Defanged Jesus?
Re-doing Jesus into our own image
I confess I have somewhat of a disdain for the Christmas song, “Away in a Manger.”
The song is fine — in fact, adorable — for children. It’s their way of paying tribute to their Savior. But for us adults — well let’s just say we’re a different story.
We don’t need a ‘little Lord Jesus’ laying down His ‘sweet head.’ We need a mighty Lord Jesus Who loves righteousness, hates wickedness, and will reign in glory.
We need Jesus the Lion of Judah. We don’t need a defanged Jesus.
What (or maybe who) does defanged Jesus look like?
What do I mean by defanged Jesus? Simply this: a ‘Jesus’ who is always available to accommodate us but has no power to change us.
This ‘defanged Jesus’ comes in many forms. I came up with a list of four. This list is by no means exhaustive, but here it is: Cultural Jesus; Judgmental Jesus; Buddy Jesus; Butler Jesus.
Let’s take a look at these different ‘Jesuses.’
Cultural Jesus: This version of Jesus looks and even thinks like me. He could be white, black, Jewish, or Gentile — depending upon my own nationality or skin color. And oh yes, He definitely agrees with my politics!
Judgmental Jesus: This version of Jesus (we’ll call him J.J.) takes things one step further and decrees that you are worthy of condemnation if you don’t look, think, and act like me. He approves of my refusal to associate with anyone who doesn’t live up to my standards.
Buddy Jesus: This version of Jesus is the polar opposite of J.J. He loves and accepts everything about me and everyone else. He’s never, ever, ever say anything contrary about anyone’s choices in life, since He knows that to do so is ‘unloving.’
Butler Jesus: It’s not enough to have Jesus as our ‘buddy.’ He also has to be our personal butler. He is available to meet every one of our needs (and many of our wants) without any responsibility on our part. He’ll even give us all the tools we need for success. You see, He knows the gospel is all about my happiness.
Of course, there’s more than a hint of parody in the descriptions of these different ‘Jesus’ versions. But the bottom line in all of them is this: too many people are seeking a Jesus made in our own image. And too many churches are willing to accommodate them. The result is a powerless (and false) gospel being presented to the world.
The result is a powerless (and false) gospel being presented to the world.
Encountering the Real Jesus
So who is the real Jesus people are searching for (perhaps without knowing it)?
He is the multi-ethnic, radical-loving, transformation, glorious King Jesus that the Bible says He is!
Let’s take a look at each of these descriptions:
Multi-ethnic Jesus: Jesus doesn’t necessarily look like you or me. Oh sure, He was a common man — so common that his peers didn’t recognize Him for Who He was (John 1:12; Luke 4:22). What they saw was a carpenter from a backwoods village (John 1:46) reaching out to prostitutes, tax collectors, and — gulp — Gentiles! He simply didn’t fit their Messiah image. And He doesn’t fit ours either. He isn’t white European. He isn’t black African. He is Jewish — yet even most Jews don’t recognize Him as one of their own. He simply will not conform to our socio-economic boxes.
Radical Lover Jesus: Not only does Jesus not fit into our socio-economic boxes. He doesn’t fit into our self-righteous ones either! He loves each of our ‘boogeymen’ — the white supremacist, the hated policeman, the Antifa anarchist, the power-hungry politician. (And yes, He even loves the obnoxious celebrity and media personality!) He loves the panhandler on the street as well as your insufferable relative. His love will even reach mass murderers! Just ask Ted Bundy, David Horowitz, and Jeffrey Dahmer — each of whom yielded to His embrace before they died.
Transformational Jesus: None of the men whose names I just mentioned would dare call Him ‘buddy.’ Indeed, no one who has truly been touched by Him can do anything but worship Him (John 20:28). Once you’ve been touched by His power, you know He was — and is — your only hope. Only He can permanently remove bitterness. Only He can permanently remove shame. Only He can resurrect you from the spiritual grave. ‘Buddy?’ Forget it!
Glorious King Jesus: 2000 years ago, Jesus came as a servant. But He never pretended to be anyone’s ‘butler.’ To the contrary, He was a king in disguise. And when He returns, the disguise will be lifted. He will be revealed in blazing fire (2 Thessalonians 2:17). He will conquer His enemies (Isaiah 42:13). He will be seen in all His glory as the King and Lord over humanity (1 John 3:2).
Putting it all together
Jesus came as a servant (Matthew 20:28). He is still a servant today (Romans 15:8). His service was to pour out His life and His blood so that we could be rescued from self-destruction and restored to our original place and calling (Genesis 1:26; 2 Timothy 2:12). That service continues to this day as He is constantly making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
But — and here’s what we so often miss — he serves us in order that we may, in turn, serve Him. His love is poured out onto us so that our love may in turn be poured out onto Him 1 John 4:10, 19). He called us out of darkness into light so that we may call others out of their darkness into His light.
In other words, His mission is to transform us — not to make us comfortable. To be sure, He lives us too much to let us stay in our comfort zones.
Unfortunately, most of us prefer to have Him re-made in our image. After all, we don’t want our little world threatened, do we? And a defanged Jesus — in whatever false version we come up with for Him — is perfectly harmless.
But that’s not really what you want, is it? You want the real thing. You want the real Messiah.
You want the roaring Lion.
