{"id":5094,"date":"2014-03-18T08:58:44","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T08:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2016-01-07T14:25:36","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T14:25:36","slug":"the-jesus-of-my-own-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/the-jesus-of-my-own-making\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jesus of my own making"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t a follower of Jesus and I was looking in on the Twitter feeds of Christians, I would think several different things about who Jesus really is by the way people talk about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>When the parents of my daughter\u2019s friends discovered the other day we were Christians, they asked if we were \u201chappy-clappy or\u00a0<em>Songs of Praise<\/em>\u201d. An interesting way of defining the term \u2018Christians\u2019 we thought to ourselves.\u00a0 In fact, it was also intriguing how \u201cproper Christians\u201d (as we were also described) are viewed.\u00a0 It\u2019s either one type or the other apparently.\u00a0 Even more fascinating to me was how far this is all broken down once you are \u2018on the inside\u2019.Let me explain.\u00a0 If I wasn\u2019t a follower of Jesus and I was looking in on the Twitter feeds of Christians, I would think several different things about who Jesus really is by the way people talk about him.\u00a0 And it gets far more complex than\u00a0<em>Songs of Praise\u00a0<\/em>or rainbow strapped guitars. At the very least, I would think Jesus is somewhat more concerned or defined by some causes and ideologies rather than others.\u00a0 Examples might be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesus the socialist (I find Tory Christians tend to be less vocal about their politics on Twitter)<\/li>\n<li>The feminist (Ditto masculists as above)<\/li>\n<li>The romantic (going by comments about worship)<\/li>\n<li>The radical anarchist<\/li>\n<li>The pentecostal<\/li>\n<li>The cessationist (i.e. strange fire)<\/li>\n<li>The new monastic<\/li>\n<li>The abolitionist<\/li>\n<li>The contemplative<\/li>\n<li>The pacifist<\/li>\n<li>The creationist (more vocal on Twitter)<\/li>\n<li>The evolutionist (mostly keep their heads down on Twitter)<\/li>\n<li>The environmentalist<\/li>\n<li>The petrol head (added that one for my own sake)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In fact, when I talk to some people or read certain blogs, they often define their own walk of faith via a particular cause, often at the exclusion of other ideologies or positions. For example, \u201cI\u2019m a pacifist Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all well and good but I start to feel a bit miffed when people go on to say something like, \u201cJesus was a pacifist\u201d or \u201cJesus was a socialist\u201d, or any of the above actually.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to argue the case over any of those issues, that is not the point of this piece.<\/p>\n<p>But I guess I want to ask the question: \u201cDo we talk about Jesus as King enough?\u201d\u00a0 Or do we rather talk about the Jesus of our own cause or particular emphasis ahead of that?<\/p>\n<p>Now don\u2019t read into this anymore than what is here.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying those causes aren\u2019t valid.\u00a0 I may not agree with them all but that\u2019s irrelevant.\u00a0 One thing I\u2019m sure we can all agree on is that Jesus is King and that one day every knee will bow to him.\u00a0 More than that, I hope we can agree that this is a major thrust of the Christian message and that our lives need to be surrendered to him.\u00a0 The issues and causes we are passionate about come about because the Holy Spirit has burned a cause or calling in our hearts and lives.\u00a0 That\u2019s fantastic and as it should be.\u00a0 Faith without works is dead.\u00a0 And a Christian without a passion for justice or without desire to see the world changed is like naan bread but without the curry.<\/p>\n<p>In the process of choosing which causes we ultimately care about, let\u2019s make sure the primary and overriding message is that of Jesus and the need to surrender our lives to him.\u00a0 I fear that if we don\u2019t, then the danger is that we are just seen as people who care about moral frameworks or beliefs.\u00a0 Good and right though that is, it\u2019s not the point is it?\u00a0 Call me old-school but when I read the Bible I see bad news as well as good news.\u00a0 I wish that wasn\u2019t true, but it is.\u00a0 Let\u2019s make sure that we give people a valid opportunity to hear the gospel as well as hear the causes and passions we care about most.<\/p>\n<p>This blog was first published on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.threadsuk.com\/the-jesus-of-my-own-making\/\" target=\"_blank\">Threads.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/the-jesus-of-my-own-making\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t a follower of Jesus and I was looking in on the Twitter feeds of Christians, I would think several different things about who Jesus really is by the way people talk about him.\u201d When the parents of my daughter\u2019s friends discovered the other day we were Christians, they asked if we were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[682,920,110,921],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/team-CVM-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1ka","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4646,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/the-tuesday-club\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":0},"title":"The Tuesday Club","date":"26 September 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Finding names for things is a real challenge. Take Gardening as an example \u2013 there seems to be an infinite variety in plants and most of them have names. I struggle to identify what is a weed and what is a proper plant, never mind their names, especially when they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5827,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/follow-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":1},"title":"Follow Me","date":"23 January 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever introduced a friend to a favourite sport of yours? I tried this with my wife (then fianc\u00e9e) during the Six Nations last year. \u201cIt\u2019ll only take one game and she\u2019ll be hooked,\u201d I mused. But which game would I choose? It couldn\u2019t be Scotland v. England (I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Demolition Squad&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Follow Me","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/follow-me.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3508,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/the-historical-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":2},"title":"The Historical Jesus","date":"14 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The great, British philosopher Bertrund Russell once said, \u201cHistorically it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do now know anything about Him.\u201d Why I Am Not A Christian Jesus Christ is arguably the most influential man in the whole of human history.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Demolition Squad&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dem_squad_default_image.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4827,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/has-evangelism-been-forgotten\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":3},"title":"Has evangelism been forgotten?","date":"26 November 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve noticed a trend among Christians that\u2019s starting to make me feel grumpy. It may just be the people or organisations that I \u2018follow\u2019, but as I look through my Twitter feed I notice that the vast majority of comments are on issues such as justice, food banks, trafficking, gender\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Carl Beech&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4995,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/all-religion-is-brainwashing\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":4},"title":"All Religion is Brainwashing","date":"24 January 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog contains (Jesus loves you) a hidden message. One of the major assaults on Christianity from the heated world of the internet is that, along with all the other religions, it is set up to brainwash people (usually young, vulnerable people) into the unquestioning belief that our particular institutional\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Demolition Squad&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4423,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/the-good-news-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":5},"title":"The Good News of Jesus\u2026","date":"11 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.\u201d Mark 1:14-15 If we give Jesus the simple credit of intelligence\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CVM-50plus-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5094"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}