Gospel Talk: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Room65 - The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

David J. Nixon (August 2010)

Jesus did not come as a teacher, a liar or as a founder of ritualistic dead religion; rather the REAL JESUS came to restore us into a living RELATIONSHIP with God

Creation:
You may be familiar with the international best-selling author Philip Pullman, or some of his award winning books like the “His Dark Materials” trilogy. They happen to be my favourite modern works of fiction.
He released a new book, after he was asked why he had never written about Jesus Christ – despite having written much which was anti-Christianity. He entitled this book: “The Good Man JESUS and the scoundrel CHRIST” and it is a mythological version of the historical accounts in the Bible concerning Jesus Christ.

The myth sees Jesus and Christ as two twin brothers. Christ wants to make his brother Jesus into a messianic figure at the head of a global institutional church. However, Jesus just wants to be an idealist and a teacher of people calling them to sort their lives out and stop living in a way that displeases God. Christ writes down all he sees and hears of Jesus and edits these stories to leave a better legacy than the facts of his rash and abrupt brother’s life would leave. Christ goes so far as to say the resurrection of his brother Jesus was a staged cover-up and lie in order to try to inspire people to set up a powerful religious organisation; thus why Christ was a scoundrel and a liar.

Christ:
Now I am not going to try to show you tonight how Pullman is historically wrong …he admits on the back cover: “THIS IS JUST A STORY. However, this book is onto something: RELIGION is a problem!

It seeks to do good but often ends up alienating people and hurting them; it puts burdens on them and turns what is meant to be a living relationship of love between you and God, into one of drudgery and ceremony. VERY SADLY religion can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, and actually have totally misrepresented what Jesus actually said and is like.

It is true Jesus established a community of people called His “Church”, but the church is not an organisation, it is not a fancy building, it is a meeting on a Sunday with ceremonies and rituals. No the church is made up of individuals who LOVE and FOLLOW the living son of God, Jesus Christ - it is not just dead ceremony and ritual!

Why do we as Christians love Jesus and why do we obey what He has to say? Well it comes back to why Jesus came => He came to rescue sinners from themselves and give them an opportunity to come back to God to have abundant life.

Sinners don’t need religion, they need Jesus, so both religious portrayals of Jesus Christ in Pullman’s myth misrepresent what the REAL Jesus was about:
=> Jesus of moralism (preaching at you to live a good life and standing over your shoulder telling you not to do things) is the wrong focus because we never can be good enough for God in the first place – it will only ever lead to self-righteous pride or despair
=> Christ of institutions (building a dead religious organisation) is wrong because religion is about doing rituals and things so God owes you something, it’s about having power to manipulate God to our own ends – rather than about having relationship with Jesus.

The truth is we all are in rebellion against God: some people go wild rebelling against His authority, other people go religious wanting to manipulate His authority. One wants to ignore God; the other wants power over God – the effect is the same: SIN, SEPARATION from God, and DEATH!

In Matthew’s gospel, the REAL JESUS told a story of two brothers: one went off wild wasting all his father’s wealth, the other sat at home being obedient to his father but always because he wanted to get his own way in the home. The first was a prodigal sinner, the second was a religious sinner – Jesus concluded that both were in need of salvation!

We are all dead in sin, the prodigal outwardly looks like they need Jesus; but the religious can appear to be ok on the outside yet inside are just as dead as Jesus warned: “you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt 23:27-29). That is what religion often can be like, and I am sorry if that has been your experience.

BUT the REAL JESUS came to free sinners from the burdens of religion and consequences of their rebellion. He shows sinners grace by giving them a free gift of what they never deserved: forgiveness for their sins! I have sinned both rebelliously and religiously! But now I am a Christian - I have true peace, because I have relationship with Jesus and know He has saved me. It doesn’t depend on me, my morals, my consistency, my giving money, my attending church – it all depends on His loving death for me on the Cross when He was punished for my rebellious and religious sins so I could be forgiven and made right with God.

Choice:
I do not know where you have come from tonight, whether you go to church or not, or what your experience is of Religion. But I would like to suggest to you to take away this Gospel with you tonight. Read for yourself about Jesus Christ, see what He did, hear what He taught, see His great love for you which He demonstrated by dying on the Cross to save you and forgive you from your sins.

Come meet the REAL JESUS, who was not a myth, was not just a religious figure and not an ethical teacher. He is God!