“It’s not surprising that this Jesus announced a Kingdom, not merely personal salvation. . . . Most significantly, this Jesus called his followers to surrender their individual identities to a new community formed around himself and to lose their lives so they could find them. His vision of human flourishing is not about self-actualization but about self-surrender for the sake of God’s Kingdom.”- Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”- Romans 12:2-3 (NIV)
As Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore move on in Chapter 5 of The Missing Messiah, they discuss what we must do if we want to adjust the lens through which we view Jesus. Thus, we start by becoming more conscious of how our Western culture influences our perception. As well as how it shapes how we think about faith.
Above all, Kyle and Mark point out, the Jesus we meet in Scripture had a distinctly un-WEIRD cultural lens. Because Jesus:
- was Middle Eastern, not Western.
- lived in an oral culture with limited literacy, not a highly educated society.
- was embedded in a collectivist culture that prioritized group identity over individual self-expression.
- lived in material simplicity, not affluence.
- existed under imperial rule, not democracy.
In conclusion, Kyle and Mark offer this counsel:
“So how might we begin to move . . . toward a more authentic encounter with the real Jesus as revealed in Scripture? We will look together at a biblical perspective on Jesus and consider how practices might shift to align with it. Bu as we do, please understand that these ideas aren’t mutually exclusive — there’s a valid place for both individual and communal practices.”
Today’s question: What Bible verses most help you to focus on self-surrender? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Authentic Christian faith”