Jesus Isنموونە

Day 1: Introduction

Deep, true Christianity is committed to getting to know the WHOLE of Jesus. We always lose something when we favor one aspect of Jesus over another. But when we see two aspects of Jesus that seemingly contradict one another, the devil will try to get us to dilute our view of Jesus. But when the devil says, “Pick one,” orthodoxy (traditional Christianity) says: Ok, Both. With Jesus, it’s all or nothing. All the great heresies of human history have occurred when humans have tried to oversimplify the truth and overemphasize one part of God’s immensity to the detriment of another (seemingly) inconsistent attribute.

Humans tend to like simplicity; we don’t like messiness or tension, and we like to resolve complications. And if we can cope with the tension of two challenging ideas about God, we still usually warm to one side more naturally than the other. But if we choose to love and obey only part of Jesus, we end up further away from Jesus because we’re pushing part of Him away. Jesus mourns our distance. We are separated from love and the only source of true power gives us life, eternity, and true peace and changes our hearts.

C. S. Lewis wrote…

Each of us has his individual emphasis: each holds, in addition to the faith, many opinions which seem to him to be consistent with it and true and important…[but, the]scrupulous care to preserve the Christian message as something distinct from one’s own ideas, has one very good effect upon the apologist himself. It forces him, again and again, to face up to those elements in original Christianity which he personally finds obscure or repulsive, He is saved from the temptation to skip or slur or ignore what he finds disagreeable. And the man who yields to that temptation will, of course, never progress in Christian knowledge. For obviously the doctrines which one finds easy are the doctrines which give Christian sanction to truths you already knew. The new truth which you do not know and which you need must, in the very nature of things, be hidden precisely in the doctrine you least like and least understand. It is just the same here as in science. The phenomenon, which is troublesome, which doesn’t fit in with the current scientific theories, is the phenomenon which compels reconsideration and thus leads to new knowledge, Science progresses because scientists, instead of running away from such troublesome phenomena or hushing them up, are constantly seeking them out. In the same way, there will be progress in Christian knowledge only as long as we accept the challenge of the difficult or repellent doctrines. A “liberal” Christianity which considers itself free to alter the faith whenever the faith looks perplexing or repellent must be completely stagnant. Progress is made only into a resisting material.”

Christian Apologetics, published in God in the Dock, by CS Lewis, 1945

Christmas is a time to reflect on what we love about Jesus, but why not let Him show you some parts of himself that make you uncomfortable? The gift He wants to give each one of us this Christmas is more of Himself, to teach us about aspects that have the potential to grow us.

Come on a journey into and towards tension, dive into the paradox, and you will discover parts of Jesus that have been hidden in the shadows of your likes and dislikes. Let Jesus give you the gift of Himself this Christmas, in all the richness He brings to the world as both God and as a man, both born on Christmas morning and there before the creation of this beautiful world.

CHALLENGE:

This reading plan could more accurately be called a reflection plan. Each day, you’ll be invited to challenge yourself to reflect on two seemingly contradictory scriptures. And then reflect…

1. Which of these two parts of Jesus am I more comfortable with? Why?

2. What can I learn about Jesus and put into practice from accepting the part of Jesus that comes less naturally to me?

3. Turn that reflection into a short statement to remind yourself of this double-edged truth. For example: remind yourself to be challenged that Jesus lived a short human life, but He is also eternal. And you could write yourself a reminder like this:

God came from forever to meet me right now.

Why? Let me quote Lewis again…

“You must translate every bit of your theology into the vernacular [everyday language]. This is… of the greatest service to your thoughts… if you cannot translate your thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts are confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood one’s own meaning.”

Ask yourself what this paradoxical truth about who Jesus is means to you. How can I translate the truth this scripture reveals into words I’d use every day?