Jesus for the Non-Religious

Not every­one feels com­fort­able in church. In fact, many peo­ple are down­right turned off by reli­gion. Still, they often have a cer­tain holy curios­ity about Jesus and can­not help but be inspired by the ele­gance of the cre­ation. Jesus has an amaz­ing appeal in and of him­self. The trap­pings around him are pretty much cul­tural. Each denom­i­na­tion stems from and appeals to his­tor­i­cal groups and eth­nic styles. The good news is not the church, in its many man­i­fes­ta­tions, it is the res­ur­rec­tion of Jesus.
I have seen bumper stick­ers that say, “Jesus I Like, It’s His Fol­low­ers I Can’t Stand.” For as cyn­i­cal as that might seem, it is worth not­ing. Maybe we get so gung-ho about our lit­tle groups, that we for­get how we come across to the out­sider. That does not mean that we have to dance to their tune. It does mean that we have to make the dis­tinc­tion between our com­fort zones of expres­sion and the intent of the mes­sage.
In all fair­ness to the church, the bur­den falls on the out­sider. He or she may be attracted to the Jesus of his­tory, but they still have to come to terms with his cur­rent body — the church. The church is very diverse. It is filled with very imper­fect peo­ple on their way to per­fec­tion. In real­ity, they have to accept the human­ity of Christ in the church — like the early dis­ci­ples had to deal with the com­mon­ness of Jesus. It is not easy to do, and it poses a real stum­bling block. Peo­ple want a lev­i­tat­ing guru. They want some­one to walk on water all the time. They do not want the tedium of Sun­day School or the dis­ci­pline of Bible study. Most of all, they want a cir­cle of super-people that have no prob­lems. The church is a test of patience. It is the hur­dle of accep­tance. If you can deal with the messy peo­ple in a con­gre­ga­tion, you can be at home with a com­mon carpenter-rabbi that died the death of a criminal.