October 9th, 2022
by Steve Bensema
by Steve Bensema
Many wonder who Jesus is. Many more take steps to pursue this man. Some call Him a man, some a myth, some a legend. All across America, churches are erected to Him. In some towns trying to find a church is like walking through Dairy Queen or Baskin’ Robbins, but with even MORE choices. Sadly, what many of these people find isn’t really Jesus that Matthew, Mark, Luke & John shared the story of, but rather they are introduced to a similar looking figure named “Mesus.” You can see this in the simple phrases like, “To me, Jesus is…”
People all across America are wrestling with what their particular Mesus will look like or do. Some even try different thoughts and ideologies on Him as if He is a plaything, a kind of child’s Ken Doll seeing which one they like best. Some Mesus’ will have a critical and legalistic feel. Others will be more of the “Buddy Mesus,” go-with-the-flow kind of Mesus. The kind where everything is ok, no one is wrong as long as they believe they are ok.
I have seen people who have seemed to be “sold out” on fire for Jesus who have “walked away from the faith.” Initially they blame this on losing their faith in Jesus. Rather their belief wasn’t really in Jesus to begin with, but rather in their own created Mesus. What they called “Jesus” was superficial at best and often just projections of themselves into a god-like being. Merely knowing a few facts about Jesus is very different from surrendering your heart, mind and soul to the true King of the Universe – Jesus.
The temptation to create our own Mesus is the same temptation that pulled Eve closer to that tree in the garden. The temptation to be more like God. The short cut. The side step. Don’t go through the hard work, but simply arrive quicker. It is the “why wait 18 hours to smoke a juicy brisket when you can microwave a Hot Pocket” sort of mentality.
This happens with a created Mesus because oftentimes our Mesus is really just a slightly better version of ourselves, or maybe the person we really hope to become. The problem is, however, that as we pursue our Mesus we really just fall deeper into a pattern of pride and self-justification. Because our Mesus is not Jesus, we don’t look more like the perfect Son who was nailed to a tree, but rather we look more like a broken creature who has pursued a creation of a created creature that is supposed to instead be serving the divine Creator.
How do we tell if we are trying to serve Jesus of Nazareth or our own Mesus of Imagineth? The Bible gives us a clear picture of who Christ is. What He did, what He calls us to. When we too quickly pursue a theology of who Jesus is and don't take the time to mine the Scriptures that point to Him, we end up with a Meology of Mesus that is mined on the shallowness of our own mind. This creation is far from the perfect image of God that came to dwell with humanity – the image of Jesus in His glory. Our creation is an imitator, a fake, a false sense of ourselves.
In the Bible we see Jesus filled with love and compassion for those who are hurting. We see a King who gave up His throne to pursue you and I like lost sheep. We see the Suffering Servant who becomes the Conquering King for all eternity. We see Jesus saying that he is THE way, truth and life. We see God become a man in order to make that way back to a place of eternal rest.
A Mesus will leave us frustrated, feeling like we never measure up. Like we are always striving, yet never arriving. A Mesus keeps us going like a hamster on a wheel until the pain takes over, the depression from never compressing the false views we have with the truth. In the end, we realize that our Mesus was a distraction from the real action.
The real Jesus doesn’t leave us like that. The real Jesus meets us where we are the weakest. He doesn’t yell at us to try harder, rather he softly whispers for us to let go and surrender into His arms. He knows He has already done it all. He isn’t asking us to attain some perfection. Rather He is offering His perception. His way to see us in the light, not of that fateful tree in the garden, but rather in light of the tree He hung on to show His perfection.
So, don’t strive for a Mesus of your own imagination, but rather ask God to reveal the risen King over all Creation! Ask God to remove the falsehoods we have created. Surrender all to the true King Jesus!
People all across America are wrestling with what their particular Mesus will look like or do. Some even try different thoughts and ideologies on Him as if He is a plaything, a kind of child’s Ken Doll seeing which one they like best. Some Mesus’ will have a critical and legalistic feel. Others will be more of the “Buddy Mesus,” go-with-the-flow kind of Mesus. The kind where everything is ok, no one is wrong as long as they believe they are ok.
I have seen people who have seemed to be “sold out” on fire for Jesus who have “walked away from the faith.” Initially they blame this on losing their faith in Jesus. Rather their belief wasn’t really in Jesus to begin with, but rather in their own created Mesus. What they called “Jesus” was superficial at best and often just projections of themselves into a god-like being. Merely knowing a few facts about Jesus is very different from surrendering your heart, mind and soul to the true King of the Universe – Jesus.
The temptation to create our own Mesus is the same temptation that pulled Eve closer to that tree in the garden. The temptation to be more like God. The short cut. The side step. Don’t go through the hard work, but simply arrive quicker. It is the “why wait 18 hours to smoke a juicy brisket when you can microwave a Hot Pocket” sort of mentality.
This happens with a created Mesus because oftentimes our Mesus is really just a slightly better version of ourselves, or maybe the person we really hope to become. The problem is, however, that as we pursue our Mesus we really just fall deeper into a pattern of pride and self-justification. Because our Mesus is not Jesus, we don’t look more like the perfect Son who was nailed to a tree, but rather we look more like a broken creature who has pursued a creation of a created creature that is supposed to instead be serving the divine Creator.
How do we tell if we are trying to serve Jesus of Nazareth or our own Mesus of Imagineth? The Bible gives us a clear picture of who Christ is. What He did, what He calls us to. When we too quickly pursue a theology of who Jesus is and don't take the time to mine the Scriptures that point to Him, we end up with a Meology of Mesus that is mined on the shallowness of our own mind. This creation is far from the perfect image of God that came to dwell with humanity – the image of Jesus in His glory. Our creation is an imitator, a fake, a false sense of ourselves.
In the Bible we see Jesus filled with love and compassion for those who are hurting. We see a King who gave up His throne to pursue you and I like lost sheep. We see the Suffering Servant who becomes the Conquering King for all eternity. We see Jesus saying that he is THE way, truth and life. We see God become a man in order to make that way back to a place of eternal rest.
A Mesus will leave us frustrated, feeling like we never measure up. Like we are always striving, yet never arriving. A Mesus keeps us going like a hamster on a wheel until the pain takes over, the depression from never compressing the false views we have with the truth. In the end, we realize that our Mesus was a distraction from the real action.
The real Jesus doesn’t leave us like that. The real Jesus meets us where we are the weakest. He doesn’t yell at us to try harder, rather he softly whispers for us to let go and surrender into His arms. He knows He has already done it all. He isn’t asking us to attain some perfection. Rather He is offering His perception. His way to see us in the light, not of that fateful tree in the garden, but rather in light of the tree He hung on to show His perfection.
So, don’t strive for a Mesus of your own imagination, but rather ask God to reveal the risen King over all Creation! Ask God to remove the falsehoods we have created. Surrender all to the true King Jesus!
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