Among the progressive community, there are many who now believe that Jesus was just an ordinary human who went on to achieve theosis, which in Eastern Christian theology means to ‘be made divine’. In other words, Jesus was one of many human beings who have been deified.
The argument goes on to say that if Jesus was just a human who achieved theosis rather than God made flesh, our union with him is all the greater because we are in exactly the same position – when he calls us to be like him, it is something that is achievable, because he had no divine advantage and we’re on a level playing field. The alarm bells should be ringing for everyone who understands grace, because this idea brings us back into works righteousness rather than the righteousness established by faith, but today I want to focus on other difficulties that arise from this version of Christian belief.
Testing out new ideas.
When considering a new idea, I try it on like a set of clothes, walk around in it, use it to frame my thoughts, and see how doing so impacts my emotions and spirituality. In this case, I had to cast it off again within a few days, because it caused me insufferable loss – Jesus had been diminished and my interaction with the divine was less personal, which is not something I can even begin to tolerate.
The book of John describes Jesus as the eternal Word, through whom the worlds were framed.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The Jesus who was just an enlightened man is far less than the biblical Jesus – the living, eternal Word, in whom we live, move and have our being.
The root of gratitude.
One of the deepest emotions that flows from a relationship with God is gratitude, but why is gratitude so central to the Christian faith? It begins with the fact that we have a God who puts his creations first. The universe would be a very different place if we had a despotic, angry God, but the Living God is not only infinitely great but also infinitely loving. I am extremely grateful that God elevates us, cares for us, respects us, and treats us with kindness. Not only that, but he was and is willing to serve us.
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
The greater Jesus is, the more astounding his humility, and the more extraordinary his desire to be in perfect union with us – not that we are anything less than beautiful, but he is the creator, and we are not. He is the source of all life, and we are not. He is the ocean, and we are waves of divine energy.
In the presence of God, I am aware of both his greatness and his tenderness, and my natural response is a flood of gratitude. If Jesus is diminished, if he were just a human being who achieved theosis, gratitude diminishes with him. Gratitude, wonder, mystery, reverence – all shrunk by this puny version of Jesus we are encouraged to swap out for the Great I Am.
The service of Jesus.
The service of Jesus towards his creation is staggering. The greatest example was his willingness to die for us, but his very nature was and is one of service. He served his disciples when he washed their feet; he served Zacchaeus when he picked him out from the crowd; he served the woman caught in adultery when he stopped her tormentors from stoning her; he served the sick by healing them, the broken by elevating them, the hungry by feeding them, and the lonely by befriending them.
The service of God, though exemplified in Jesus, is evident throughout scripture.
In Psalm 23, for example, we see the service of God manifested in a number of ways:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
He leads us to places of rest and plenty, restores our brokenness, leads us on a journey of ever-greater wholeness, comforts and guides us through dark times, prepares a feast for us, thwarts our enemies, fills us with the Holy Spirit, and pursues us with unwavering goodness and mercy every day of our lives.
For readers who want to dig deeper into the service of Jesus, here’s a piece I wrote last year.
If Jesus was just a man who experienced theosis, his service would still be wonderful, but it would not be the service of the Breath of Life, humbling himself to shower his creation with mercy. The core lesson here is that the greater Jesus is, the more astonishing his service and the deeper our gratitude. I jealously guard every facet of my mystical connection with God, and that means shaking off all ideas that reduce Jesus.
Resisting the imposition of new dogma.
Sometimes I perceive a pressure from progressives to 'progress' in all the ways that they have, but that doesn't work for me. We shouldn’t step away from one set of dogma (Evangelicalism) only to enforce another. I disagree with Richard Rohr and other progressive figures on this crucial point – I do not see Jesus as embodying a universal Christ consciousness; I see him as the Christ. I worship Jesus as the Name Above all Names and moving away from that is not something the Holy Spirit will endorse, at least for me.
This doesn't mean I can't see the beauty in or learn from other faiths - quite the opposite. God is everywhere, but the explicit claims that the man, Jesus, was God incarnate fills me with such gratitude and opens up a world of mystical experience that is too precious to let go of.
7/16/2024 3:50:35 AM
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