The Expanding Jesus

It never ceases to amaze me how God puts the right book in my hand at just the time when I am ready for it. He did that with Brennan Manning’s “Ragamuffin Gospel”, Wayne Jacobsen’s “The Naked Church” and “He Loves Me”, N. T. Wright’s “The Challenge of Jesus”, and now Brian McLaren’s “A Generous Orthodoxy”. This book is helping me clarify some of my thoughts, and perhaps why I bristle at certain interpretations of the Gospel.

I haven’t read the whole book, but I really resonate with his brief descriptions of the “different Jesuses" he has come to know. I couldn’t help but smile as I read....So, I decided I would put some of it in writing and maybe see if some discussions emerge... I’ll start with lifting some stuff from the chapter “The Seven Jesuses I Have Known” that apply to me, then I'll write about my own journey and the discovery of these "Jesuses".

I am Conservative Protestant
...because I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross opens the door to heaven in the future, and allows me to have a relationship with Him now.

I am Charismatic/Pentecostal
...because I believe that the Holy Spirit is the real presence of Jesus, and is alive and active right now.

I am Roman Catholic
...because I believe that the resurrection of Jesus “changes forever the whole equation of existence.”

I am Eastern Orthodox
...because I believe God has taken human life into His life through Jesus, and God has enters His creation through Jesus, and has saved the world by doing so.

I am Liberal Protestant
...because I believe the teachings and acts of love of Jesus offer a way of life that brings blessing to the whole world, and I believe Jesus confronts the corrupt religious and political systems of the world.

I am Anabaptist
...because I believe the Church is a continuation of the original disciples, a group of people learning the ways of Jesus in voluntary community.

The discovery of these Jesuses in my own life has been a long road. I am still learning and open to more. I've spent a long time only knowing a Conservative Protestant Jesus. I realized sometime ago that he was only a fraction of the whole. It was like thinking you know someone because you talk to them in a store occasionally. There is so much more.... I want ALL of Jesus!