Reclaiming the Humanity of Jesus

A new book from Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost is called ReJesus. It is talking about the need to Re-Jesus the church; to reclaim a clear understanding of who Jesus is, and what his role in creation is. Its really a book on Christology, which they say is, 'the study and examination of the entire phenomenon of Jesus, including his person and work and teachings, for the purpose of determining in what ways the various elements of his life and activity can be emulated by sinful human beings'.

They argue about reclaiming the humanity of Jesus. Salvation Army Doctrine number 4 says, 'We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.' Like many theological discussions, it is about balance. When we overemphasise the divinity of Jesus, we find it harder to relate to a Jesus that ate, was tempted, got tired, and wept. The preacher's cry then to become like Jesus seems too high to ever reach. When we over emphasise the humanity of Jesus we down play the salvific act of the death and resurrection of Jesus, which by grace, through faith will give us life eternal. It's about balance.

Jesus is someone who we can follow after, who we can emulate with our life (even now), and someone we can relate to. He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus was no less than a revolutionary, who turned the world upside down, and had 20,000,000 followers in three hundred years. Not bad. I could only hope a couple more people read this blog :)

Christology is exciting and adventurous, as you explore the radical Jesus of the Gospels and delve deeper into the truth of who he really is... Share

Alan Hirsch's Six Elements of Apostolic Genius

At the centre of the mission of God is the unchanging concept that Jesus is Lord. Jesus transforms lives, he changes lives. He is Lord.

For churches to be effective in the 21st Century we need to build around this foundational theological truth 5 other elements. (See Alan Hirsch's Forgotten Ways Website here)  (The rest of this blog is snatched from His site - and is attributed to him!)

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1. Missional-Incarnational Impulse: This element describes the twin impulses of remarkable missional movements, namely the dynamic outward thrust and the related deepening impulse which together seed and embed the gospel into different cultures and people groups.

2. Apostolic Environment: This element will relate to the type of ministry (and by extension the type of leadership) required to both initiate and sustain metabolic growth and impact. Apostolic creates fertile environment required initiating and maintaining the phenomenal movements of God. We simply cannot get exponential movements without it.
3. Disciple-Making: Essentially this involves the irreplaceable, and lifelong, task of becoming like Jesus by embodying his message. Disciple-making is an irreplaceable core task of the church and needs to be structured into every church’s basic formula.
4. Organic Systems: This will explore the appropriate structures for metabolic growth. Phenomenal Jesus movements grow precisely because they do not have centralized institutions to block growth through control. Here we will find that remarkable Jesus movements have (1) the feel of a movement, (2) structure as a network, and (3) spread like viruses.
5. Communitas not Community: The most vigorous forms of community are those that come together in the context of a shared ordeal or, communities who define themselves as a group with a mission that lies beyond themselves—thus initiating a risky journey. Over-concern with safety and security, combined with comfort and convenience, have lulled us out of our true calling and purpose. Everyone loves an adventure. Or do we? The chapter on communitas aims at putting the adventure back into the venture.

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