Cutting out Christ

Cutting out Christ

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only son. John 3:18 NIV

I read that President Thomas Jefferson's Bible has been published. What makes his Bible special is the way it has been edited. In a letter to John Adams, Jefferson said that he edited his Bible to do away with the "nonsense" of the miracles of Christ and the errors of the gospel writers. In editing out the supernatural, Jefferson sought to whittle Christ down to a "great teacher" or an “instructor of morality”. Who is Jesus Christ to you?

The funny thing (but it really isn't that humorous) is that Jefferson literally used a blade to cut out all of the things about Christ that he actually needed. Jefferson was on a quest for Christ's morality when he should have been on a quest for Christ himself. And don’t we face the same dilemma in our own time? Do we think of Jesus as merely another Dalai Lama, Buddha or Hare Krishna or is he something else? Some would say that the teaching of Christ is certainly on par with other religious leaders. And if you agree with that statement, then you really haven't read any of the teachings of Christ. How can Christ be on par with other teachers when he said things like, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). "Destroy [this] temple (speaking of his body) and I will raise it in three days.” (John 2:19) And sure enough, Jesus backs up his boasts by not only coming back from the dead, but bringing others with him (Matthew 27:51-53) and letting roughly 500 people see him alive (I Corinthians 15:6). Statements and actions like these demand that we examine Christ with a bit more interest than morality. The statements and actions of Jesus demand that we take notice of his spiritual power and his deity, not only his morality.

The moment we deem one word of scripture to be false, then all of it can be counterfeit. Scripture has to be taken in its entirety or not at all. You can't cut out the pieces you don't like and save the ones that you do. Likewise, Christ can’t be edited; we have to take him in his entirety. One should ask, what are the consequences of ignoring Christ’s true and complete identity? Is it safe to cut out the real Christ?