Deconstructing Jesus: Saving Jesus From the Church

Note: This was originally published in our bi-weekly e-newsletter, Liminal Spaces. To get future issues delivered to your inbox (and get our ebook for free!), sign up here.

Close your eyes for a moment and bring to mind your picture of Jesus. 

Who do you see?

Maybe you imagine a blonde, blue-eyed, Brad Pitt Jesus or a meek and mild shepherd, or a fat little white baby in his mama’s lap. Regardless, we’ve all met him before, or at least we think so. 

He’s the moralistic nice guy most concerned with sexual purity. He’s the white Christ of Christendom enlisting Christian soldiers to fight a culture war. He’s the cosmic scapegoat hanging on a cross best remembered not so much for his life, but his death. He’s the hyper-vigilant personal savior more concerned with individual immorality than systemic, societal injustice. He's safe Jesus. The one to merely worship yet dare not follow lest he lead us into all kinds of good trouble. 

These days, Jesus is a sort of Rorschach test. Our view of him says far more about ourselves than it does about this first-century Palestinian. We tend to see what we want to see while ignoring the parts that don’t fit our narrative. Yet, our image of Jesus shapes the very fabric of our faith. Whoever you follow, you become. And sadly enough, the Jesus most of us have met in evangelical circles looks nothing like the poor, brown, nonviolent, marginalized, radical prophet that spoke truth to power and dared deconstruct the religion of his day. 

But we are in good company. Even Jesus' disciples struggled to understand him. At one point Jesus directly asked them, “Tell me what I am like?” Only Thomas was brave enough to reply, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.” 

The quest for the historical Jesus and the universal Christ isn’t merely an academic or theological pursuit, it is the spiritual path of enlightenment. “In many American churches, Jesus still comes “as one unknown”— or perhaps as one so well known as to be unrecognizable,” warns Pastor Robin Meyers. 

Over the next several issues, we’ll go on a search to meet Jesus again for the first time. We’ll ponder his poor beginnings, study his teachings, follow him as he navigates life under Roman occupation, see how he treated women, pay attention to his mystical side, and witness wisdom that transformed conventional religion into a movement of love. 

A Book Club Invitation!

On Thursday, October 28th we are launching a book club specifically designed for our patrons and Patreon Members. We will be reading Matthew Fox's groundbreaking book Original Blessing, a work said to be a radical cure for all the dark and destructive aspects of modern Christianity. Sounds like the perfect read if you are deconstructing your faith! Join us on October 28th by becoming a Patreon supporter today. Your support gives you access to a growing library of premium resources including a new online course we are launching in the coming weeks. Sign up today so you don't miss out!