In the Gospels, there is this poignant scene where Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do you think I am?" Of course, we all know this story quite well. Peter, in a flash of divine inspiration, replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." This is, of course, the correct and most wonderful of responses. And it strikes me as quite poignant that even after all the disciples had witnessed at this juncture, only one out of the twelve responded with this affirmation about Jesus.

In our own busy and modern life, we have so many opportunities to hear God's Word that it is a blessing. But it can also be a curse with our modern technology because we can easily curate a Jesus and a Christianity which suits our needs rather than a faith that does the will of our Heavenly Father. Please let me explain.

The first time I did this was during my childhood, and it was by default. I grew up in a very pro-America and pro-Jesus culture that had both of them extremely closely linked together. The underlying message was that America was the new Israel, and we had to save it. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting the best for your nation or praying for a revival. Still, the danger of this perspective is that it lacks both a global and historical perspective concerning our shared faith. Since Jesus wants to save the world and use every nation for His glory, America is wonderful, but the world is wonderful too.

Furthermore, Christianity as a whole does not rise or fall with regards to how America is doing. No matter how righteous or how immoral we become, ours is a global and historical faith that has existed long before our nation was born and will continue to thrive long after our civilization inevitably declines. So there was no need for the famous preachers and Christian thought leaders of my day to put so much fear into the gospel message. Jesus is always going to be okay. Even more than okay, He is always going to be victorious, no matter who is president or which way the Supreme Court leans. When faith leaders acted differently, and when I believed them growing up was the first instance in my life of curating a Jesus to suit our needs rather than reality.

My second Jesus which I curated was when I was older, like in my 20s and 30s, is that of the buddy "jesus." Have you met him? This buddy "jesus" was a "jesus" who was cute and my friend. He liked me and gently winked at my sinful destructive tendencies like my friends and family do at my weird jokes and habits, for example, putting ketchup on my turkey. His holiness, His Lordship, and His overwhelming power were completely erased from my life. This type of "jesus" made me comfortable due to the fact that I did not have to give up any sort of control of my life. I could, in my mind, still follow Jesus and keep my favorite pet sins and wounds alive and well inside the parts of my life where I was completely comfortable with them already. This type of "jesus" offered me salvation without the cross, and I was totally there for it.

Lastly, another Jesus I formed was that of the transactional "jesus." This Jesus had a simple equation for my faith. I would go to church and do whatever I signed up for, often in a moment of weakness, and then the rest of the week, he would leave me alone. This type of "jesus" was very appealing to me. There was none of the ambiguity of asking His will or agenda in my life. There was no need to pray or read Scripture and take time to listen to any type of sermon. If I checked this box, then he would leave me alone and bless me. I could follow him for an hour or two throughout our Sunday service, and then be completely independent of him during the other 166 hours of my week. 

Furthermore, since we live in a very transactional economy and my good standing at my own particular workplace is so transactional, it totally made sense in my mind for God to act this way with regards to me. I was totally discounting and disproving the jealous nature of our Lord. How He desires our whole heart and not just bits and pieces of it. How He had criticized the Pharisees and Sadducees for doing the exact same thing in their lives that I was indeed attempting in mine.

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So, how do we know if we are following a Jesus we've created instead of the real one? The first step is to ask a question of yourself and to answer honestly. Have you been challenged or corrected lately by your Jesus? If not, then there is a good chance you might be curating a Jesus of your own desire.

Secondly, you need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer to you. His primary job is to be our helper. He loves revealing stuff to us if we let Him.

Lastly, and honestly, have a talk with your brother or sister about your walk with God. Each one of us has at least one person in our congregation with whom we can let down our guard for just a moment and reveal this and other aspects of our walk with. If you don't have that type of person in your life, feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to be able to help out in any way I can. This type of accountability, which I admit is incredibly scary, puts to death any false Jesuses we've been gestating. The Christian life is all about helping each other by gently correcting one another whenever our vision gets just a little bit blurry.

Be blessed my brothers and sisters.