the illusion of Christ

blasphemous!!

but you know how i love to play the heretic... right? right. then on with it.

God is human.



HA! this is so fun... but seriously, He is.

"you're stupid."

yes, often. hear me out anyway[s]. go and read John 1:1-18. go ahead... i'll wait, i promise.

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done? okay, get this. those Greek philosophers i was telling you about? well, right about the time when they were just getting started teaching Gnosticism, there was sort of a sub-group, and they called themselves Docetists (click the title of this post for super-scholarly info). these guys believed that everything physical was totally evil and tainted, and that everything spiritual was totally sweet and holy. they thought that physical matter had been created by a lesser deity, or something, as an obstacle to hinder peeps from awakening the divine spiritual essence inside each of them.

okay, so it's just weird and far out so far, but check it out: this Docetism started making its way into Christian theology. yeah. it was pretty bad... anyway, the church managed to stamp it out, but it took awhile. the author of the gospel of John was one of the first to combat this stupid philosophy, and his first strike came in the form of those verses you just read.

docetist2004: come on, now... Jesus cant have been actually crucified!
aPoStLejOhN18: why not?!
docetist2004: because then he woulda defiled himself! taintage, dude!!!
aPoStLejOhN18: um, not really... through him all things were created, including flesh.
docetist2004: thats wack
aPoStLejOhN18: wiggedy-wack??
docetist2004: nope; just regular type.
docetist2004: but listen, obviously God cant mix with evil
aPoStLejOhN18: actually, that's exactly what he came to do
docetist2004: HA! so you do believe matter is evil!
aPoStLejOhN18: no, no, no- he became human, and then later became sin for us
docetist2004: thats the craziest thing ive ever heard. heres my take: Jesus did come here, i'll give you that. but ive been talking with my buddies Clement and Marcion, and their saying that Jesus only seemed to have a body
aPoStLejOhN18: heresy!
docetist2004: no more than you, man... claiming Jesus was God, yah rite
aPoStLejOhN18: well, honestly, he probably still is
aPoStLejOhN18: i mean, we saw him leave, and then those two white guys said that he would return the same way
docetist2004: im telling you, your a fool to believe that
aPoStLejOhN18: well maybe i only seem like a fool to you. how about that, huh? and what if you only seem to be right? isn't that what your s/n means? dokeo = to seem?
docetist2004: ... i hate you
aPoStLejOhN18: don't be a hater, man. just because i'm the disciple whom Jesus loved, doesn't mean you have to be jealous
docetist2004: oh, what-evs you just cant get over how sophisticated i am
docetist2004: (hey... i spell'd it rite)
aPoStLejOhN18: i'm sure as heaven not gonna envy you when my body gets resurrected, and yours doesn't. HYAH! take that! condemnation-to-the-face!
docetist2004: ... i hate you x2
aPoStLejOhN18: rofl ttyl loser =P
*** "docetist2004" signed off at Thu Dec 14 04:06:11 AD 96.

Jesus was God? yes. really? really really. and he was human too? yeah. really.

now here's the deal. Jesus cried, ate, hurt, got thirsty, scratched when he had an itch, slept when he got tired, started tossing stuff around when he got angry. i'm sure if we had watched all this happen, we'd be pretty convinced he was human. same thing with his being God: i'm sure that if we'd been there to watch him make dinner for a couple thousand people, bring a dead guy back to life, and bring creation into being at the beginning of history, we'd be pretty convinced he was God.

now. the youth pastors and such like to challenge us with this line, or something like it: "how do people know you're a Christian? what evidence do you have, so that if we wanted to convict you of not being Christian, we'd have no case to make?"

you know. walk the walk, right? okay, i got really sick of that line after awhile, because how the heck do i know that i'm a Christian?! i can't even convince myself, let alone others!! what makes me a Christian?

i really don't want to say that it's any of these things, and i'll tell you why:

1. being destined for heaven.
   this doesn't make me a Christian, because everyone is supposed to go to heaven! that's the whole point of redemption, remember? even the earth and everything else created by God is going to be redeemed and made to last forever. so being saved doesn't make me a Christian; it just makes me not afraid to be dead, and happy that i'll get to see God and other peeps for a very long time.
   
   
2. reading the Bible and praying.
   atheists read the Bible, and satan talked to God in the story of Job. pagan kings cried out for mercy from Yahweh in the Old Testament, and even drawing comfort or wisdom from Proverbs and Psalms doesn't need to involve Christ or God at all.
   
   
3. going to church.
   this shouldn't need any explanation. but i want to add singing songs and going to the altar to cry, under this category. doesn't make you Christian.
   
   
4. being good to people.
   from carrying the old lady's groceries to donating half your paycheck to Compassion International... it just isn't Christ.

the title 'Christian' was invented in Antioch when the church was just getting started. you might know this already: it meant "little Christ," and was a way to make fun of peeps whom secular culture saw as Jesus wannabe's. people were acting and living so like Christ that, without even meaning to, they got their very own stereotype.

Sunday school told me all that. they also told me that forgiving people and helping them out and stuff was what Jesus did, and if i would avoid gossip and lust and other bad things, i would be like Christ. and if i talked to God alot, i would be like Christ. and if i loved Him and loved others, i would be like Christ.

well... i'm sorry, church, i really do appreciate you, and honestly i'm sometimes amazed by you (in a good way). but honestly, you just didn't train me very well. i need to know what little Christs were doing, way back in the day, that made them worthy of Christ's name. i need to know what kind of life they lived, and how, and why, so that i can do the same.

~ ~ ~

i don't want to only seem like a Christian. i don't want to have the illusion of Christ. i want my Christianity to be as real as my left big toe. i want people to be able to poke my faith in the eye with a stick... that's how real i want it to be.

stop being a Christian...
...unless you have a plan for becoming Christ-like.

this is the really hard part. becoming unmistakably similar to Christ is not like becoming an adult; that is, it isn't just going to happen. you can no more become like Christ without trying, than you can become a champion boxer without trying. and i would suggest that becoming a champion boxer just might be the easier of the two.

notice i said "have a plan for becoming," not "plan to become." you can no more become like Christ without a plan, than you can build an airplane and fly to Jamaica without any plans

"ahhhh i get it! so, uhm... what's the plan, Stan?"

here's the plan: don't ever call me that again. =P

=) more to come.