LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

There are numerous fault lines in Western theological thinking.

Primarily there is the unconscious referencing of and to Jesus as Jesus Christ (first and last name), rather than Jesus “the” Christ. Big difference. When you grasp the major difference this makes, you can then begin to comprehend some deeper aspects of His Life.

Secondarily, Jesus was Jewish and not Christian. He did not see Himself as starting “the” Christian religion as we know it today. If one tries to take Jesus out of Judaism and the times and culture that he lived in, you miss the big picture.

And thousands of denominations do!

We’ve created not just one all Catholic, all apostolic church, as was the case for 1500 years, but under the actions of Martin Luther the spirit of Protestantism has been loosed. Twenty years ago, it was estimated that there were 7,200 denominations in America alone. Just America! And how many different flavors of non-denominations? Tis is NOT what Jesus, the Christ, had in mind. No way! So, what do we do? That’s another question entirely. Let’s get back to todays’ point.

Thirdly, I believe Jesus saw Himsef as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. He was trying to bring Judiasm to the level of living that their God called them to, the Abba Father that he knew. In order to do that, they would have to think more “Kingdom”. They would have to allow the Kingdom of God to come more fully and rightly. And in all this I can’t imagine that He saw Himself as the second person of the trinity. He did become that of course.

Finally, and that which got Him killed more than anything else was His claim that HE WAS THE NEW TEMPLE. When you neglect His Jewish roots, this makes no sense. But, think about it. For Judaism, the TEMPLE represented the presence of God; it was where the high priest met God once a year, the place where forgiveness of sins occured. But, here comes Jesus saying HE has the power to forgive sins, HE is the temple, and that their temple would be torn down. Blasphemy (so said the Pharisees)!

Who could understand such madness? Can we 2,000 years later? Do YOU?