Comments on: Boxed In Jesus

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:00:45 +0000

(Snarky comment, proceed with caution!)
Did you ever visit one of those mega-ultra-churches, sit among the thousands, then see the ensuing traffic snarl when it’s all over, and wonder, If the gate is small and the path narrow and only a few find it, then who are all of these people and where are they going?
I once had a friend ask for prayer for his type 1 diabetes at a small, house type bible study group. The whole group gasped and seemed to take a step backward. I got the feeling that we weren’t supposed to have any real problems, and yes these folks were very well off, comfortable, and they smelled pretty good too, but the problem was that their Jesus was in one of those boxes you spoke of and a fairly small one at that.
The same thing happened in another similar group when we asked them to pray for a gay friend who was showing an interest in the Lord. We had the distinct impression that we could never bring that young man to that church, because no one would sit near us or greet us once they had figured out who he was. Pretty tight quarters for the Lord to inhabit, eh?
Don’t you wish that all the tares just naturally were attracted to and wore something like the Wisconsin cheese head hat or something else so that we wheat could quit hanging around that type of person?
Uh, hmmm, maybe there’s a reason why it’s so difficult to tell.
Who among us, could have predicted the spiritual potential of Saul when he was arresting Christians and throwing them in jail?
Yeah, we probably would have chosen some of the older, quieter, richer pharisees to witness to, instead of Saul, they would be less scary, and hey at least they might be able to help out when the next building drive starts up.

By: Tim Wilson

Tim Wilson — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:33:42 +0000

Then we’re agreeed! I’m adding your RSS feed by the way.

By: bluejeangospel

bluejeangospel — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:47:51 +0000

I’m with you. Hell is real. And creeds and statements of faith or belief are good so long as the are grounded in bible doctrine. Assuming that because Jesus healed one blind person means he will heal them all is to make a leap the bible doesn’t make, and I think that is what you are saying in a sense—I know there is a word the theologians would use here but that’s the best I can do.

I appreciate the dialogue.

By: Tim Wilson

Tim Wilson — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:28:43 +0000

I agree with you that Jesus is often defined by man’s thoughts that are completely contrary to what he reveals. How often do we hear that hell doesn’t seem to fit with the loving picture of Jesus. Jesus spoke about hell more than anything else!

However, sometimes the “boxes” churches have are defined by the Bible. Some may say calling Jesus “gracious” is a box. It isn’t! It’s defining something in his character, and it isn’t wrong. Jesus is gracious. He is also powerful, just, merciful, the Son of God. All these are “boxes” but it’s not we who put him there. They are just words describing where he himself is.

Basically what I’m trying to say, it’s okay to have doctrinal statements that define what Jesus has done, but it’s not okay to have doctrinal statements that attempt (and fail) to make Jesus do something he doesn’t.

It’s the difference between saying Wayne Rooney is a striker (because that is where he always plays) and ringing him up and saying “You better not play left wing!”. The first we are completely within our rights to do, we are just describing something he does (play attacking football) with a term. The second is outrageous, we can’t tell Rooney where to play!

It’s the same with Jesus. We can say Jesus is a saviour, because that describes his character. But we can’t say “Jesus you better save everyone!”. That’s not our decision to make.

I’m sorry if that’s what you mean, just I know a lot of people who would mean something different with those words.

By: bluejeangospel

bluejeangospel — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:35:11 +0000

rule-keeping is a cop out when we’d just assume not follow Jesus instead Lori, good point.

By: Lori

Lori — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:23:07 +0000

“the wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere” Ecclesiates 6-7 I think man made rules are like chasing the wind. (Not that I know much but this verse came to mind when I read this) Your post makes perfect sense to me. Rule-keeping does keep you boxed in. Following his lead is freeing.

By: bluejeangospel

bluejeangospel — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:17:01 +0000

the “comfortable Christian bubble we’ve engineered”… may God pop it. You are so right. And expose “‘our’ paths to righteousness” as well. Your comments have encouraged me, and have reminded me, that we need one another for just that.

By: annaldavis

annaldavis — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:07:16 +0000

Thank you for this post. I think that too many of us are following a counterfeit Jesus, one that focuses on rules and politics in our comfortable Christian bubble we’ve engineered so that nothing threatens or challenges our faith. And then we’re all agreeing with each other over our paths to righteousness (or distracted by arguments over the same), when somebody else out there just needs the simple love of Jesus.

By: bluejeangospel

bluejeangospel — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:07:08 +0000

…great question you raise Tim, I had to think for a second (and that is not always a good thing).

I think my point here (and I think its a correct one), is that Jesus can’t be boxed in. Try as we may, he’s not going to be contained. I’d also add that much too often it is the ideas of man and his rules that we ourselves follow—rather than Jesus.

Thanks for stoppping by and thanks for commenting.

By: Tim Wilson

Tim Wilson — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:55:24 +0000

What in particular do you think boxes Jesus in?