Idol Jesus

A few weeks ago, I was in my car getting ready to head into work when I looked over to the left side of my steering wheel where I have a little cubby hole. In this space is a miniature bible someone gave me and one of those cutesy tiny rubber Jesus figurines. That day, I needed the reminder that Jesus is with me as I was preparing to go to work. I've been in a transition season for this past year as I sense God beginning to shift me into something different. The last time I sensed a big move it took about a year for God to prepare me for the change. On that particular day, as I got into my car and noticed the figurine, the thought came to me, Is this an Idol? Wait, what???

As quickly as the thought came, the shock and curiosity over how a figurine of Jesus could be an idol started unfolding in my mind. It's strange because Jesus is Jesus. Even a representation of Jesus is still about Jesus, but I started to ponder. Have we made an idol of tiny little rubber figurine Jesus. I mean, how could it be?

Over the 15+ that I've been a follower of Jesus, I've noticed a trend amongst the brethren. I started exploring the question, could Jesus be an idol? There are many versions of Jesus out in the world. At least, it seems as if there are a variety of versions of Jesus because of the variety of tolerated behavior among people who claim him as Lord and Savior. There are vile and hate-filled comments of professed Christians seemingly on a mission from God to right the wrongs in these internet streets. Gatekeeping and slandering others as they deem who is worthy and who is not. (By who's standards, btw?) I've witnessed people getting angry and shaking their fists at Jesus when he doesn't do what they think he should do. I've seen news cycles with fresh reports of pastors and worship leaders fallen from grace due to a variety of damaging sin. Most recently, of the adulterous and murderous kind. How can someone profess a love of Jesus and murder their spouse to be with another person? How can someone be so hard-hearted and hateful towards someone of another cultural background and quote scripture (out of context) as justification? How can someone point out the vile sin in others in the name of Jesus while ignoring their own blatant sin? How can someone mentally, physically and emotionally abuse another human being while standing on God as Lord and Savior at the same time? How can someone lie, cheat and steal as a business owner and praise God at the same time? How can someone use and manipulate scripture to justify their own sin and profess Christ as Lord? Where is their conscience?

To anyone outside of the body of Christ, you would look at all this and say who is Jesus and what does he stand for? If all these kinds of people talk about God and Jesus, if all these kinds of people quote scripture and go to church, if all these kinds of people call themselves Christians, then who is Jesus? So I ask the question again, is Jesus an idol? Or is he Lord of all? Is the tiny cutesy little rubber figurine, found in random places, someone who grants our wishes like a genie in a bottle? Is he a totem, shaped and molded to our preferences rather than who he actually is? Have we lost the true essence and person of Jesus and replaced him with an idolatrous version of our own making?

How many times have you or I started a prayer with, "Jesus if you would just...?" I know I've been guilty of it. That person on my job who is giving me grief every day... Jesus if you would just...! If these people would stop bothering me so I can get my work done, Jesus if you would just...! If only the chaos in this moment would stop... Jesus if you would just...!!! Jesus if you would just make my life easier, where I would feel no pain and I never have any problems and everything was perfect. If you would just make my life how I want it... Jesus if you would just...!!!

How many of us have approached our conversations with Jesus like this before? When Jesus is a capital I.D.O.L , it's easy to assume he is there to do our bidding and fulfill our every wish and whim. It's also very easy to get angry at that version of him. He didn't do what we thought he should. He failed to live up to what we built up in our minds and hearts. When he's been conformed to an image we've created in our minds... When our erroneous expectations of who he is and what he should do for us doesn't land as expected it becomes easier to live a life without integrity pursuing and striving after things we want no matter the cost or who gets hurt in the process. This is the sin of Judas and I think we all know how that went. Judas assumed Jesus was going to fulfill the mission he envisioned and when he realized that Jesus was following a different script, Judas betrayed him. He took matters into his own hands and was payed 30 pieces of silver to betray him. Things, unfortunately, did not end well for Judas as he realized his error in judgement. Shame overtook him and he took his own life. Had he known who Jesus really was, he may have had an opportunity for redemption just as Peter did after Peter betrayed Jesus with his denial of knowing him. Just as Jesus was not obligated to follow the script Judas had in his mind, Jesus, the real Jesus is not obligated to align with expectations we've laid upon our Idol Jesus. Jesus, If YOU WOULD JUST...!!! When we have a true revelation of who Jesus is, and we understand that He is sovereign, that He is the Lord and worthy of all honor, glory and praise... we don't get angry at him for not doing what we think should be done. We understand that He has a reason and sees beyond what we can see. We understand that He knows what He is doing, or not doing... for those of us who think He should be doing SOMETHING.

Ask yourself, how often have you gotten angry with Jesus? How often have your expectations and his responses clashed? The reason why I started pondering if Jesus is an idol to me, to be fully transparent, is because there are some things that have gone on in my life over the last few years that I would not have asked for. And some of those things have been the result of obedience to what he's asked me to do. Have I been upset and confused about those circumstances? Well... Yes, I have. Have some of the negative circumstances been a result of disobedience to what he's asked me to do, well... yes that too. Many Christians have walked away from Jesus, because he did not do whatever it was they wanted him to do. In no way do I make light of this kind of response to difficulty. Some people have experienced great tragedies and wondered why Jesus did not fix it the way they wanted. Those are very hard circumstances to go through and for many Christians, their relationship with the Lord does not survive. Years ago, my marriage ended. Even though I prayed and prayed asking Jesus to heal and restore the relationship, after 3 years of separation, it ended in signed divorce papers. My relationship with the Lord had only just begun when all of this happened and one of the first things I needed to understand is that even when we pray and ask Jesus to give us our desired outcome, the people you love have the freedom to choose differently. At some point in our walk with the Lord, we will need to reconcile our beliefs about who we think Jesus is and establish our relationship with him on a true and solid foundation of who he really is. People will fail us and so will our idol Jesus, but real Jesus never will. When we trust that he knows what he is doing, even when it doesn't make sense, he will bring good out of the bad situations we experience. He died a sinners death, willingly went to a cross to die. I'm pretty sure the disciples did not agree with this plan and surely did not understand it. We know now that it was the plan all along, even though it didn't make sense at the time. We know now why he needed to walk the path of death on a cross because of the freedom offered to us now through the sacrifice he made then. We need to trust that Jesus has the eagle eye view on the scope of our lives and knows what is ahead. When he asks something of us, it is because he has plans to work all things out for our good. I don't believe divorce was in the plans for my life, but because Jesus wanted my heart he asked me to let go of my expectations and just trust him. We need to trust in a Jesus we cannot control. We need to trust in the real Jesus. So... is Jesus your Lord and your savior? Have you surrendered to him? Completely? Do you understand that he is holy and he is just? Is he Lord over every area of your life? Or is he an idol, made in the image of your thoughts and expectations?