Christian Idol Worship: The False Jesus That Christians Create to Control
Imagine the last time you encountered someone that had created their own version of a god. We see them all the time in our culture. Little idols that people create that are the objects of their idealized version of beauty, success and greatness. These idols often take on the form of materialism, pride and self-indulgence, drug abuse, alcoholism, celebrity worship, etc. We have all encountered these idols, and most of us have even worshiped at one of their alters at some point in our lives. Sometimes they’re even little plastic dashboard idols that ride around in cars with superstitious drivers, “protecting” them from every manner road-themed of calamity.
Now think of the last time you were in a conversation with a Christian friend, and they said something along the lines of, "My Jesus is loving and accepting, and he would never ____________."
What’s interesting about when Christians make statements like "My Jesus is loving and accepting and would or wouldn't do “whatever,” my immediate concern lies within what they are implying. When they say it, they seem to be comparing their morality with yours — their “Jesus” with “your Jesus.” In other words, "YOUR Jesus may say or do ________, but MY Jesus would NEVER do or say ________." My Jesus is clearly more tolerant than your Jesus! As if they clearly made a superior Jesus choice to yours when they made their Jesus selection from the Buffet of the Gods. This idea that one person's view of Jesus is superior to another person’s is what this article will attempt to unpack. Do we just get to build our own god like we would a salad, or is God someone who is entirely objective, personal, powerful and beyond our ability to control?
In truth, what they’re really doing is virtue-signaling that they are more loving than you are. OBVIOUSLY! Otherwise, we’d be in complete and total agreement with one another.
It’s always best when we start with what the Bible has to say on a subject, then build from there. Let’s be sure that we understand what the Bible has to say about Jesus, and what our role is in the grand scheme of things. Revelation 4:11 says:
"You are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created."
God created us to give Him glory and honor and power. We were created for that sole purpose. We weren't created to live happy lives, or to be successful, or to help politicians get elected (all wonderful things, mind you). We were created to worship God. The implication of that verse is that if God created us to give Him glory and honor, then He probably wired within us the desire to give Him glory and honor. Worship is part of our DNA. Some call it a God-shaped hole, others call it a longing for something that transcends us -- regardless, it is a longing and deep desire that is hard-wired into humans - to worship.
We were built to worship our Creator, but in our current condition, we tend to worship everything but Him. In essence, we tend to commit the exact same sin that Adam & Eve committed. We desire to be like God and we want to be the ultimate decision makers for our own lives. The problem is, we can't shake the desire to worship something. The problem we have is that we want to worship something that we can control. We want to worship something so long as we can pick it up and set it down whenever is convenient.
We see this process playing out everywhere, including the church. There is a large population of people in the church that have created an idealized image of Jesus that is more palatable to their sensibilities. They’ve created a Jesus that fits an ideal image of Him that they've invented in their minds. They don't typically envision this ... Revelation 1:12-18
"12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,[h] “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."
This is not the picture of Jesus that most people have in their minds. Typically, when people imagine Jesus, He tends to look like — the image you have in your head right now. You know what I’m talking about! Caucasian guy; brown hair; looks like a stiff wind could blow him over…
Most people have a hard time picturing their "loving and accepting" Jesus as the most powerful being that has ever existed. A God that has no beginning and no end, and holds the keys to death and hell. They can't quite picture for themselves the Jesus that is described in Revelation 4 & 5. That Jesus isn't a frail waif of a man that a 12 yr. old could push down, and that Jesus isn't "Buddy Jesus" running around giving everyone high fives for being so awesome or The Chosen Jesus because he’s, like so relatable. Revelation paints a picture of Jesus' majesty, victory, glory, honor and unlimited power. The Lamb of God that PAID the price of the sin that we owed ... the BOSS! He is in control -- and that terrifies people. It's not a very settling thought when faced with the prospect of standing before falling on their face before that Jesus at the end of their sin-filled lives. Better to imagine a Jesus that is a little more manageable.
So, that is exactly what people do. They invent their sweet, loving, accepting, dashboard jesus, so that they can negotiate with, renegotiate with, and re-renegotiate with him on matters that they deem to be personally important. They create a replica of Jesus that is only a shell of The Lord Jesus, then name him "jesus" so that they can call themselves "christians."
These so-called "Christ-ians" are everywhere. They are men and women that form their "Jesus" from the malleable clay of political correctness, and use the shaping tools of "science and reason" to scrape away anything that they find to be distasteful. They then set about to codify their own set of terms and conditions for the relationship. One can't have a religion without terms and conditions, don’t you know? Of course they start with the Bible, but they soon break out their shaping tools, scissors and red pens. They begin shaping, slicing and red-lining the Bible as they go, until it too is a shell of what it was. Their Jesus and Holy book need to agree with their politically correct and progressive world-view, and make no mistake about it -- that worldview is of the highest degree of importance to them. It isn’t their Jesus. Ask one of these "Christ-ians" to set aside their political worldview, sometime and see what the response is. It’s a little terrifying.
Now I don't say this to insinuate that Jesus is NOT loving and accepting. He is both of those and more. The Bible says that He is the Bread of Life(John 6:35), our Healer & Forgiver (Luke 5:22-25,Mark 2:5-11), The Good Shepherd (John 10:14), our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and The Light of the World (John 1:4-5). I don't want people to think that I am saying that Jesus is some kind of monster waiting for us to mess up so he can flick us into hell. If He were that, we'd already be frying there. He does love us, which is why He went to the cross. We mustn't lose sight of the fact that he PAID a debt He did not owe. It was for Love's sake that He did what He did.
Love is definitely NOT just allowing people to do whatever makes them happy, otherwise why would Jesus have ever needed to die? His love and acceptance are real, and all of us have access to that love and acceptance. Belief in Jesus - the biblical & historical Jesus - is the door through which we must walk to gain that access. We don't get to build our own door. You either serve and worship the real Jesus Christ or you do not. Making an idol named "Jesus" does not count.