Questions Worth Asking

I’ve learned in my life that when Christians speak of Jesus you must ask some basic questions.

Are they speaking of Jesus as he really was, or as they imagine him to be?

Does this Jesus bless and approve of a privileged status for one group, color, denomination or nation?

Does this Jesus call us to discipleship or simply preside over a way of life we’ve come to call the “Christian lifestyle?”

Does this Jesus cross barriers, or does he send us back to hang with our own kind?

Does this Jesus have a mission, or just a moral agenda?

Does this Jesus show us where the Kingdom of God calls us, or does he spiritualize the Kingdom so that we never have to really think about it unless we’re about to die?

Is this Jesus a white, American Christian? Or a middle-eastern Jewish teacher?

Does this Jesus leave me alone? Or does he call me into community?

Does this Jesus give me a spirituality that makes me a “good Christian” on my own comfortable terms, or does he offer me a spirituality grounded in grace, but calling me into the tension of discipleship beyond the boundary lines drawn by religion?

Does this Jesus serve as the official spokesperson for organized religions lobotomized version of the Kingdom and the King, or is this the Jesus who started a world changing, cross-cultural movement of people filled with the power of the Kingdom of God?

From Jesus says Cross the Line, at Jesus Shaped Spirituality.