Following Ideas About Jesus

I grew up in a Private Christian School.

From there I went on to Bible College.

Then to seminary.

Then to pastor a church.

Then to plant a church.

Then back to seminary.

And as I look back on that very long and winding journey, one of the things that most sticks out to me is that there was an need ingrained deep into my heart to always show a deep sense of loyalty to certain ideas about Jesus as opposed to a sense of loyalty to Jesus, himself.

For example, before I officially became the pastor of the church that would eventually hire me, I had to sit down in front of ...

ALL of the elders of the church.

ALL of the deacons of the church.

... and be GRILLED by someone in the denomination about 10,000 different theological issues.

No joke.

I made it through multiple rounds of interviews, guest preached in the church a couple of times, met the congregation, and then hit the final hurtle - a 2 hour oral exam of sorts where I was asked to share my thoughts on ...

Baptism.

Women Preachers.

LGBTQ.

The Return of Christ.

Salvation.

Original Sin.

Etc.

Etc.

Etc.

... And spout off as many Bible verses as I could to back up my thoughts. It was all quite rigorous and exhausting and I quickly realized (just 5 minutes in) that this person who was asking me the questions and all the people sitting around the table didn't give a crap about me or my heart or my journey to become more like Jesus.

Nah.

Everyone there was interested in little more than making sure I would toe the company line and that my answers would closely resemble what the gatekeepers of the denomination said were the right answers.

In short, it was a 2 hour meeting to make sure that I would be loyal to what that church had to say ABOUT Jesus as opposed to being loyal to the actual PERSON of Jesus.

I'm at a place in my life now, though, where I'm "deconstructing" that type of thinking and am "re-orienting" my life around the person of Jesus as opposed to ideas and teachings about Jesus.

I don't really care to talk about the Return of Christ.

Or the Afterlife.

Or Baptism.

Or salvation.

Or sin.

I used to be able to talk about these theological topics all day long and would love to debate the finer points of salvation or the afterlife or the Return of Christ or whatever.

Now?

I find it all quite boring, but find ...

The Person of Jesus.

The Life of Jesus.

The Teachings of Jesus.

... More intriguing than I ever have before. 

And wasn't that the original invitation of Jesus, anyways? Not to follow a system or a machine or a doctrine or a creed or a set of beliefs, but to follow HIM?

To walk in HIS footsteps?

To live as HE lived?

To speak as HE spoke?

To love as HE loved?

Right?

Matthew 4:19-20 - "Follow me."

Matthew 8:22 - "Follow me."

Matthew 9:9 - "Follow me."

Matthew 10:38 - "Follow me."

Matthew 16:24 - "Follow me."

Matthew 19:21 - "Follow me."

The command WAS clear and if we can pause long enough to clear away the many layers that have been added to it over the course of years and years and years of church history ... I think we'd see that it's just as clear TODAY.

"Follow me."

These days I'm less sure than ever about what I believe regarding the finer points of theology, but I'm more certain than ever that Jesus is worth following. 

Not because it'll get me to heaven.

Not because it'll keep me out of hell.

Not because it'll put me in God's good graces.

BUT.

Because I'm drawn to the Way of Christ and firmly believe that his message of radical love, radical grace, radical inclusion can and will forever change the world.

I'm on board.

I'm ready to stop following ideas about Jesus and start following the person of Jesus. 

You?