A church more like Jesus?

We say Jesus is the son of God, saviour, teacher, miracle worker. But how much notice do we take of his teachings and example?

Here are three important places where I believe we need to take more notice. (I’m sure there are more, but this is a start.)

Should we follow Jesus’ teachings today?

You’d think it was obvious. Christians believe Jesus is the most complete way God has revealed himself on earth. So his teachings will have supreme authority for his followers. Right?

Well it seems maybe not. Well not totally. For some people, anyway.

The sermon on the mount is pretty hard, if not impossible, to live out. So some people say Jesus never really meant us to. His teachings were just intended to show us how far we fall short of God’s standards, and our need for a saviour. Except Jesus didn’t actually say that. And other teachings (e.g. the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25) suggest he actually meant what he said.

Others say that his teachings were spoken before his death and resurrection, so we have to interpret them in that light. But I haven’t seen anyone explain how that makes a difference. Take Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies. I can’t see how his death changes that, especially since he followed that teaching while he was being condemned and executed.

So I’m going to do a radical thing, and assume Jesus meant what he said.

Sure sometimes he used hyperbole to make a point, so let’s take account of that. Let’s also try to recognise the context of first century Judaism, and see if our context makes any difference.

1. Jesus treated people individually

So much of our evangelism and church life today treats all people the same. There’s little individuality in it. Jesus wasn’t like this.

Evangelism

The evangelical gospel is almost a formula, sometimes called the Romans Road. We are all sinners, we deserve to die as punishment, Jesus the perfect son of God lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we deserved, rose again victoriously, and all we have to do is accept his offer of forgiveness and we can have assurance of going to heaven at the end of our life.

There is lots in that formulation that is true, I believe, but there is quite a lot that is problematic. And it is notable that very little of it comes from Jesus himself.

I can remember as a young christian wanting to put together a list of Bible verses that “proved” that formulation of the gospel. I realised all the verses I found were from Paul, so I started looking for similar teachings from Jesus – and couldn’t find them. I briefly came to the conclusion that “Jesus wasn’t a very good evangelist.”

Of course as soon as I thought it I knew it couldn’t be true. But it was the catalyst for me to try to better understand Jesus.

And one thing I found was not only that Jesus never spoke out the evangelical gospel, but that he challenged each person in a way appropriate to their situation.

The rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-25) was challenged to give up all his wealth.
Nicodemus (John 3:1-12) was challenged to be born again.
A woman with a bad reputation (Luke 7:35-50) was told her sins were forgiven, as was a paralysed man (Mark 2:1-12).
Another woman accused of adultery (John 8:2-11) was told she wasn’t condemned, but she should leave her life of sin. (I know this story probably wasn’t in the original of John’s gospel, but I believe it is an authentic story nevertheless.)
Jesus invited himself to a meal with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and we don’t have a record of their conversation, except the end result..
Jesus asked a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42) for water, then told her things that proved to her Jesus was the Messiah.
Jesus told other people (Mark 1:16-20, Luke 9:59-62 )to leave their jobs, family and obligations and follow him (meaning become a committed disciple).
And to his disciples, he said that the ones God would approve would be the ones who had cared for the poor, sick and oppressed (Matthew 25:31-46).

Evangelising differently

If we learn from Jesus, we might adapt our evangelism to people’s situation.

People feeling guilt need to know of God’s forgiveness through Jesus.
Those seeking justice or a cause to live by might be invited to join God’s work to renew all things in the kingdom of God.
Those needing to feel they belong can be invited to be part of the community of God’s people.
People feeling beaten down by life can be reassured that God loves them and can give their lives direction and purpose.
And so on.

Of course in the long run, most people need to hear all those messages, but we can be sensitive about which ones we emphasise.

Discipleship

In most Protestant churches, discipleship is done through the services and in small groups. Preaching in services is inevitably “one size fits all” as everyone hears the same sermon regardless of their stage of spiritual growth. (This is one reason why sermons are not a good way to grow disciples.)

Small groups allow discipleship to be more tailored to the needs of the people in the group. However many churches, seeking to control what goes on and prevent aberrant teaching, require all groups to study the same material, often based on the sermon. So too often it again becomes “one size fits all”. Of course many groups disregard the straightjacket, but greater adaptation should be more actively encouraged and supported.

Individual mentoring and apprenticing is a better method still. Jesus mentored and apprenticed the twelve, and even more the core group of Peter, James and John. But this approach isn’t employed enough in churches, presumably because ministerial staff don’t have the time. But if they equipped all the congregation for this work (Ephesians 4:11-12), this could form the core of discipleship in our churches.

Let’s learn from Jesus

Let’s work out ways for our churches to treat people more like Jesus did.

Recognise that God knows us as individuals and works in each of us differently. We walk different paths to a common end.
The Holy Spirit is able to guide us in how we approach each situation and each person.
There are better ways to understand and follow Jesus than are commonly taught in evangelical churches (more on this next post).
If we take the time to understand and love our non-believing colleagues, friends and relatives, we will be more able to share those aspects of our faith most relevant to their situation.
Mentoring and apprenticing are powerful ways to grow people as disciples of Jesus.
Our leaders are tasked (Ephesians 4:11-12) with training the rest of us so we can do this work.

2. Memorable teaching

Jesus’ used interactive methods in his public teaching.

He was renowned as a teller of parables – stories that gave his listeners something to think about rather than telling them what to think. Cryptic sayings served a similar purpose.
He used figures of speech like metaphors, hyperbole, irony, aphorisms and humour to make his words more colourful and memorable.
Many of his public teachings were spoken as part of a two way back-and-forth dialogue. This was common practice among rabbis of his day.
He used actions and current events as opportunities to teach – e.g. the tower that fell, killing people, in Luke 13:4.
He was able to adapt his teaching to speak simply to Galilean peasants, with examples from daily life, yet use sophisticated rabbinical argument when debating the religious leaders.

All of this meant people flocked to him him speak (though the possibility of seeing a miracle or being healed no doubt helped!).

Like other rabbis, he also used interactive methods when teaching his disciples in private.

It seems likely that he taught his followers simply structured teachings, using mnemonics, repetition, memorable phrases and other rhetorical devices to aid memory.
Questions to his followers, e.g. “Who do people say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-20), tested out their understanding, provoked thought and led to further discussion that revealed further truths.
He apprenticed his disciples. He taught them about the kingdom of God and showed them how to teach and heal, then sent them out to do the same (Luke 9:1-6).

As a result, his followers were able to remember his teachings and apply them after he had left them.

Active vs passive learning

These are all “active learning” methods, which build on the fact that people learn best when they are active, engaged, interested, curious and motivated. (There are good neurological reasons for this.)

Contrast this with the average church service, where the main teaching is through a monologue sermon. Sure, there may be some visuals, some text on screen, which is at least a start. But look around and you’ll likely see people who aren’t engaged. Unless they are particularly interested in the topic or are taking notes, it probably won’t be active listening.

Some speakers think telling a joke at the start will help, but in fact it generally wastes the time when people are most attentive. The jokes should be later.

There are lots of ways to make this situation better. But the starting point is to be willing to learn from Jesus, and from the learning experts.

3. A bigger gospel

Many churches are zealous for the gospel. And they define the gospel something like this. We are all sinners, we deserve to die as punishment, Jesus the perfect son of God lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we deserved, rose again victoriously, and all we have to do is accept his offer of forgiveness and we can have assurance of going to heaven at the end of our life.

That’s all true and important, but it’s way short of the gospel Jesus taught.

The word “gospel” means “good news”, and the good news that Jesus preached was about the reign of God on earth. The Jews were living in subjugation to the Roman Empire, and they were looking for a Messiah (= a king) to rid them of that yoke. Jesus said he was that Messiah, but he was beginning a different type of kingdom – a kingdom where God ruled peacefully through Jesus, and his people living the way of Jesus.

Mark sums it up in 1:15. The good news was that God was establishing his rule through Jesus. And this was more than personal salvation and ticket to heaven.

In Luke 4 he explains, using the words of the prophet Isaiah, that he had come to make wrong things right, to “proclaim good news to the poor …. freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”.

So surely our zeal for the gospel should extend to the gospel Jesus taught?

Putting faith and actions together

We face a significant challenge. Paul says (Ephesians 2:8-9) that we are saved by grace through faith, which leads many christians to be wary of the “social gospel” that seems to them to suggest our good actions save us.

But Jesus says (Matthew 25:31-46) that our care for the poor and oppressed will determine our destination in the age to come. His brother James says (James 2:14-26) that faith without actions is dead, and that our actions must “complete” our faith so the two go together.

These statements present us with a dilemma. Is it faith or works? Often the way out of a dilemma is to ignore one side of the issue and run hard with the other side. Liberal and evangelical christians tend to do that with opposite sides of the dilemma.

But Jesus’ gospel helps us resolve the dilemma. The good news is more than personal salvation, but the renewing of all creation, starting with personal and social renewal right now. Our acceptance with God will always be a result of his grace and love towards us, but our faith and our actions are both involvd in receiving his forgiveness and participating in the kingdom he is establishing.

Benefits for church and world

Teaching a bigger gospel, Jesus’ gospel, has many advantages.

If it’s the truth, as I believe it is, then it must be better to know and teach the truth.
A faith where loving service in the world is an essential part will be more attractive to outsiders than a faith that seems selfish (“I know I’m going to heaven.”) and condemnatory (“You’re a sinner!”). Outsiders will know they are loved and valued, and will more likely want to be part of such a community.
This bigger gospel inspired the early christians to serve, live lovingly and spread the word, and it can inspire christians much more than a passive sit-in-the-pews-and listen-to-a-sermon-then-go-home kind of faith.
Those who are reconstructing their faith because of negative reactions to the church may be encouraged to see faith, God and the church in a different light.

Following Jesus?

People, organisations and movements gradually develop habits and habitual ways of thinking. It’s natural. And so the modern Protestant church has developed a culture that often emphasises:

conformity in doctrine and behaviour,
a one-size-fits-all approach to people, discipleship and evangelism,
teaching that is monochromatic, keeps people passive and doesn’t change them much, and
a gospel that is small, convenient, controllable and undemanding.

Will we learn from Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), take the risk, and start to make the changes?

Could this be one of the ways God is leading us to turn the church around, and turn around the statistics of decline in the western church?

Photo: Seemann on Morguefile.