Jesus' victory over the powers of darkness is one of the great doctrines of the Christian faith. As a Christian, I find great trust and comfort in His conquests. Sin and death no longer have dominion over me because of my solid victory in Jesus. Every time we declare that Jesus is Lord and Christ is King, we say, “By Himself overcoming rulers and authorities, Jesus disarmed them and publicly shamed them. ” (Colossians 2:15, ESV).
Still, new attachments are emerging. Christus Victor it is much more similar Nietzsche I almost feel like they are talking about the same Jesus rather than Christ.
For these people, Jesus' victory is not formative but forgiving. It is not an act of crucifixion, but a call to aggression. This shift is most clearly occurring in Christian nationalist circles, where evidence is regularly present. looking for for that.
What's the big deal?
Let's back up. What's the problem? After all, none of us want to lose. None of us want to look foolish. Being a Christian in public is different than it used to be. Secularism is on the cards, and the deck is stacked against Christians in the square.
Every time we try to make Jesus more explainable, we diminish Him. And by the grace of God, He won't let us do that.
Isn't it good to grow taller? Should we celebrate Christians? strength In a hostile world?
of course. perhaps. Well, it depends.
The Gospels are full of people who try to understand Jesus by categorizing and placing him within religious, political, and cultural schemas. And as Jesus deftly detonates each one, they are littered with the remains of failed attempts. Don't just take my word for it. See Matthew 16:32. 19:10, 13; Mark 6:52. 10:26; Luke 9:54; 18:34; John 4:27.
We still seem to have a hard time understanding him today.
why? Is it because Jesus is a punk rocker and doesn't like being labeled? No, Jesus is God, and every time we try to make Him more explainable, we diminish Him. And by the grace of God, He won't let us do that.
Muscular Jesus for Muscular Christianity
It seems to me that many people, especially Christian nationalists and many on the far right, want a more muscular Jesus for a more muscular Christianity. Tired of weak religion, this people longs for something more vibrant and with more direction. And in fact, I'm willing to put in the effort. I still don't know what to do with modernity. And we certainly didn't know what to do men and masculinity In the modern world. Many Christians long for someone, anyone, to point them toward a meaningful vision of constructive and creative power.
As Christians, we know that we should point them to Jesus. But perhaps Jesus has a bit of a PR problem, and is it really a good idea to tell voters to not only support one side, but also be willing to give up the other? Are you then going to imitate it by being crucified? In a crisis of masculinity, the last thing we need is a teacher telling men how they should be. more Be meek and prioritize peace. And then there's the highly problematic episode in which Jesus performs the slave labor of washing feet and then instructs his elite crew to follow suit.
Perhaps we need to repair the image of Jesus. We need to give him a little more hard edge, a little more grit, and maybe give him red laser eyes. In a revisionist flair, we recut the film to include a scene in which Jesus brandishes a whip and overturns a table in the temple, then cuts to a scene in which he calms the storm with a single word, and ends with a scene in which he says, “White. It was cut into an exquisite deleted scene called “Painted Grave''. Children of Hell'', “Descendants of the Viper''.
It seems like the thrust of recent articles It draws on Nietzsche to frame the dire state of contemporary evangelicalism. While the author admits that he disagrees with Nietzsche's conclusions about Christianity (one should hope so), he argues that the American church has become a “peaceful church obsessed with placating our poor nation.” What we need, he argues, is a vibrant passion for virtue, honor, and “manly warfare.” In other words, a muscular Christianity needs a muscular Jesus.
see jesus right
The problem is – as you may have guessed by now – that when we do this, we're not actually pointing people to Jesus, we're pointing them to what we want Jesus to be like in a magazine. He is pointing to a collage of cutouts.
Jesus spent so much time exploding distorted notions of himself because sin has distorted our understanding of what humanity is supposed to be. The experience of salvation is not simply escaping the penalty for our sins, but rather being remade, or reformed, into the person God intended us to be.
This is why Paul tells us that we are destined to be like this. made to resemble the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29). Through sin, we have lost our concept of what it means to be human. In Jesus we rediscover it.
True greatness is found in humble service. True victory comes through suffering. And that true power is gained through weakness.
In other words, we must see Jesus manifest himself. The whole Jesus, the complex, three-dimensional Jesus.
We have to unite in what feels like tension to us. The king rides into Jerusalem with the abused and crucified Christ. The sharp-tongued destroyer of kingly hypocrisy who welcomes the wild little ones. An omniscient man who asks his friends to stay awake while he prays in agony, refusing to commit his humanity to his suffering. A powerful one who calms the storm, and a healer who sympathizes with the masses who brutally crush the most vulnerable.
Or perhaps the following vision in Revelation 5 describes it best: Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, is able to conquer and open the scroll and its seven seals. 'And I saw a Lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, as though it were slain' (Revelation 5:5-6, ESV).
The conquest of the lion can only be achieved through the sacrifice of the lamb. And they remain inextricably linked.
I am convinced that Nietzsche captured the true contours of the Gospel. He understood what it meant for God the Son to die for the sins of the world. But he hated That vision. He was tired of its weakness and apparent contradiction. He wanted a vision of strength, an independent humanity that could face the world's chaos and create something glorious out of it.
Looks like he's found his friends again.
However, Nietzsche missed the true beauty of the Gospel. My hope is that Christians trying to find their footing in this turbulent world will instead realize that true greatness lies in humble service. True victory comes through suffering. And that true power is gained through weakness.
