Christians love to talk ABOUT Jesus. They generally love to talk Jesus TO people. When we want someone to be a Christian we suggest they read stories ABOUT Jesus.
What’s interesting to me as I’m reading some of both the early Jesus stories and the early story of the emergence of the church is that they’re not really talking about Jesus, they’re not really talking Jesus to people, and they don’t really invite people to simply read about him. Actually what I’m observing is that people were just sharing their stories. They were both telling people what they had literally experienced and observed and they were inviting people into the experience. Without the experiential piece there wasn’t much of anything to be told. Becoming a partner in the Jesus Way wasn’t just about knowing the right things as much as it was about entering into the story: experiencing something.
Yes talking ABOUT Jesus is important, but if there’s no actual experience, if none of our ‘about’ is connected to what we’ve seen, heard, and done then our ‘about’ is quite hollow. If all we’re inviting people to do is read ABOUT Jesus then we’re inviting them into a hollow experience. If, however, we’re inviting people into an actual moment, into a genuine encounter with what Jesus referred to as the Kingdom then I believe that a truly hallowed moment emerges. It’s all about entering into a story. So, yes, that includes getting to know the story more and more. But it must absolutely lead into and include participation in a transformational story…a hallowed experience.
Hollow versus hallowed.
Talking ABOUT Jesus is important…but anyone can do that…and who wants to be that average?
I love that. Show me don't tell me.
There was a good book that is now out of print (except in Google ebook) called _Models of Jesus Revisited_ which looked at theological models of Jesus. I was impressed by one of the sections (personal savior?) where the author finally got to just that point: when it comes down to it, our personal experiences of Jesus are just as valid (and just as powerful) as the experiences of the Gospel writers, the fathers, martin Luther, or the Pope. Though, of course, to reduce Jesus to a personal experience would be absurd, seeing the Spirit as the author of our own experiences of Christ is just as logical/illogical as seeing the Spirit as the author of anyone else's experience.