Is someone missing?

If you were asked to explain the Christian faith, how would you reply?

I recently read a suggestion that the best way to understand what Christianity is all about is to read/study the epistles of Paul. Some people would discuss the values and ethics that are important to the faith, or the positive social justice initiatives that they are involved in. Others would talk about their church or faith community and the sense of welcome and connection they find there. Some would tell of their personal experiences with God and his presence in their lives. Or, perhaps, some would bring up the gospel (a really misunderstood term) and the 'plan of salvation' (whatever that really is) and how we are all lost but can live in heaven forever if we 'accept Jesus.'

What would you say? I'm not suggesting that any of these things are bad, but it seems to me that often we manage to explain Christianity without real reference to, well, Christ. I mean how can we recommend Romans or Galatians or Ephesians to explain the faith instead of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John? How is it we can seek to explain something that revolves around the life, death and resurrection of Jesus without telling his story?

In his excellent book The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight describes one prominent Bible teacher who asked the question, "Did Jesus preach Paul's gospel?" Thankfully the answer is 'Yes', but that's not the issue. As McKnight points out, shouldn't the question be, "Did Paul preach Jesus' gospel?" Is it possible that Jesus is such a radical, difficult, challenging, hard to box and even irritating person that it is much easier to deal with Paul than Christ himself? Is it possible, and I suggest this with great trepidation, that we explain Christianity without much reference to Jesus and all he said and did because he doesn't fit into the box that is the Christian world today?

Christianity is about Jesus. It's the story of the God whose love for his creation was so expansive that he walked with us as one of us, displayed what it means to connect with the kind of life he always intended for us to live and promise the possibility of this life - kingdom - breaking into our reality and touching and redeeming every facet of our soul, every element of our existence, and every corner of our planet. Ultimately God, enfleshed in the person of Jesus, suffered with and for all of creation and died to experience the extreme of exile and the assault of evil, hate and injustice. It's the story of him rising from the dead to vindicate all that he said, to proclaim victory over all that separates humanity from our God, and to validate his promise of a new kingdom and new creation. It's the reality of living into that promise now by the enabling of the Spirit and a willingness to walk the difficult path to personally and corporately embody the continuing presence of Jesus and his redeeming work in our world.

I think the only way to explain Christianity, and indeed that elusive term 'gospel' is to tell the story of Jesus. He said things and behaved in a way that was uncomfortable and socially unacceptable for his culture. He disturbed those in power (political, cultural, religious, economic and military) and questioned their beliefs and values. He befriended people he shouldn't, crossed social boundaries he wasn't supposed to, welcomed those that were unacceptable and called for justice and mercy to those no one wanted to associate with.

And then it hit me as I typed the previous paragraph - my life doesn't look like that! Is it possible that we avoid including the story of Jesus as the core of how we explain Christianity because our stories don't look like his? Is it possible we describe this faith in terms of theological concepts or religious/spiritual practices or moral values or propositional truth because we are comfortable that our subjective experience connects with those descriptions and not so much with the gospel record of his radical call to discipleship? 

I am deeply committed to my faith, and love the church Jesus founded, but am more and more aware that this story that we are called to live into presents a disturbing challenge to the contemporary experience of Christianity. I read the gospels and reluctantly ask if God really expects me to try and reflect that kind of life. And to my dismay there is a quiet, "Yes," in my spirit, "but I'll help." 

I was discussing some of these issues with a friend of mine this week, a deeply spiritual and thoughtful young man, who truly seeks to follow Jesus in this walk of discipleship. He commented to me that in his job he meets all sorts of people from all sorts of places and all different walks of life. Recently, in conversation about spirituality and faith a few have remarked to him, "You're not like any Christian I've ever met!"

There it is. I want to be that person. I want to be different to what people expect and for my life to look different to what is anticipated. Jesus wasn't like anyone that you would ever meet or ever anticipate encountering, and I don't think we should be either.

So what I want is that when people ask me what Christianity is all about (assuming my life gives them reason to), that I can tell the story of Jesus - without being embarrassed...