My Problem With Jesus Is...

I heard a story the other day, and I can do no better justice than to tell it as I remember it.

So this professor at a Christian college is in the habit of starting off a course in theology by passing out a short survey. The questions are tailored to determine how the students perceive Jesus. What does Jesus believe? What's he like? How would he behave in various circumstances? What are Jesus's core values?

A few months into the course, the same professor then hands out another survey with entirely different questions designed to get a profile of the students themselves. Both surveys are gathering the same sort of information, but by means of different questions, so that students don't spot the linkage.

And when the two surveys are compared? Maybe you guessed it. Students reliably described themselves pretty much as they had described Jesus in the earlier survey. Yes, Jesus is introverted. No, he's extroverted! Monastic. No, he loved parties! A Democrat. No, a Republican! Etc. Etc.

In key attitudes and perspectives? Jesus is just like the person you've asked to describe him. According to that person, at any rate.

As the speaker recounting this anecdote noted, we Christians often pray that God would transform us ever more into the image of Christ. But in practice what happens is the exact opposite. We studiously transform Christ into our own image. And as a result, we probably think we're doing better, spiritually speaking, than we actually are. (Jesus and I see eye-to-eye on so many things!)

And that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is my problem with Jesus: He looks way too much like me. To me.

The truth, of course, is that I don't look like Jesus. Not to Jesus, anyway.

Something here will have to give, and hopefully it's me. But how can I strive to be more like Jesus if I cannot break free from my preconceived notions of him—images of him that bear a striking resemblance to myself? Well, that thar is a bit of a problem, indeed!

Not to say we don't all know of areas where we have plenty of work to do. Patience. Grace. Forgiveness. Along these fault lines most of us are all too familiar with the ways in which we fall short of the standard-bearer Jesus Christ. But we have a fuller image of Jesus residing in our heads who's not merely sinless but also has strong opinions. What happens when we confront our constructed images of Jesus with the tougher questions?

• How much of my income should I give away?
• Should I just give to my church? How much should I send to Africa? How much to inner-city Americans?
• How much should I spend on my children's college tuition? How much on building elementary schools in faraway African towns?
• How much time should I devote to my children? How much time tutoring underprivileged kids?
• How much time should I spend reading the news? How much time studying scriptures?
• How much time should I spend watching TV and movies? Which ones are OK?
• Should I use corporal punishment with my children?
• Did Jesus tell the occasional dirty joke?
• Which political party should we vote for?
• When should I swallow injustices as good medicine for my soul? When do I seek justice through the court system?
• When do I confront someone with their wrong behavior? When (again) do I swallow the unkindness as humbling medicine for my proud soul?
• How much does Jesus care about the environment?
• How does Jesus feel about the way we treat the chickens that lay our eggs? What about chickens ones we eat?
• Should I buy used cars? Or new? How sporty?

What if, on the above questions, our go-to answer is not WWJD but rather WWID cloaked in WWJD gift-wrap? Uh-oh.

But here's another Uh-oh to lay next to the first. What if we don't even notice that the list of questions itself reflects our own fixations? The list I've thrown together here reveals my personal idiosyncrasies. When I pause and try to imagine another person's list, I can imagine a few questions that perhaps should be of concern to others but are of no concern to me:

• How much effort should I put into looking pretty each morning? Does Jesus want me to dress nicely?
• Should I get involved in running for office?
• Does Jesus want me to include XYZ corporation as my customer?
• How does Jesus feel about the gambling industry? Is it OK for me to go to Las Vegas occasionally?
• How does Jesus feel about cage fighting? Doing it? Watching it?

Suffice it to say, there are many important questions. Sadly, to the extent we answer them at all, we tend to answer them according to our own leanings, and not with the mind of Christ. And there are other questions that matter a great deal to God but which we haven't even bothered to think about just yet.

Yikes. That's not an attractive package, and I have no solutions or pat answers to this problem because it starts deep within you. Deep within me. But I do offer two closing thoughts in the form of a challenging question and a personal prayer.

The question: If Jesus got into an argument with you over something, what would it be about?

The prayer: Dear God, please transform me into the image of Jesus. The real one. Not the one my pampered soul wants and imagines.