Reflections on The Jesus I Never Knew--Ch. 8

"Jesus, what a friend of sinners..."

I've sung that line from the old hymn many, many times, but I reflected on it a little differently after I read chapter 8 of "The Jesus I Never Knew." Here Yancey reflects on the grace that exuded from Jesus in his interactions with others, grace that caused "notorious sinners" to be attracted to him. If you look back over the gospels, you'll see that Jesus really did keep some interesting company. His disciples were a fairly rough bunch themselves--this inner circle contained a man who had betrayed his own people (Levi, a.k.a. Matthew the tax collector) and a man who had perhaps committed murder (Simon the Zealot, member of a political terrorist organization). Yet these were the people Jesus called, and throughout his life he had a way of attracting prostitutes and other "notorious sinners."

On one hand, this all makes a lot sense--these people perhaps realized more than anyone that they needed grace and forgiveness, and they knew Jesus had it. But on the other hand, it doesn't make sense. Jesus was sinless and holy, and these individuals were wallowing in sin. Yet they perceived Jesus to be approachable, and they were right. He was holy and welcoming, perfect and friendly.

I've come to realize that Jesus modeled a balance in this area that seems to constantly elude me. I find myself falling toward one extreme or the other, or simply vacillating between the two in an almost schizophrenic fashion. But Jesus never wavered--he constantly upheld the righteous standard of God, but did so in a fashion that didn't drive away those who knew they had blown it. This is a strong challenge for me as a teacher of God's Word, and its a strong challenge for all who claim to be followers of Christ.

Reading Reflection #1 for "The Idiot"

I think I was officially a nerd before, but if not, I think this proves it!

I recently went to Barnes and Noble to buy some books to read in some of my newly-found free time. One of the books that I purchased was a novel called "The Idiot" by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. Several years ago I spent an entire summer reading "The Brothers Karamazov" and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, I thought I would pick up some more Dostoevsky and continue reading some more of his stuff. I was also interested in this book because the central figure, Prince Myshkin, was deliberately crafted to be a "Christ-like" figure. Not that the author was trying to answer the question, "What would Jesus look like in my own time?", but he simply set out to create a picture of "a perfectly beautiful man" and used Christ as his inspiration (Dostoevsky became a very devout man and apparently a true Christian after being exiled to Siberia as a political prisoner).

Early in the book, Dostoevsky conveys some interesting thoughts on capital punishment through the lips of Prince Myshkin. Since the author used the hero of his story to convey these thoughts, it seems safe to assume that the author was in agreement with these opinions.

In this brief discussion, Prince Myshkin speaks out against captial punishment, apparently along two lines of reasoning: 1) The Bible says "Thou shalt not kill"; and 2) Execution brings with it more psychological suffering than murder because the criminal knows about his death ahead of time, and his death is certain. If a man is simply attacked by another, he states, his death is not necessarily certain--the man may fight off his attacker, he may survive his wounds, etc.

I thought point #2 of this discussion was an interesting thought, and it was certainly one that I had never heard before. Though I don't think I buy this notion as a reason to oppose capital punishment (I think the question of justice carries more weight), it certainly made me stop and think for a moment, and perhaps it will do the same for you.

What's Up, Clock?

If you have visited this blog, you may be wondering why I have the two clocks displayed on the right. One clock displays Kansas City, MO time, and the other displays Paris, France time. Let me explain.

Two of my best friends, Jon and Sarah Chadbourn, are missionaries in Paris who are seeking to plant a church among the French nationals in the capital city. They just recently arrived in Paris and are getting their ministry underway as they establish their home and get started with language school. Jon and Sarah are always on my heart and mind, so I thought I would give them a permanent place on my blog, too!

Reflections on The Jesus I Never Knew--Ch. 6

As you can see, I am not planning to take a "book club" approach to my reading reflections. I'm not planning to reflect on every chapter of every book, but only on statements and lessons that I find particularly moving and beneficial.

In chapter six of his book, Yancey has a great discussion on the Beatitudes that Jesus uttered in his Sermon on the Mount. Yancey concludes that the Beatitudes really speak on three levels: they are (1) dangled promises; (2) a "great reversal" which challenges worldly values; and (3) a psychological reality for those who adopt their way of life (Yancey mentions Henri Nouwen as an example of this principle, who is another author that I would like to read sometime).

Yancey concludes by writing the following: "When I first heard the Beatitudes, they sounded to me like impossible ideals given by some dreamy mystic. Now, though, I see them as truths proclaimed by a realist...Jesus knew how life works, in the kingdom of heaven as well as the kingdom of this world. In a life characterized by poverty, mourning, meekness, a hunger for righteousness, mercy, purity, peacemaking, and persecution, Jesus himself embodied the Beatitudes" (p. 126).

Yancey's observation is a helpful corrective against the temptation to view statements like these from Jesus as being little more than zealous exaggeration--i.e. that Jesus doesn't mean what he says, he is simply exaggerating for effect. But Jesus' life tells a different story--not only does he mean what he says, but he lives it out too. What a challenging example to follow, but what a rewarding path to tread!

Reflections on The Jesus I Never Knew--Ch. 1

I've been getting a heavy dose of study in the life of Christ recently, which has been wonderful. I've been going through the Gospel of Mark with my youth group during Sunday School, and just recently I started reading the book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. I've never read anything by Yancey before, but I've heard that a lot of people appreciate his writings, so I thought I would pick one up.

It is so rewarding to take another look at Jesus--what he was like, what he said, what he did and why he did it. Yancey is right--the picture that we come up with is often different than the picture that we carry around in our heads. In chapter one, Yancey talks about different pictures and paintings of Jesus that he has seen in his life and how they have influenced his thinking about the Lord. Jesus almost certainly did not look like the paintings of him that we often see--long, flowing hair that is perfectly combed and parted, a neatly trimmed, perfectly cropped bread, light-toned (very much Caucasian) skin. I think these pictures reveal that we tend to make Jesus into whatever race and nationality we are (we the features that we value in our race and nationality). But as Yancey points out, these pictures take us away from such facts as Jesus' Jewish heritage. This movement away from Jesus' real background and heritage is certainly a step in the wrong direction.

If I had to pick a favorite image of Jesus from the Scriptures, for me it would have to be the description of Jesus in Revelation 19. Here Jesus returns to earth as a Divine Warrior, leading the armies of heaven to wipe out the nations that have gathered against Israel during the end times. To be honest, I think I probably like this picture first and foremost because I'm a man--and men like fighting and warfare and stuff, right? Men like victory, conquest, glory--all things that we find in Revelation 19.

But in reality, the fact that this is my favorite picture probably says more about me than it does about Jesus. Oh this picture certainly does tell us important things about Jesus, but one thing I've learned from my study of the Gospel of Mark is that its so hard to describe Jesus with just one image. There are so many facets to his character and actions that it is so very difficult to describe him succinctly. That seems to be why we have four gospels in the first place--each gospel writer brings out something unique, so the end result is a full, robust picture of Jesus, not just a monochrome image.

How long has it been since you've taken a long look at the Jesus of Scripture? Maybe its time to get reacquainted.

An apologetic for my blog

I can't believe I'm doing this! I feel kind of dirty in a way, as though I'm violating some sort of deeply held conviction!

Okay, so that's probably a bit dramatic, but I really never thought that I would start a blog. I've always been tempted to think that blogs were kind of narcissistic--a person is basically just throwing their thoughts out there and acting like other people should actually care about reading them! I've never really been much of a blog reader, either. I currently don't read any blogs on a regular basis, and I only have one blog that I check through my Google Reader (that of Pastor Bruce Baker, pastor of Jenison Bible Church).

So let me offer an apologetic (a defense or an explanation) for this blog. I am a recent seminary graduate with a strong "nerdy" streak. During my seminary days, I learned the value of writing as it relates to personal study, thinking, and analysis of a topic. Writing forces you to clearly express your thoughts, which presupposes that you have actually thought clearly about them! In other words, writing is a tremendous aid to clear thinking.

Now that I am out of seminary, I realize that I won't be doing as much writing as I have in the past. But since I want to be serious about the discipline of study, I've decided to start this blog as a way to write about what God is teaching me through Bible study, life experiences, and personal reading.

So I guess this is kind of narcissistic--I'm writing about myself for my own benefit. Sound great, right? Honestly, I hope that this blog may be of benefit to others as well. If your eyes ever glance over this blog again, I pray that God may somehow use the words that you will read to challenge you in your walk with Him and to bring glory to His holy name.