Week 45 2 Corinthians
The Corinth church had some glaring and obvious deficiencies.
But there was one that wasn’t so glaring or obvious. Paul told them: I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. You seem to believe whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach about a different Jesus.
Paul doesn’t spell out what their different Jesus was like.
I thought back to September and the stories I read about the Lord. I wondered how I’d make Jesus different. I’d only make him slightly different. Some parts I’d keep – a really popular guy, a sage & prophet, a charismatic personality, an appealing public speaker. But to make him different I’d maybe subtract his miraculous powers, subtract his claims to being divine, subtract his coming-back-to-life – things like that. Keep the believable stuff; get rid of the unbelievable. He’d still be a great guy. But he’d be different.
Anyway I don’t know for sure what a Different Jesus was like. But Paul mentioned three things that would be part of a Jesus Makeover:
First, I’d have to move away from a pure and simple devotion to the Lord.
Then I’d have to be deceived – just like Eve was.
And then I could listen to someone’s Different Jesus Story.
Note: quote from 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NLT)