TWO JESUSES – which one do you want me to be?

Do you want the religious Jesus who fits with church, or the unreligious one who annoyed 
the church leaders and chose the unchurched as his mates?

Understanding the Cross might help you decide which Jesus you want –- the religious Jesus or the unreligious one — the Cross was my way of romancing the not so terrible, not so fallen world.  

Good grief, God why do you insist on saying things that upset the organised church?

Anyone who knows the story will tell you the reason they put me to death was that I upset the leaders of the Jewish Church. And, of course you know what they said about me, right?

They say a lot about you, which bit are you talking about?

That I’m the same yesterday, today and forever. So just as I always have, I continue to provoke the organised church. My Spirit brings truth and truth isn’t always comfortable when it doesn’t fit with what you’ve been taught.

Ok, you were saying that the world is not so terrible, not so fallen.

Well, how would you describe it? Are the people you work with ‘terrible’, or ‘fallen’?

Well, no, not in my mind. I like them, actually I love them.

I was the same, still am. Normal people are the backbone of the world, not the religious. I chose normal people for my friends. Religious people bored and annoyed me, so I annoyed them back. Still do.

Ok, but when I publish this sort of conversation people say I must have been hurt by the church, must be bitter.

Have you? Are you?

No, but I’ve seen plenty of good people destroyed, marriages and whole families ruined by the silly demands of church leaders, and not in just one place, but in many.

You Christians need to wake up, you tell everyone ‘God is Love’ – think about what you’re saying, think about love and romance – the cross was me romancing the world, not trying to change it.

Love comes first, a long time before change – love is patient and kind, not harsh and demanding – true change, if it really is needed, comes much later. It happens bit by bit as we speak (‘The words that I have spoken to you have changed you’.). (‘Transformed by the renewal of your mind.’)

Your secular songwriters understand the love of God better than your preachers do. ‘With all your faults, I love you still…’ (Frank Sinatra)

‘I love you just the way you are’ (Billy Joel).

Now, tell me if that isn’t true.