Why are you looking for me?

We're starting a new series of discussion in youth group, giving us a chance to talk through some of the things Pastor Rich mentions in his sermons- which right now is a series of questions (so it’s a pretty natural transition into talking about our answers). Questions invite discussion, so that's what we'll do! (If you missed Pastor Rich's sermon, you can find the audio archives of his Sunday and Wednesday sermons here.)

This week had had the first recorded words of Jesus in the gospels, and it was (not surprisingly) two questions: Why are you searching for me? Didn’t you know I’d be in my father’s house?

What kind of Jesus are you looking for?  
Answering that will give you a lot of insight into your faith and how you view God. We went through some caricature images of Jesus and what someone who's attracted to that version of Jesus might be looking for:

Strong-arm/Powerful Jesus: My Jesus will be you over the head with chunk of wood from his cross. My Jesus backs my opinions and desires, and is the all-powerful conqueror! His main method is force and threat, not love.

Buddy Jesus: All things are permissible! Jesus just wants me to follow my bliss and be happy; there are never consequences to my actions, because Jesus is for me, and He doesn't call me to do anything too hard.

Hunky, Movie Star Jesus: Jesus is amazing at filling all of the ideals society expects- your life is prettied up, made better and nicer. You'll have more friends, your skin will clear up, and everyone will like you because of your smooth, appealing, undemanding faith.

Prosperity Gospel Jesus: This Jesus is a close companion to hunky Jesus, with more emphasis on economic and material goods. This is your best-life-now Jesus, who will bless you with abundant riches and no hardship. Answer His altar call and finally get your iPhone (if you're truly righteous, you'll get a private jet)!

Nature/Zen Jesus: Jesus-the-creator elevates nature and personal peacefulness above the clamoring humanity; don't worry about the "others," what you need is to exclusively focus on your inner life.

Conquering Judge Jesus: Thank God you're saved, because this Jesus is coming with a vengeance and you'll get your eternal reward. The fire-and-brimstone Jesus has a black and white view on everything, and there is little that falls into the realm of grace.

Perhaps your idea of Jesus doesn't fit into any of these caricatures- great! There is some value in all of these (except, perhaps, the prosperity gospel Jesus), but as was pointed out in youth group, there is the danger of the single story.

Losing/Finding/Rethinking

Have you ever “lost” Jesus? You probably have, at LEAST once! JAM Time Jesus gets converted into Confirmation Jesus gets converted into High School Jesus. With each step, you lose a bit of the simplicity and gain greater insight. You lose some things that are less helpful, in order to gain more AS YOU'RE READY FOR IT. At 5 years old, you're not ready for the complexities of social justice Jesus- but then Jesus surprises you with something unexpected and you're forced to reconsider whether there's more to Him than you thought. So when you find yourself questioning just who He was and what He stood for, know that you're on the right track. You don't worry about losing something if you don't value it!

Knowing that you WILL continue to rethink Jesus multiple times in your life, how do you know when the ideas you're mulling over are a new facet of Jesus and when you’re entering the danger zone of "heresy?"

First, remember that not all religions are one. It’s false and an insult to every one of them to gloss over very real differences (see: not every one believes in an afterlife or in the involvement of a creator). But there are things that other religions stress that Jesus also talks about- and if you’re finding a new facet of truth in another religion and figuring out how it also applies to Christianity (not just your own current interpretation of your faith) you’re doing OK.

Second, Jesus was a real dude. That means you can’t rewrite who he was in order to suit your new interpretation. You can be a feminist and still believe that God sent a SON (who, not inconsequentially, had some very stereotypical feminine features and feminist views on equality). You can believe in tolerance for other viewpoints and see how Jesus didn’t force conversion- but you can’t decide that Jesus had an anything-flies mentality to life on earth. And you can realize that your understanding of who the real-guy Jesus was may have been influenced strongly by cultural perceptions that don’t really add up- but you can’t decide that he was a purple space alien who landed here to lead a conquering army.

Third, Jesus is/and- You don’t have to chuck the baby out with the bathwater. Mary’s idea of who Jesus was as a small child wasn’t any less true because she had to start understanding who Jesus was as an adult. Toddler Jesus was as much “Jesus” as the social justice and personal salvation Jesuses were. People are richly layered, so don’t decide that you have to automatically exchange one idea for another (or assume that all interpretations are mutually exclusive).

Fourth- Does it fit scripture? We are a church who believes that God is still speaking, but that God’s truth is eternal. You might have a new insight, but if your thoughts on who Jesus is directly conflict with scripture, you have a lot more searching and praying to do before you commit yourself to this new idea.

Finally- have you offered up your new findings/interpretation to Jesus himself? We believe in an interactive God, in every single person’s ability to communicate with God, and with the influence of the Holy Spirit. Take this idea to God in prayer and see what you find!


5 Minutes of God Time song: Creed by Third Day and Brandon Heath (in honor of the Apostle's Creed we declared during little Cole's baptism!)