Following Jesus Is Different Than Following the Bible.

Beckoning people to follow the incarnate God in Jesus is drastically different than commanding people to be Bible-believing Christians. Jesus is the Word, God’s physical message, embodied for us to hear and see.  He articulates and demonstrates the very heart of God. Jesus is God’s show and tell. You might think the difference between Jesus is the Word and being a Bible-believing Christian is an issue of semantics... it's not, it changes the way you see God, express God and live out God in the world. Whenever we talk about the Bible, Jesus-followers must remind ourselves that ultimately we are not people of a book, we are people of the Person. The book points us to the person of Jesus. If the values, opinions and postures we gathered up from the word in print don't point us to look and speak like Jesus, we got the Word wrong at some point in the process. As followers of the Word made flesh, we must resist succumbing to an approach to God’s Word that was as popular in Jesus’ day as it is today. An approach that would unwittingly rewrite the classic passage in 1 John to say, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became print and page and dwelt among us, at least, among those of us who are literate and educated, and it rolled off our printing presses and was memorized and studied and debated and assembled neatly in doctrinal statements.”

Bruxy Cavey (The Meeting House) speaks like a classic Anabaptist and I love it.

Learning to Love My Wife

My wife and I just celebrated 12 years of marriage. About two years into our marriage I began to see who I really was. I vividly remember brushing snow off my car in the morning and asking two questions "why do I live in New York" and “why did we have that argument last night.” The second one was obviously the more pressing question. I began driving to work haunted by something much deeper about the reason for that argument we had the night before. For some reason I had an epiphany on that bitter cold snowy morning, “Dan you love yourself more than you love her... really, you do.” I remember realizing this and not being able to get away from it. All day it pressed on me. It was like steam on the mirror was evaporating and I was starting to get a better look at myself. The more I saw the more that sad reality about myself sank in. I had gotten into rut of interaction were I was first looking out for my own needs, my own desires and my own concerns. Sure, I loved her, thought of her, cared for her but I realized my energy was first being spent on myself. She in essence was getting leftover love.

I don’t know how it happened. It wasn’t just about arguments. It was the framework of how I existed in our marriage. I was overwhelmed by how self-oriented I was, how selfish I was, how much concern I had for myself. I began to recognize its present effects: I couldn’t just sit and listen to her for long periods of time, it was an exception when I asked her if I could serve her in some way, I didn’t do the work to learn how to sexually please her body and mind, I did not encourage and empower her to tackle something she uniquely enjoyed, I was afraid to give her freedom because I was afraid my own wants wouldn’t be met, I didn’t work to converse and download with her first, I was unsympathetic to her pressures, I drew hard lines between what she did and what I did in our relationship, I precisely critiqued her instead of being patient to coach her through weaknesses in her life, I was automatically defensive when she asked something of me, I expressed insecurity that she wasn’t giving me the emotional attention I needed and the list could goes on. The shame that overcame me seemed unbearable. How could I kill this me-monster?

I truly wanted to love her like Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:22-23). Christ loved with self-emptying love, self-sacrificing love, self-humbling service for the sake of raising up the beauty of the church. Love like this does not come natural.

I could not just kill my own self-love and selfishness. I had to begin a journey of redirection. To be honest, in the beginning it became a psychological game to me. I was challenged to see how often I could heap active love on Tonya. I realized I wasn’t just going to shut off the self-obsession. I had to wean myself off of that addiction by giving myself a new one. That new one was her. I took an act-as-if approach; I worked on practical concrete ways of loving her over myself before I felt genuine emotions or motivation. I was hit or miss in my consistency, but something was transforming in me. I began to find joy in watching her feel contentment and joy. I really started to get an emotional return from her heart fulfillment. All the while I was becoming less conscious of my own internal voice clamoring for attention and wants to be met. I didn’t realize it at the time but learning to love is learning to enjoy someone else’s needs being met. I’m convinced that because I toiled to submit to the life giving truth in Ephesians 5:22-23 God’s spirit began to change my character.

This next aspect isn’t talked about much but men struggle with issues of feeling inadequate and insecure in their identity. Most men when confronted with inadequacy or feeling like a failure turn in on themselves and become even more of a narcissist. I see this by how we amp up indulging in what gives us pleasure or personal excitement. I additionally see this play out in how we try harder to prove to others we are something to be reckoned with or pouring ourselves into succeeding at work. I stumbled into discovering that the beast of inadequacy had less power on me because my sense of self-esteem received an adrenaline boost by learning to be a lover. In a weird way it felt powerful to know my wife was satisfied, secure and deeply cared for. In my marriage, the most intimate and vulnerable place in my life, I was finding a rich sense of satisfaction in knowing she was well loved; she felt like the crowned jewel of creation.

I learned a theological lesson because of this. Being a lover leads to honor. Jesus was exalted and honored by the Father because of his self-emptying love for humanity. In many ways learning to be a serious lover leads to restored honor.

To Give Glory to God

In the last couple years or so I’ve been increasingly aware of the phrase “for God’s Glory” or “to Glorify God”. In Christian circles this mantra is thrown around like confetti. I fully embrace that God is glorious and worthy of worship. Still, I’m not sure on a practical level if setting out to give God glory is actually giving God glory. I wonder sometimes if the pursuit might be misdirected and leading us away from where Jesus directed us. This “glory banner” seems to be causing us to smooth over unwise choices and trample love under its feet. I’ve been evaluating the effects of living by this mantra.

1. I don’t believe we have the power or vantage point to determine what does glorify God and what doesn’t. In our Christian culture we attach any semi-spiritual pursuit to the intent of glorifying God. On the flip side we speak quite confidently about what does not glorify God outside the church walls. How God gains attention or acclaim for Himself is a mystery and is something only He determines. Slapping “God was glorified” on our human actions is a little presumptuous on God himself; He is the judge and interpreter.

2. Glory is not the best target; Love for God and Love Others is. Jesus came to earth to rescue the broken human project because He loved it so much. He did not give into temptation that would take Him away from what holy love was compelling Him to do. Love for the “other” according to John 3:16 is the beginning point for “why” God did what he did. Now, because of Jesus’ laser focus on carrying out his mission of sacrificial love for every human that walks the earth, God was and is glorified. Yes, Jesus’ holy love glorified God. Love compelled by Jesus naturally glorifies God on His terms. But setting out to glorify God does not necessarily lead to a love-filled-life packed with love-filled-choices. Holy love forces our life through a refiner’s fire. It demands we push our lives through a sift (I Corinthians 13) that transforms us and transforms those around us. I’m saddened by the amount of Christians building their churches for the glory of God that are actually quite unloving.


3. Going after “giving glory to God” has caused us to blow past wisdom. Recently I heard someone say they were going to share the “plan of salvation” with someone. I asked if they were friends. They replied “well sorta.” I asked if they had modeled generosity, hospitality and service to that person. They replied “well they know what I stand for.” I began to question the wisdom of presenting God to someone they had not built a foundation of love with. They responded “well in the end all that matters is God is glorified.” He used that mantra to smooth over the lack of wisdom, patience and carefulness applied in the situation. This is not an isolated situation, I've observed this "smoothing over" with the use of that mantra all the time. Wisdom causes us to slow down, take into account the social habits of people, the history of an individual, their present needs and the complexity of human brokenness. Wisdom pushes us to be attentive, present, active listeners, thoughtful, patient and careful. Giving glory to God is too often used as a trump card over navigating situations with wisdom.

4. The attempt to give glory to God buys into the idea that God needs us to defend His reputation. God is big enough to defend himself. We don’t need to “stand up” for God. The best way to stick up for God’s reputation is by tethering to a Kingdom community of people sharing life; working to live selfless, humble, love-soaked lives with each other and amongst their neighborhoods. We have one simple life altering task; live like Jesus, love like Jesus and submit to Jesus.

5. Christianity needs a strong dose of "groundedness" instead of hanging on nebulous, head-in-the-clouds cliches. The Pharisees at one point ask Jesus what is the holiest law or “how is God most glorified”. Jesus responds with a shocking reversal; love God and love others. The way the Greek reads in this situation it could be interpreted “love God by loving others”. Jesus set a new precedent that our social/emotion/relational life must be dealt with seriously to follow Him and please God. I meet way too many “sold out for God types” who are awful at loving people well. They steam roll over others as they talk, they champion their call while not slowing down for the weaker along the path, they show favoritism to those who serve their agendas, ignore doing justice for the those who cannot reciprocate and they sing loud praise songs but neglect the emotional needs of their family.

If Christians became less obsessed with the marker of “glorifying God" and more consumed with doing the hard work of loving others the way God poured himself out in love towards us God would be supremely glorified. We’d also have a very different reputation in our country and in our local communities.

The Real Heresy

At Axiom we've been talking about Love as the greatest act of Holiness (Matt 22:37-29). I recently posted a blog on this a month ago titled "The Law of Love".

I stumbled on the following article written by Gregory Boyd. I am thrilled and intrigued by how he elevates unlove to the level of heresy.

The “Heresy” of Failing to Love

In what is hands-down the most amazing prayer ever recorded, Jesus prayed to his Father that his disciples “may be one…just as you are in me and I am in you” so that “the world may believe that you sent me” (Jn.17:21). In other words, Jesus was praying that we who profess Christ as Lord would together mirror the perfect loving unity of the Father and Son. Not only this, but Jesus’ expectation was that the world would be lead to have faith in him by witnessing this love! “By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:35).

Hearing this prayer makes me wonder how God feels about the Church right now. I honestly don’t think it requires much speculation. The Church has splintered into thousands of competing and sometimes angry factions. In some circles — and, unfortunately, they tend to be the most vocal and the most public — sisters and brothers who dare to color outside the lines are flippantly bid “farewell” and assigned the label “heretic” — or perhaps even consigned to hell. Though Jesus hoped the Church would be the proof that he’s for real, the Church today has become the best argument that he’s not! Instead of the means of getting people into the kingdom, the Church is the main obstacle keeping people out. Christians are known in the broader society for a lot of things, but their depth of love for one another — let alone for “sinners” and “enemies” — doesn’t make the list (see Kinnaman & Lyons, UnChristian). In this light, the beautiful vision of the Church that Jesus expressed in his prayer on the night he was betrayed — the vision of a Church that reflects the perfect love of the triune God — almost sounds comical.

So what should we do? Whatever else might be said, I honestly don’t believe we’ll even begin to move in the right direction until we resolve that loving one another (and everyone else) is a higher priority than proving, protecting and enforcing the rightness of our doctrines.

I’m almost certain someone just now had the thought — “Here we go again, compromising correct doctrine in the name of love. More fluffy, post-modern, sentimental garbage!” Was I right?

The thing is, there’s absolutely nothing fluffy, post-modern or sentimental about placing love above doctrinal correctness, for this conviction permeates the NT! Truth be told, we shouldn’t even contrast “love” and “doctrinal correctness” in the first place. We should rather regard the command to love as the most foundational doctrine of the church and thus the most important doctrine to be correct on! Peter says, “Above all, love each other deeply, for love covers a multitude of sins” (and alleged “heresies”? I Pet. 4:8, cf. Col 3:14). If love is to be placed “above all,” then there simply can’t be any other command or doctrine or agenda that competes with it for the top position. It must stand on top alone. Paul makes the same point, but even more emphatically, when he tells us it doesn’t matter how right we are, how spiritually gifted we are, how intelligent or wise we are, or even how much faith and service we display: if these aren’t accompanied by love, they are a noisy gong or clanging cymbal (I Cor 13:1-3). In other words:

Correct doctrine - love= worthless noise!

If we take this teaching seriously, it means that nothing – absolutely nothing! — matters if love isn’t present…which means that love is the most-important doctrine we can ever embrace…which means that our willingness to love is the most important criteria of orthodoxy…which means that, if ever it is appropriate to label anything “heresy,” it is the failure to love.

And now you have to wonder why millions of people have been tortured and murdered by Christians throughout history for espousing “heretical” views about baptism, communion, the church and a very long list of other doctrines, while not one person (so far as I know) has been officially disciplined — let alone accused of “heresy” — for failing to adequately love (as when they tortured and murdered others in Jesus name, for example). We can have all the right doctrine in the world, but if we fail to love as Christ loved us, we are all “heretics.”

And now I have to confess that I am guilty of “heresy.” I am. I haven’t consistently loved everyone like Christ loved me.

I suspect I’m not alone.

Which maybe should make all of us hesitant to slap the label on anyone else. Whatever “heresy” they’re guilty of, its nothing compared to our own (see Mt 7:1-3).

How We Are Defined

Most of us know the feeling of exhilaration when we are part of a large group united against a common enemy. There’s a certain energy elicited. It’s exhilarating. There is a certain “high” we feel as we all have something to fight against. It is always easier to unite a community around a common enemy than cultivate goals together that will create a preferred future. This is a personality of cultures – it’s incredibly easy to organize a people against a common enemy. This modus-operandi has infiltrated the church. As an organized church we’ve been increasingly defining ourselves over-and-against others. We have made it our mission to make the central focus of being a Christian; what we are against.

This dynamic however has a shelf life and the current church has not seemed to figure it out. The church consistently attempts to define itself by what it’s against. We cannot lead a community this way without constantly keeping the threat of the “others” preeminent. If we somehow don’t have enemies, then we must invent them or else the community will have nothing to get excited about. This kind of church culture works off an antagonistic energy. The continual enmity is fatiguing. It does not give life. It does not nurture spiritual transformation (Love is... 1 Corinthians 13). It has nothing at its core to hold us together.

American politics is full of this dynamic. I fear in these last few years that evangelicalism is showing signs of behaving in these same ways. I fear the church of my upbringing, the church that I love is picking up bad behaviors from our political environment. We are often taught our beliefs as the means to differentiate ourselves from those who don’t believe. We learn our theology of “being Christian” by who (or what) we are against. We find our sense of ego or status because of what we don't do. The world is watching as we become predictably defensive, argumentative and alarmist. Within the church we are making "enemies" and "heretics" out of anybody that does not talk like us and think like us.

What I believe is the gravest result in all the shouting back and forth; is the loss in what it truly means to follow Jesus and what it means to live for His present Kingdom. The story of God (what He is authoring on this earth) is all but a lost plot for most church goers. They don’t know what to tether their lives to. With all the clutter and noise we generate about what we're against, we don’t know what our King Jesus is for. I’m willing to bet that the world around us can guess what we hate and dislike but will probably have a hard time identify who and what we LOVE. This generation needs to see and hear a strong dose of the “fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). I contend we need discerning and passionate churches that intentionally reclaim our identity as people “for” something greater, higher, deeper, more costly and more compelling.

Easily Offended

The greatest leaders I know are not easily offended. Instead, they practice the habit of overlooking offenses. They purpose not to brew on how they’ve been wronged or treated unfairly. There is something that clicks inside our heart when we let the feeling of offense take over. It clouds our judgment and causes us to lead out of frustration. I know from experience the world of conversations we can create in our head. We begin mulling over our possible responses, comebacks, and ways in which we will reclaim our reputation.

About 3 years ago I was convicted that I had not been practicing the spiritual discipline of taking the high road. Being offended is a choice. Every leader should own this verse: "The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression." (Proverbs 19:11)

There are certainly times when it is legitimate to be angry. The Apostle Paul says, "Be angry, and do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26). Anger can be a valid response to something that is wrong. But it can quickly become toxic—not only for those to whom we direct it but also for ourselves. This is why the Apostle James admonishes us to be "slow to anger" (James 1:19, 20).

Between the stimulus and the response is the power to choose. This is precisely what makes us human. We don't have to respond with like fire. I desire to be a leader that leads out of “stillness and quiet.” This requires a new conversation to be mulled over in my head “I belong to God, He is my defender, I belong to God, He is my defender.” I am convinced that righteous anger and being offended should be reserved for the “other” in my life. I am compelled as a leader to look out for the weak, the abused, the manipulated, the lonely, the trampled on and the unloved. I hold my fire for advocating for others.

Jesus modeled the same in his journey to the cross. It says in Colossians 2:15 that "Jesus made a public spectacle of the power and authorities.” A natural question would be; how did he do that when we was the one naked, whipped, lied about, mocked and hung? Because Holy love always wins in God’s economy.

The New Holiness

Our Axiom launch team has been studying and conversing about our core value of Love. This is a snippet of what we are learning. Sorry it's a bit long.

The religious experts of Jesus day were knowledgeable interpreters of the Torah, the Jewish law and they took it upon themselves to discern how best to live out the laws of God without breaking them. One sure and safe religious method when it comes to laws is to make more laws in order to clarify big-idea laws. This is actually quite a typical response in religious culture to oppose pagan or secular culture. For the religious experts, their intent started out good – to make “the law” doable and clearer. By the time Jesus came to earth it was common knowledge that the Torah contained 613 separate commands and prohibitions. These were designed to help ordinary people “please God.” Or at least that was the intention.

The pressure to “please God” can be a tricky and sometimes a manipulative force. The evangelical church has placed a lot of discipleship emphasis on the rigorousness of how to please God. I do think the intent is good but I believe the outcome has been disastrous. When Jesus speaks He believes it is has disastrous effects as well; guilt, pride, self-righteousness, neglect of the poor, spiritual narcissism, pettiness, cold-heartedness, selfishness, hatred, envy and an overall misunderstanding of who God is. These are often the byproduct of a rule-based, moral-code based or pressure-to-please based, pursuit of holiness.

When speaking about the nature of the Kingdom, Jesus makes a strong and overt case for the redefinition of what pleases God. At a pivotal moment some religious expert came to Jesus with a question because they wanted to trap Him. In Mark 12:28 the experts ask Jesus “Of all the commandments which one is the most important?” So the real underlying question could be phrased like this “How do we be truly holy and please God?” In His answer Jesus flips the apple cart upside down on the formula for pleasing God and we’ve been struggling to embrace it ever since. Jesus obliterated the 613 laws and reduced them down to 2.

We often think of holiness in terms of purity or a moral barometer. The church has traditionally interpreted Be Holy for I am Holy (1 Peter) or Be Perfect as the Father is Perfect (Matt 5) as “Hate impurity because God hates impurity or avoid sin because God doesn’t tolerate sin in His presence.” I’m all over the seriousness of maintaining moral purity but that really isn’t how Jesus defines holiness and remember, Jesus is God. Jesus’ response is what I like to call “the new holiness”. Jesus responds by blowing up what holiness is. Jesus’ response to the teachers is extremely unnerving to their understanding of God and I think to our current church understanding as well. It is also a blazing spotlight on the new way of the Kingdom of God. There is a new accountability marker (pleasing God) that Jesus lays out in Mark 12:29-31. Love is the new holiness.

Maybe your unsure about forcing everything you are, and do, and say through the truth “Holiness is Love” because you’re afraid it will make you weak, wimpy and not stand for anything. I love this quote “When God flexes his muscle, it doesn't look like Rambo or the Terminator — it looks like Calvary!“ You may think it’s weak and the culture may think it’s weak, but that is the upside down way of the cross. Colossians 2:15 declares “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” How is it that Jesus made a public spectacle of them when he was the one left exposed naked, lied about, abused, beaten up by a mob, laughed at, had his authority mocked, and ended up having his followers embarrassed to know him? Because Holy Love always triumphs in God’s economy. In God’s earthly Kingdom the powers and sin that seem to be winning – LOSE. The people who appear to be losing – WIN. This new Law of Love requires constant community discernment when it comes to applying it to our everyday circumstances. When the lights go on that the real manifesto of a kingdom community is love, we invite the struggle of how this piercing and cutting truth should inspect all our motives, actions, choices, idols and social relationships (Galatians 5). Love is our opportunity to expand Jesus down payment here on earth. Love should be our trajectory for growing God's church, being salt in our culture, and governing our personal and communal lives. We have a choice to live out this Law of Love.

inspired by Jesus Creed by Scot Mcknight
inspired by Why It's Hard to Love Jesus by Joseph M. Stowell

C.S Lewis 'Till We Have Faces

'Till We Have Faces is a book a read a couple of years ago because it was recommended by a good friend. I found it profound and deeply moving. It is a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, which had haunted Lewis all his life. It is daring, experimental, and unlike anything before or after it in his published work. The setting for the book is in an unnamed time, in a mythical land of Glome. I assume it is set in the distant past. The leader of Glome (King Trom) has daughters: Orual and Psyche.

Psyche, the younger of the sisters, is beautiful both of face and spirit and beloved by all. She is sent as a sacrifice to the gods when trouble invades the township. Orual is ugly (in her own words) and as an adult, does not show her face in public. After her father's death, she is crowned queen, and finds that her life experiences have made her a wise and fair ruler.

The story centers on the love between the two sisters (Orual and Psyche). But the love Orual has for her sister is exposed incrementally as you see her self-hatred, her jealousy of Psyche and the questioning of whether the gods are good.

'Till We Have Faces examines how the heart loves – and that it can destroy a relationship when insecurity and ego poison the purity of love. It examines self-perceived truth that can become cloaked in jealousy and protectiveness. It examines spirituality, not the traditional relationship with God, but rather the internal peace and sanctity that every person must find to discover who they really are. It is a powerful, moving story that causes the reader to evaluate and think through their personal love, truth and spirituality, and the driving force behind each one. Identity is at the core of the mythic drama throughout the book. Loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/Till-We-Have-Faces-Retold/dp/0156904365

Thoughts on Justice from Tim Kellar

Christians can understand more deeply why they should help the poor when they see themselves spiritually in those that lack materially, said Pastor Tim Keller pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Often people look at a poor person and ask, “Why didn’t you pull yourself up by your bootstraps?” But if God asks that same question to humans then everyone would be spiritually dead, said Keller. And if Christians question whether the poor person will abuse their charity and grace, then they should remember that they have also “trampled” on God’s charity and grace by not living the life they should. “The more you see yourself as spiritually poor and the recipient of God’s overflowing love the more your heart is going to go out to the poor,” said Keller. “When you look at the materially poor you know that in a sense you are looking in a mirror.”

A Snapshot

I recently had to discipline my 6 year old son for barking a “NO” at me. He cried so hard I thought he’d blow something internally. I really hate correcting him but I know I must do it for his sake and future. I love him therefore I am compelled to when he’s defiant. The only part I like is that after the incidence is over we make up, cuddle, tell each other “I love you” and read a story. I had an interesting thought recently about how someone might view the moment I am disciplining my boy. If someone video taped that 30 seconds of discipline then slapped that deal up on YouTube, I’m sure the masses would perceive me as a fuming Dad or a mad Dad. It’s easy to take a snapshot of someone and then lock-in their personality or character according to that snippet.

I think this is what we do to God. It’s easy to read a verse like Rev 19:11 or Exodus 4:24 and see only the wrath of God. We get a snapshot of God’s anger burning towards people and then typecast Him as primarily seething in judgment over His creation. Just as I would feel that a YouTube clip of me disciplining would create an unfair representation of me as a person, I feel much of the anger/holiness preaching is an unfair representation of God. Is it true that I get angry with my son for his defiance…absolutely. But is that the basis of our relationship? Is that my dominant character trait? The way I primarily look at him is with a love so full it sometimes overwhelms me. I do not believe that more discipline leads to more of my boy’s heart being won over. I don’t think God does either when He says in his word “it’s His kindness that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).”

I find that many theologians and teachers accept a formula of looking at everything the Bible says about God throwing it into a blender and “bam!” out comes a definition of who God is and how He relates with us. Often we accept such a God portrayed in Rev 19 and Exodus 4 as the whole story because we believe whatever the Bible says about God must be the whole truth. A large swath of American Christianity derives its understanding of God by taking all the references in the Bible to God and seeking then to delineate certain major characteristics of God. Systematic theology strongly supports that line of forming propositions and truths. Then what happens is that the relationship between the Father and Jesus looks like a good cop/bad cop story. We end up having some directly conflicting attributes of the very God we worship and follow.

This is exactly what the early apostolic church wrestled deeply with. If Jesus is the fullest revelation of God then what about all those other things we’ve came to understand from the Old Covenant? Frank Viola said in his book Jesus Manifesto “the early churches main challenge was to work out the parameters of what a Jesus-centered God and theology would look like.” For first century Jews their scriptures showed God’s holiness, God’s otherness, God’s inapproachability, God’s might, God’s standards. Those things are all true. But they were never intended to be the full picture, never the whole movie, they are more like YouTube clips. Jesus incarnated to show us the full presence of who God is, how He acts, what He’s like, how He relates, what makes Him tick. I love when Colossians 2:9 says “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” That is a mind blowing reality. This is why the early church struggled so much against the totality of Jesus Christ. They wanted to make Jesus an addendum, another part of the puzzle but the apostle Paul would not let them. Paul made it clear that everything previously stated, written and proclaimed about Jehovah must submit to Jesus Christ.

Some may read this and think I endorse a fluffy-bunny God, I don’t. Like I said, I get angry and so does God, and justifiably so. But there does need to be a recovering of who God is from the extreme edges He’s been pushed to over the years. I’m advocating for a more balanced recovering of God’s image, one that holds the tension in the center instead of letting it slide to one end or the other. This blazing focus on Jesus is of epic importance because Jesus is the CEO of my church. How I see and understand God embodied in Jesus changes everything. It informs everything. It commands how I represent him in my circles of influence and in the world. Snapshots of God do not typically provoke heart and character transformation (Galatians 5:22) more like visceral reactions, staunch postures and guilt inducement.