Tag Archives: Bible

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Are You Practicing Jesusanity or Christianity?

Several years ago while living in Dallas, I was on a date with my wife and was walking past a storefront, only to discover Jesus staring back at me—a bobblehead Jesus, that is. I had seen bobbleheads of NFL players and rock stars before, but I didn’t realize that Jesus had reached bobblehead status! Fast-forward a few years to when I was kicking off our Christmas series at our church. Want to know who was helping me preach that morning? Yep, bobblehead Jesus standing on a stool (I am happy to report that I was neither fired nor struck by lightning). To help make the Jesusanity versus Christianity distinction more concrete, I read out loud to our church the ad from the back of the box he was packaged in:

The name Jesus means God saves. The term Christ is a title for anointed of God. For Muslims and some Jews, Jesus was a prophet. Buddhists say he was enlightened. Hindus call him an Avatar (the incarnation of a deity in human form). And Christians hail him as the Son of God. Although he is understood in many different ways, everyone seems to agree that he was an extraordinary man.

Now I would take “extraordinary,” but is that what Jesus was after? Today in our thoroughly pluralistic culture, Jesusanity is what is most often practiced. Jesus is respected as one of the great religious leaders — even the best religious leader of all time — but he does not have unique status. For many people today, both inside and outside the church, Jesus is not unique; he is simply one among many. Respected? Yes. Street cred? Check. But if we take the New Testament documents seriously, Jesus wasn’t aiming for respect. His messianic mission was far larger than that.

In stark contrast to Jesusanity, Darrell Bock summarizes that Christianity “involves the claim that Jesus was anointed by God to represent both God and humanity in the restoration of a broken relationship existing between the Creator and his creation.” Only Jesus the Messiah can address humanity’s deepest need, the forgiveness of our sins so that we can be reconnected with God and enjoy the eternal kind of life we were made for (Mark 2:1–12; 8:27–30; John 17:3). In Christianity, Jesus is worshiped; in Jesusanity, he is simply respected. The difference could not be more important for our world. I dive into more of the implications of this mindset here.

Related Post: Are the Gospels Full of Contradictions?

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Are We Trivializing The Cross of Jesus Christ?

Early on in my graduate studies I came across a passage in a book on sin that has always stuck with me. It is profound and challenging. But we must maintain clarity here. What happens when we fail to talk rightly about sin and grace? In short, we trivialize the Cross. In his excellent book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, Cornelius Plantinga highlights the value and necessity of accurately speaking of sin and grace:

To speak of sin by itself, to speak of it apart from the realities of creation and grace, is to forget the resolve of God. God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way. Moreover, to speak of sin by itself is to misunderstand its nature: sin is only a parasite, a vandal, a spoiler. Sinful life is a partly depressing, partly ludicrous caricature of genuine human life. To concentrate on our rebellion, defection, and folly—to say to the world “I have some bad news and I have some bad news” –is to forget that the center of the Christian religion is not our sin but our Savior. To speak of sin without grace is to minimize the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, and the hope of shalom.

But to speak of grace without sin is surely no better. To do this is to trivialize the cross of Jesus Christ, to skate past all the struggling by good people down the ages to forgive, accept, and rehabilitate sinners, including themselves, and therefore to cheapen the grace of God that always comes to us with blood on it. What had we thought the ripping and writhing on Golgotha were all about? To speak of grace without looking squarely at these realities, without painfully honest acknowledgment of our own sin and its effects, is to shrink grace to a mere embellishment of the music of creation, to shrink it down to a mere grace note. In short, for the Christian church (even in its recently popular seeker services) to ignore, euphemize, or otherwise mute the lethal reality of sin is to cut the nerve of the gospel. For the sober truth is that without full disclosure on sin, the gospel of grace becomes impertinent, unnecessary, and finally uninteresting.

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Howard G. Hendricks ‘Prof’ Is Home With The Lord (1924–2013)

I was sad to learn of the news that ‘Prof’ is now home with the Lord (He was 88). I had the pleasure of serving as a fellow in the Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership during my time at Dallas Theological Seminary and taking Bible Study Methods and Leadership from him. He was the real deal. What an impact this man has had. His influence and passion for God’s Word and discipleship literally spans the globe. If you have never heard of him and especially if you have, please take some time to read and watch this tribute put together by DTS. Odds are that the person who taught you how to study the Bible was influenced by Howard Hendricks. Let’s celebrate his life!

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2

Thank you Prof for marking my life and the lives of so many. Well done…may you enjoy the rest of your Master, Savior, and Lord.

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Interview with C. John Collins On the Days of Genesis [Podcast]

The early chapters of Genesis are some of the most challenging and controversial in all of the Bible…but also some of the most important. In this podcast, I interview leading Hebrew / Old Testament scholar Dr. C. John Collins on questions like: How do we interpret the days of Genesis? What does it mean to take the early chapters of Genesis literally? Did Moses really write Genesis? Is Genesis historical? Who was the original audience and what would they have understood these passages to mean? What does the BIble teach (and not teach) about the age of the earth? And more… As Christians we need to be thoughtful as we approach the text and charitable and humble in our dealings with others who may disagree. Regardless of your position, there is much here that will cause you to think about the inspired text in a fresh way.

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The most accessible explanation of C. John “Jack” Collins’ view on the days of Genesis is Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? (Crossway 2003).

Other helpful books by Dr. Collins: Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? I The God of Miracles I Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary

If you enjoyed this topic / podcast, you would also enjoy our interview with NT scholar Dr. Darrell Bock – Is the Bible Full of Contradictions?

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Interview with Darrell Bock on Bible Contradictions [Podcast]

Is the Bible full of contradictions? Were the biblical authors confused about the historical details they report? In this podcast, I interview leading New Testament scholar and New York Times best selling author Dr. Darrell Bock on whether the Gospels contradict one another as skeptics like Bart Ehrman claim.

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Darrell Bock’s Chapter on Precision and Accuracy in Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?: A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture (Crossway 2012).

Darrell Bock’s Blog I Books I Podcast

If you enjoyed this topic / podcast, you would enjoy the article – Should Lost Gospels Be In the Bible?

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