Along the Way: Just Give Me Jesus??

by

Oboedire | June 18, 2025

The title of this post is a phrase I have heard along the way, uttered by those who want to be rooted and grounded in faith, centered for them in Christ. In this sense, I am in that crowd. Christology is my core theological category.

But the title of this post also includes two question marks. Why? Because I have come to see that the phrase “just give me Jesus” is insufficient. It leaves the central question unaddressed, “What Jesus do you have in mind?”

I hit the “just give me Jesus” wall when MAGA Jesus was manufactured by White Not-Christian Nationalists to justify their heresy and harm, and to recruit followers to be their missional minions. Their “Jesus” is not one we want to be given, or give. Hence the question marks, and the larger issue that it makes all the difference in the world what Jesus we have in mind when we say, “just give me Jesus.”

My enough-is-enough experience with MAGA Jesus has simultaneously commenced a new journey and connected me with one I have been on since I professed faith in Jesus in 1963. That’s way too much to cover in this post. But I can say enough to open doors into whatever exploration of this you want to make.

I’ll begin with the connection part. And that comes largely via E. Stanley Jones. I am fortunate to have been given a vision of Christ through his books nearly all of which are Christ-centered. If this is new to you, begin with The Way. And then read, The Word Made Flesh and In Christ. That may be enough for you to read all the rest that he has written, as I have, with incalculable benefit. If you continue, read early on Victorious Living, Abundant Living, and Christian Maturity. [1]

In the context of this post, I will only highlight his comment on Colossians 3:11, “Christ is all and in all.” Jones wrote, “This is one of the most important verses in the Scripture depicting the life in Christ. In an age seeking equality of opportunity for all, this is the charter of equality. Nothing in all literature can compare with this.” (In Christ, Week 40, Saturday). [2]

Little did I know when I first read the biblical verse and Jones’ comment on it that it would become the focal text of the New Testament for me. The initial splash and the subsequent ripple effects have moved me in all directions.

That brings me to the new journey I mentioned above. Again, there is too much to cover. The journey has led me into an expanded Christology in both depth and breadth, gaining momentum and meaning in the light of Colossians 3:11.

The journey comes with an initial surprise—one that shook me and continues to shape me: that the Jesus we see is largely a Western, Euro-centric view. This does not make it wrong in every respect, but it does make it incomplete. I can illustrate it with a simple diagram.

Draw a horizontal line through Jerusalem on a map. Then draw a vertical line through the city. You now have four quadrants. Very quickly you will see that the Northwest quadrant has defined our understanding of Jesus  But there are three other quadrants, each of which has a Christology that has been largely lost or greatly diminished. In the Southwest Quadrant we find African Christianities.  In the Northeast Quadrant we have what might be called Oriental (Asian) Christianities. In the Southeast Quadrant we have Aramaic Christianities. [3]

Using the quadrant construct, it has “rattled my timbers” to realize that my Christology lacks input from 75% of available options. Another option is added at the nexus of the lines in Jerusalem: the Jewishness of Jesus, which too has been diminished when  factored through the Northwest Quadrant.

The Euro-centrism of Jesus was exposed when the Nag-Hammadi texts were found in 1945. They opened the African quadrant (to some extent), and especially the Aramaic quadrant. They also ignited a renewed study of the Jewish Jesus. The Oriental Jesus has been revived during roughly the same time by those seeing the Christ “who is in all” in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Furthermore the universal Christ is now on clear view thanks to the work done by scholars such as Matthew Fox and Richard Rohr.

In other words, Christ is larger, deeper, and wider than most of us were taught to see.

And to be clear, the new vision is not an exercise in abstract theology. It is an igniting energy (oneness) that challenges the destructive partisanship foisted upon us today through deformative Christologies like MAGA Jesus. The healing we need in the human family and the earth itself is to be found in “Christ who is all and in all.” If you want to go farther in this journey, or perhaps begin it, here are the “quadrant” books I recommend,

     General

             Peter Novak, Original Christianity

             Erin Vearncombe, After Jesus, Before Christianity

     African (SW)

             J.N.K. Mugambi, Jesus in African Christianity

             Diane Stinton, Jesus of Africa

     Aramaic (SE)

             Brice Chilton, Aramaic Jesus

             Neil Douglas Klotz, The Hidden Gospel

     Asian (NE)

             Dion Forster, Christ the Center

             Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

     Jewish (Jerusalem nexus)

             Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Jesus

             Amy Jill Levine, The Misunderstood Jew

     Readers

             Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells

             Rami Shapiro, The World Wisdom Bible

So, for nearly fifteen years I have been on a renewed Christological journey that has its roots in the early days of my being Christian. I smile when I recognize that it is what we sang about as children in Vacation Bible School, “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Oh, yes!

[1] If E. Stanley Jones is new to you, I suggest you read the excellent overview of his life and thought by John Harnish, Thirty Days with E. Stanley Jones.

[2] The immediate relevancy of Jones’ words is seen when set against the backdrop of anti-DEI and “woke” caricaturing that’s being perpetrated on us by MAGA Jesus types. Just to be clear, Jesus’ life and ministry, and the Gospel arising from him, is both DEI and awakeness affirming.

[3] The diagram is not 100% accurate. The varieties of Christianities and Christologies spill over into one another. But what the diagram does show is that it is the Northwest Quadrant that controlled the books that made it into the New Testament, followed by the dominant theological motifs that have followed. Moreover, it is from the Northwest Quadrant that the major evangelization of the world has taken place, making Euro-centric Christianity the lens through which most of world Christianity is seen.

The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is a retired seminary professor, author of more than 30 books, and a worldwide expert in Wesleyan spirituality. This post is republished with permission from his blog, Oboedire.