The Lima Bean Jesus
He does an eloquent job of making the case, but the problem is that this is nothing new. For eons I've seen desperate resignation from all the Christian faithful about how irrelevant "the church" is. It always seems to come from people who've gone into Christendom bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and then when they see what's really happening they write things like this.
That second piece is Bob Burney's Willow Creek Confession, in which he explains how Illinois megachurch Willow Creek Community Church comprehensively evaluated its "seeker-sensitive" model and found it woefully lacking in making true disciples of Christ. Uber-pastor of the church Bill Hybels even admitted spending millions of dollars on programs that just didn't work. I wonder what programs they're going to try next. Maybe enlisting the services of the Red Pepper Jesus might make things a bit more spicy, a little less bland, d'ya think? They should try that one.
Each of the pieces highlight the profound Catholicization of American churches. It may be asked, how that could be, when none of the evidence shows that they are doing anything "Catholic"? The fact is you don't need to implement the mass, hang a crucifix, or start clutching rosaries to be Catholicist.
You just need to contracted to the World System.
Corporate entities contracted to the World System are rightfully seen by those hungering for truth and righteousness as mere "God clubs." Every Christian church that has a 501c3 contract with congregants holding W-4 liabilities or Social Security memberships is just a club with a Lima Bean Jesus.
Mark Labberton, the pastor of the Presbyterian church concerned about the lima bean gospel, said the answer is love. Great. That is the answer, it really is.
Problem.
A lima bean Jesus can't love. And those who follow one will only love with lima bean love. Neat.
That's the issue right there. You simply can't say you serve the real Jesus who is Lord of the Entire Universe, and then introduce Him to someone if you actually serve the masters of the World System. You've only got the Lima Bean Jesus there, one of the many types of Jesuses of the World. You don't have the Real One.
And that, really, is the slavery that is most destructive, more than any other kind.
It is the slavery of firm belief in false ideas. The worst false idea of all is to put your deepest trust in something that isn't what you think it is.
Don't even try to call me on whether or not I know the REAL Jesus. Don't talk to me about it, I don't have to explain. All you have to do is to read what He said, and what those who knew Him and lived with Him and talked with Him said. And, um, what He did. That's pretty major too.
Oh, and take a look at this, today's front page of the Los Angeles Times:
You don't think these people want to be Jesus? You don't think these people are pretending to be Jesus so millions of people will worship them? Do you really believe that when they say "Oh come on now I'm just a simple person with humble roots who wants to do nice things for the country" they aren't trying to be Jesus? You don't think George Bush and Ben Bernanke are two prominent Jesuses of the World, proclaimed saviors of man working valiantly to stimulate a populace that is effectively dead already?
What's so funny is that the guy who pulls their strings, the one who has no contention about how much he wants his subordinates to see him as Jesus, is convening his most immediate followers to begin the transfer of power as he retires. The revered position of "Father General," or the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, will soon be in the hands of another man. He'll still do what he is sworn by blood oath to do, control the World System through its educational and ecclesiastical branches.
What's more is you won't see this information anywhere near in any of those branches, because, well,
He just isn't as important as our Lima Bean Jesus.
For a few more of those Jesuses, check this out.
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