So whether we have a brief moment to share the gospel in passing, or a lifetime to demonstrate the gospel in word and deed, let us do it, trusting Him for “God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.” The fields are white! Let us go to them!

By: Laura Testa

Laura Testa — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:01:41 +0000

Nan,

(Sorry about the typo above,—(I was responding to ‘luann’ in another post). Thankfully, Tullian reminds us every week for us to ‘examine ourselves’…we all tend to forget that we need the Gospel daily! Have a blessed week!

~Laura

By: Nan

Nan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:00:11 +0000

Laura,

I agree, the people who “live their faith” out in the presence of others, who are humble and not “pharisaical” are definitely the ones who most effectively reach a person searching for God. Others, (in my own personal experience) would make me feel like I was taking two steps back and very discouaged. I thank God for His grace and for the people he sent in my life, both of which I totally am undeserving. I just hope more Christians will remember, like you stated above, will look at themselves as possibly the only “Jesus” in some of the hurt, lost, and unsaved friends and family they may have. Thanks

By: Laura Testa

Laura Testa — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:10:25 +0000

Luann,

I too was raised Roman Catholic and most of my extended family still is. When God saved me, I tried to bring the ‘gospel’ to my family and I went about it in the wrong way. I look back at myself & am ashamed at how “pharisaical” I was. By God’s grace, thankfully I do NOT share my faith this way anymore. Quite the contrary, by ‘living my faith’ out in the presence of my extended family, it has opened the door for me to ‘share’ (humbly) what I believe and lovingly invite them in to ask questions & speak about what they perceive to be right. God ultimately will save them, but my heart is overjoyed to see the little differences that my sharing has brought about. My Dad has been reading the Bible, requested a Devotional and engages in ‘theological’ conversations with me more then ever!

We must always approach others humbly and with LOVE because God may use that opportunity to open their eyes to see the truth and if he chooses to use me in the process, I submit humbly to it.

Regarding Ms. Revier’s comment…I would encourage her to lovingly & humbly question her friend as to ‘why’ she sees her ‘Jesus’ on a “Harley”…..and then share how she views “Jesus”…

If someone is ignorant, we should not respond in anger. Proverbs 14:29 – “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” AND James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”.

We may be the only ‘Jesus’ some of our unsaved friends & family may see….And we need to pray & seek God’s help when opportunities such as these arise.

~ Laura

By: MOM

MOM — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:28:27 +0000

Several years ago, I read Phillip Yancey’s “The Jesus I Never Knew”. Reading that book, which stripped away all my pre-concieved ideas of Jesus and went back to the Scriptures, I fell in love with Jesus all over again.
By the way, Tullian’s grandmother, Tai Tai (Ruth) would have been sure, Jesus would enjoy riding a Harley. And, she had the deepest respect for her Lord and Saviour.

By: Laura Testa

Laura Testa — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:53:10 +0000

Thank you Samuel for confirming what I could NOT eloquently communicate here! My spirit was grieving as i read that link!

By: nan

nan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:48:20 +0000

In response to Ms. Revier’s comment about her catholic friend saying she preceived Jesus as Riding a Harley Kickin’…..I wonder why reformed christians often need to point out irreverant statements or preceptions about Jesus and make sure to point out the source of the statement comes from a Catholic person.

Raised as a Roman Catholic and practiced for @ 28 years of my life, I understand what the Catholic Church teaches, the rules, the sacraments, the prayers etc..Since then I have become a Reformed Christian, attending CRPC for the last 14 years. I Know the difference between Salvation by God’s Grace and Salvation by Works.

The beginning of my reformed transformation was filled with much confusion and tons of questions…many people helped me and some hurt me. I am thankful for both because later on it reminded me to ask myself..”Do I really care what the other women in the bible study think about me and my beliefs and questions” Or “Am I here to learn about God?” If I felt uncomfortable, an outsider, with my Catholic knowledge, I still felt at my heart and mind to really understand the books I was reading. I didn’t have all the reformed prayer language down like the other women, I didn’t sound like them when I prayed aloud,,,because I was THE CATHOLIC! Anyways, my point is statements like the one posted belittle and hurt people, people who may be trying to know God more intimately…lets not scare “them” away…just because they are not exactly like “us”

By: Samuel

Samuel — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:20:08 +0000

Twenty-five years ago, after reading and enjoying Wouk’s Winds of War, I had the opportunity to ask C. John Sommerville, author of The Decline of the Secular University, whether he enjoyed historical fiction. He said that he probably would, but had decided early in his career not to knowingly expose himself to attractive fictional accounts that might unwittingly seep into his analysis. I think Sommerville’s point has application to those of us who genuinely want to know Jesus.

While there may be a certain appeal in evaluating a smorgasbord of diverse views of Jesus or spiritual truth; why risk an untruth slipping through, to corrupt our true knowledge of Him?
He did warn us, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” This and much more of Matthew 7 has to do with knowing and being known by Him. A couple of verses later the astonished “many” suffer the ultimate rejection of being told, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
It certainly seems that those “many” thought they knew Him. They likely had some shared concept of a Jesus that fit nicely into their personal world view. Their faux Jesus answered all of their questions and reinforced their delusional hopes and beliefs. The faux Jesus is really pretty easy to get to know. He’s the one with the easy answers that seems to fit like a glove on what you always wanted for yourself.
I am convinced that truly knowing the real Jesus takes a while and quite a bit of effort. Fortunately for us, God has provided everything that we need for life and Godliness through the true knowledge of Him who has called us. He also doesn’t leave us alone as we grow in our knowledge of Him. He has given us His Word, the Church, Godly Shepherds, and notably His Holy Spirit.

In 1 John 2:12-14, Matthew Henry finds support for the idea that true knowledge of the Lord Jesus comes with spiritual maturity. Certainly the little children of the faith know God as father and experience the incredible reality of the forgiveness of sin. The young men of the faith actually become spiritually strong through their knowledge of the indwelling Word to the point of victory over the wicked one. It is however not said of any other than the mature in their faith that they know Him who is from the beginning. Matthew Henry identifies “Him who is from the beginning” as the “Alpha and Omega” and the John 1:1 Jesus.

“I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.
NKJV

My advice to Luann, and myself, is tread lightly through cyberspace, and beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. There are quite a few lurking in the link she provided.