I have heard many leaders from the emerging church movement,including Rob Bell and Brian Mclaren, consistently reference the “way of Jesus,” which to the careful ear ends up being an emotion driven attempt at replicating the be-attitudes for the good of the world. I want to believe these men are sincere in their desire to tear Christ away from rigorous religion that is wrought with rules, but empty of life. I want to believe that this is their desire, but what is being shaped by their words and message is a Christ-less Christianity focused on replicating chosen behaviors and words of Jesus, without any significant relationship with or replication of Him.
The “way of Jesus” can not be reduced to replicating what He describes in the sermon on the mount. Even Ghandi, a man quoted as saying he found nothing miraculous in Jesus death on the cross found comfort in the way of doing life presented in the sermon on the mount, but he was not a follower of Christ. And this is what this message of “the way of Jesus” deeply implies. The ability to do life in a manner that seeks to imitate Jesus’ words from that particular teaching, but not to have Him in all His strength and glory.
If we wish to replicate the complete “way of Jesus” then we must talk about hell…alot. Money…alot. And fight religious rule making in an effort to exult the Person of Yahweh. We must speak strongly against sin, and honestly about grace, and humbly about the cost of discipleship. What I have described is the true way of Jesus, and even this limited survey is not complete.
Jesus said that He, in fact, is the way…that Him, in the fullness of His Person was the “way of Jesus” and the only way to replicate that is through His power…in Him, by His Spirit, those were His words. As long as we carve up the scriptures to support the things we wish to define ourselves by, and ignore those that cause complications in our manufactured theology, then we will never know the way of Jesus, and certainly won’t be able to live or communicate it to others.
Jesus is the way of Jesus, He is our great treasure, and without this understanding we are simply green peace, red cross, or the salvation army…and oh yeah, we sing songs about Him sometimes too….
ben
November 3, 2009
Send me your mailing address and tshirt size. Crawdaddy coming your way.
Allan Svensson
November 13, 2009
Hi.
I found your Web Site by Google
And I wish you the best you can get,
the peace of God through Jesus Christ.
Welcome to visit my Site.
Allan Svensson, Sweden
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/INDEX.HTM
The Bridegroom comes, Come out to meet him. Matt. 25:6.
From where shall we go out? We shall go out of the great
Babylon, the great whore. Rev. Chapter 17 and 18. This
command of the Lord in Rev. 18:4 is now highly topical.
Never before we have been so nearly Jesus’ coming as we
are now, but how are God’s people prepared? How is the
unity in the faith? Sorry, very bad! God’s people are more
divided now than ever before. Instead of following what
the Bible teaches about the Assembly of God, they have
followed Satan’s false assembly doctrine. They believe
that the Assembly of God is constituted of church systems
and many religious organizations.
Most Christians have not yet begun to prepare for Jesus’
coming. They can speak and write that Jesus shall come,
and about the signs of the time, yet they do not make any
preparation to meet Jesus. How can we make a preparation?
To make preparation and be ready for Jesus’ coming, God’s
people must get the knowledge of the Assembly of God.
All God’s people must in the first hand begin to study what
the Bible teaches about the Assembly of God. What we
need now before the restoration of the Assembly of God,
it is humility before God’s word and a forgivable disposition
to each other.
The Assembly of God is no Pentecostal church. Please,
consider what this expression “the Assembly of God” in the
reality implies. The Assembly of God must be the same as
the Greek word “ekklesia”, and the Body of Christ. 1 Cor.
12:12-31. Then it is easy to understand that this has nothing
to do with the Pentecostal Movement. Pentecostal churches
have existed about 100 years, but the Assembly of God has
ever existed since Jesus baptized his first disciples by the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave them the new life in Christ
so that they became born anew. Then the Assembly of God
was born.
The Bridegroom comes, Come out to meet him
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CRY.HTM
Evil spirits in the churches
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/SPIRITS.HTM
The great falling away
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/MESSAGE.HTM
What does hinder the Antichrist to appear?
What is the Restrainer?
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/MESSAGE.HTM#Antichrist
KJV, “the best English Bible” but not perfect
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/KING.HTM
Why did the Pentecostal Revival take an end?
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CRISIS.HTM