You might have thought that Jews were the only ones who have "issues" with Jesus. Turns out we're not alone. Though Jay Michaelson wrote recently in the Forward about our "problem" with Jesus, you'd be surprised to hear how many Christians have a Jesus problem.
Today at Chautauqua, Rev. John Buchanan gave a sermon, "What About Jesus?" that seemed to me like a basic, good, old fashioned piece of Christian preaching. While trying to explain why people should believe in Jesus, Rev. Buchanan emphasized the Jewishness of Jesus: "He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew and died a Jew." Later, some of my Christian colleagues solicited my reaction to the sermon. I wanted to know why the Jewish identity of Jesus was important. In fact, I told them, it struck as somehow inappropriate from a Christian theological perspective to dwell on his Jewishness. It seems to overemphasize the humanity of Jesus and his connection to a system that he ultimately comes to replace (that is, after all, the core of Christianity, right?) Don't they think that Jesus is God? And it seems odd for Christians to say that God is Jewish.
One answer seemed straight out of Michaelson's article. A senior minister explained: "We have a Jesus problem." She went on to describe a mainline Protestant world where most people are uncomfortable with Jesus. They either associate Jesus with some crazy form of fundamentalism or they squirm in their theological uncertainty with the person-God blending. One of the clergy (at another time) referred to the "spookification" that makes Jesus just too "spooky" for a lot of Christians.
It's a strange world out here in Chautauqua land. So much Jesus but, apparently, so much ambivalence as well. Reverend Buchanan certainly got one point right - the question, "What About Jesus?" needs a real answer for lots of people.
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