One of the most popular scenes from the movie “Talladega Nights” is when the lead character, race car driver Ricky Bobby, says grace with his family over a feast of fast food. He begins each praise and prayer request with “Dear Lord Baby Jesus” until his wife, impatiently interrupts with a, “Hey, you know, Sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him ‘baby.’” Incensed, Ricky responds with, “Well, I like the Christmas Jesus best, and I’m saying grace. When you say grace, you can say it to grown-up Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus, or whoever you want.” Even Ricky’s father-inlaw, Chip, chimes in with, “He was a man! He had a beard!” From there, the conversation degenerates as each family member describes the “Jesus” they prefer: a ninja fighting off evil samurai, a guy sporting giant eagle’s wings, or a cool fellow singing lead vocals in a band, and so on.
Many who watched this movie found the scene funny but there’s a stark truth that many people, including Christians, have created their own “Jesus”. Paul warns warned the Corinthians: “You are ready to listen to any false teachers who come to you. They might tell you about a different Jesus from the Jesus that we told you about.” Yes, many feel comfortable with a Jesus who is a perpetual baby lying in a manger. Others like the Jesus who walked around with a halo on his head speaking softly and petting animals. Others like the Jesus that sits in heavens like a bell boy just waiting for an errand to run from prayers. Of course, none of these are the real Jesus the entire Bible is written about.
Yes, the real Jesus was born in an animal food box called a manger to an obscure couple and later called “illegitimate” by the religious leaders of his day. The real Jesus grew up in the house of carpenter, and though the scriptures do not give many details of his life, we know he experienced all the pains, sorrows, and temptations of life that we do. Yet not many people like the Jesus who said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Many are uncomfortable with the Jesus that walked into the temple with a whip and upended the tables of the religious merchants. Others who believe that all religions lead to heaven are offended by the Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, there is no other way to the Father except through me.”
Yet, that’s exactly who the real Jesus is- a savior who came not to show the way but to be the way. The real Jesus came not to make bad people good, but he came to make dead people alive through his spirit. The real Jesus lived a sinless life, died a martyr’s death, and rose from the grave because death could not hold a sinless savior. That same Jesus will return to earth just as he left in the clouds to judge a world that is filled with people who really care less who the real Jesus is. However, for those who do, he is the blessed hope of all eternity.
