where have all the Jesuses gone ..?

whatever happened to Jesus ?
i mean .. i know what happened to Jesus
but what happened to the movement he started
the principles he set down
the life he was passing on
the movement that became known as ' christianity '  ?    ?

what happened to his followers

i don't see Jesuses walking around much

selah ..~

a ' disciple ' is a person who relinquishes their own life-agenda to study and learn from a master
the intention is to become just like that master
= the same as the master
= i have no agenda but learning from my rabbi and becoming like him ..
so if that's the case
and if Jesus said to preach the good news and make disciples of all peoples .. . . . .
where are the Jesuses  ?

i mean, there have to be some, right  ?
right  ?
  ?

tell you what
the very next time you run into one
comment here on this blog
say something like " hey.. i saw a Jesus today! "
   and i would love to see this blog full of those comments, truly ..

i'm looking for him
all over the place
everywhere i go
dying to see him
in her over there
in that person there
in
me ..
Jesuses everywhere     ....  . . . .. ..

where are they  ?
they should be everywhere

selah ..~

something is wrong
dreadfully wrong and out of place

when God incarnates and spends his life here on Earth with us
and uses that life to illustrate the love of God
by healing and feeding and casting out demons
and doing good everywhere he went
overturning the madness and abuse of this world ..
when people experience the goodness of God in person
and we have a reliable record of that in the Scriptures ..
how is it that his life translates into so little  ?

considering who he is and what he's done
don't you think there should be a much more evident influence in this world  ?

i don't get it ..

selah ..~


' christianity ' took off like a rocket at the beginning
and disciples were everywhere
Jesuses walking around
other people couldn't help but see the love of this good God
and be overwhelmed
absolutely
these pepole were different, they loved one another and their lives showed it in the community
they took care of each other and made sure everyone's needs were met
they didn't have ' class ' structure
noone was excluded
jew/gentile
man/woman
slave/free
fisherman/shepherd
sick unclean lame blind ...
all were welcome in Jesus ..

and then constantine happened
and the church morphed out of living life-giving organism
into political power-wielding power-making organization
and we've never been the same since ..
the life gone
   for the most part
      i think ..

discipleship turned into pomp and looking-for-recognition
and disciples were switched-out for ' members '
and membership became a social thing ..
the marginalized were sidelined and excluded
the abused were abnormal ..
people stopped living as church
and ' the church ' became another master/servant establishment
what with laity and clergy
and everything else that divides

and Jesus got lost in the shuffle
lost in stained glass and golden chalices and huge expensive buildings ..

and he holds his head in  his hands
" i thought i taught them exactly the opposite ..
didn't they learn anything from me  ? ?
oh .. ye of little faith "

no wonder ..
no wonder we can't find disciples much
'cause he is absent
   absent in the church
   absent in the teachings
   absent in the ministering
just not there
he got displaced by all the other stuff
pharisee stuff
   pretense
   presentation
   power

and too .. they even flipped it all
so that Jesus was used as a means to gain
to profit
materialism
can you imagine that ??!
Jesus
the Creator that humaned and died for us
and the church he built uses him as a profiteering scheme ..

i'm amazed i could just write that
noone should have been able to say that

selah ..~

Jesus is about love
simply-put
and that love is lived-out in him
as him
following him
disciples
being like him

it's not a ' church ' thing
it's not a creedal thing
or a denominational thing ..
it isn't a ' christianity ' thing ..
it is life in Jesus
Jesus lived-out in us
in you
in me
and people will see it
and proclaim that God is indeed with us

that is preaching the gospel right there

friend, find Jesus
learn about him
learn from him
and then
follow that
follow it hard
as if it was the only thing that mattered ..

because it is

all else is sucking air through straws and spitting into the wind

make your life count
go with Jesus

 selah ..~

where have all the Jesuses gone
long time passing
where have all the Jesuses gone
long time ago ..
                know the song ?


shalom