Our Untamed Savior | 07.14.2024

·39 min·3 clips

A teacher gives students a test showing everyone thinks Jesus is just like them.

The episode opens with a description of a psychological test by teacher Scott McKnight, where students answer questions about Jesus and themselves, revealing a consistent pattern: people think Jesus is just like them. This leads to a discussion of how culture shapes our view of God, referencing Christian Smith's book 'Soul Searching' and the concept of 'therapeutic deism'—a moral, therapeutic, and distant 'Santa Claus God.' The speaker argues this limits our relationship with God, similar to trying to mold a spouse. The core scripture is Revelation 1:13-20, where John has a vision of Christ described with vivid imagery: white hair, fiery eyes, a voice like many waters, and a sword from his mouth. This portrayal shows Christ as both terrifying and glorious, causing John to fall down as though dead. Christ then comforts John, saying 'Fear not' and declaring his authority as the first and last, who holds the keys to death and Hades. The sermon explores this tension: Christ is untamed and powerful like Aslan the lion in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, yet good and comforting. Practical applications are given: Christians should comfort others with hope, not fear, especially older generations modeling faith to younger ones, and spend time in prayer to know God as he is, not as we imagine him. A story about Randy Hoyt, who lost his wife and child, illustrates trusting God's goodness in tragedy. The episode concludes with a prayer and announcements about an elder fund.

As heard by us

A sermon that challenges a domesticated picture of Jesus with scripture's sharper, more unsettling imagery.

The sermon presses on a familiar, too-manageable picture of Jesus. It begins with Scott McKnight's account of two personality tests, first about Christ and then about the students themselves, and uses that frame to raise a sharper concern: believers can quietly remake Jesus in…

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Why you'd press play

If your picture of Jesus has gotten a little house-trained, you may want this sermon.

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