Orginally published on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 7:18 AM
by Todd Rhoades
Evangelical leaders from some of the nation's largest megachurches answered CNN Contributor Roland Martin on a special program Friday titled "What Would Jesus Really Do?" Here are some of their responses...
T. D. Jakes: Jesus would be preaching the gospel and ministering to the hurt.
Paula White agreed. Jesus declared that “he came to save and to seek that which was lost; and it literally means to rescue that which was out of position,” she explained on CNN. “Sometimes, life will mis-position us. We get lost. We are not on the right pathway.”
Rick Warren: “I have no doubt about it that [if] Jesus were here today, he’d be hanging out with people who have HIV/AIDS. There’s no doubt in my mind about that because they are the lepers of the 21st century… He cared for the sick. He assisted the poor. In Luke chapter 4, he gives his agenda and it’s basically I’m going to meet the needs of the people around me.”
FOR DISCUSSION: What do YOU think Jesus would be doing if He was walking the earth today? Where would he go to church? (Would he GO to church?) What would he spend His time doing?
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There are 2 Comments:
Unfortunately, questions like this are predicated on the assumption that Jesus is some sort of universal wisdom teacher. The truth of the matter however, is that Jesus was a Jew, and he had a God-given task to assign in fulfilling the Mosaic law, and reconstituting a new Israel around himself. That is to say: Jesus came (among other things) to end second-Temple Judaism.
Since second-temple Judaism no longer needs ending, and since rebellious Israel has been judged (Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD), asking ‘what would Jesus do if he were here today?’ violates the narrative flow of the biblical story. Jesus’ prophetic ministry assumes his prophetic context. Remove the context, and his ministry would have looked entirely different. That is to say, we’re significantly changing the character by trying to transpose him to our context.
Do the people of God still need correction? Sure. But I don’t think Jesus would be announcing the end of the Church age (otherwise we’re in trouble) like he did for Israel--God keeps his promises. He might encourage or rebuke part of the Church, but I have trouble imagining in any detail what this would look like since his story is so thoroughly interwoven with Israel’s story at ‘the end of the age [of second-Temple Judaism]’.
However, we can still in a sense, replicate (aspects of) Jesus’ ministry by caring for the poor and the homeless, rejecting all forms of violence, and living under the God’s sovereign rule. To try and extrapolate more than this is, I think, dangerous.
Aaah, I’m rambling again.
My two cents.
-Daniel-
T.D.Jakes as mentioned in this article, is a case in point. If he only knew what the “” gospel “ stands for just think what a “real witness “ he could be to the hordes of people who hear him, unfortunately, he ( as well as others ) are “ blinded to the God of this age “, the God of money and prosperity. How many precious lives will not know the difference between Heaven and Hell and what one must do to inherit eternal life! All I can say is “ search the scriptures for in them you ( think ) KNOW you have eternal life “.
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