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Journey with Jesus: Who are we following?

Written by admin on Jan 08, 2012 in - No Comments

This was week 1 in a series.  I explored the many different versions of Jesus that exist in our culture.  Then turned to Mark 1:4 – 11 (the lectionary gospel text for Jan. 8, 2012) to explore how Mark introduced us to Jesus.  Through the words of John the Baptist and the story of Jesus’ baptism, we start to get a picture of who we are following and what he’s up to.

Digging Deeper:  My argument began with the premise that in our culture Jesus, and by extension the Christian faith, has strayed from the Jesus of the gospels and what he wanted from his followers.  I called this new Jesus  ”Super, Mega-store Jesus” and “Jesus as ultimate consumer product”.   This view of Jesus, and by extension the kind of Christianity it creates, could also be called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  MTD is a term created by Kenda Creasy Dean to explain the dominant view of God among younger people.  Check out her book Almost Christian for more on MTD.

I wonder out loud, starting with myself, if we really want to follow Jesus on his terms?  I wonder if we really want to be transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus.  Or do we want a Jesus to help solve our problems and keep us safe so that we can live the kind of life we want to live?

Check out the sermon and see what you think!