I’m reading this great book by Philip Yancy called The Jesus I Never Knew. It is so insightful. He has such a great way of looking at things that makes so much sense. It’s sort of like he expresses things that I suspected all along but couldn’t really put my finger on. When people all around me are saying something that seems so wrong - and not Jesus-like, and I just know it has to be incorrect but can’t figure out exactly why or how to express what it is - this book explains it. And that has been in more than one case.
One quote I loved was, “Jesus did not say, ‘All men will know you are my disciples… if you just pass laws, suppress immorality, and restore decency to family and government,’ but rather…‘if you love one another.”
Another great quote was, “In short, Jesus honored the dignity of people whether he agreed with them or not.”
It brought to mind some of the ways I have seen by brothers and sisters in Christ treat gay people and how they have sort of frowned upon my acceptance of that lifestyle. The thing is, I just can’t help it. I really love my gay friends. They are easy to love. In many cases they are not nearly as judgmental as my Christian friends and in many cases they are much more filled with love for others. That is not how it is supposed to be! We, as Christians, should be the ones who are known for our love.
Philip Yancy talks about how Jesus left “us” behind to carry on His work. We are supposed to be doing the things He did… that does not necessarily mean not sinning, because we always do, but that means helping the poor, the sick, the prisoners, the destitute. Instead we seem to focus on populating the churches and pushing our politics.
Anyway, the book is inspiring.
I bought it because I felt like I needed to know Jesus better. I have been on a quest. Last year I decided I wanted to know God more personally.. like, if He were a person here with me, what TV shows would He watch? How would He take His coffee. What would His favorite color be? I mean I wanted to know Him the way one would know a parent, a sibling or a friend. I wanted to know His personality, what He is like and to get a feel for second guessing Him the way you second guess what your friend’s reactions will be when you go to pick out their birthday presents.
In my quest for this I began to go through the Bible and jot down everything that gave me a clue to God’s personality. I wasn’t looking for anything else. As I did this, a lot of other stuff was revealed to me as well. There was much that gave me pause for thought. I felt as if I was getting to know God, the Father and also getting to know Jesus. While doing that I also did a Bible study called Soul Keeping which was wonderful. I felt like I really got acquainted with the Holy Spirit during that time.
I followed that by reading a few Dallas Willard books starting with Hearing God. By the time I finished those I felt really close to God but sort of removed from Jesus. He still seemed like a shadow to me. That’s how I ended up reading this wonderful book. I feel as if Jesus is coming in to better focus but I still feel like I will need to pursue more about Him. There is so much to think about.
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