Why Jesus is not relatable.....

It is not so much that we have made the religion of Christianity not relatable or even unattractive, but we have made Jesus Christ Himself  not relatable. For almost thirty years of my life, I was immersed in the lost world, mingling with a diverse blend of Muslims, Jews, atheists, new age folks and even hippies. Coming out of my stubborn salvation journey, I was very fortunate to find a community and church. In the last two years, I found salvation, daily fellowship, necessary healing, continued spiritual and emotional growth, service opportunities,  and clear direction on God's purpose for my life. And of course love and marriage! It has indeed been a catalyst two years for me. When I pleaded with God in the summer of 2012 upon my departure to Kansas City "Lord, I know you want me to wait and be patient, but you might wanna hurry it up this time..," I never expected Him to press fast forward. "We don't have time to waste" I heard Him, and now I understand why.

More recently, I found myself at times feeling caged in again, even within my new found Christ community. I had to ask myself, am I once again resurrecting that broken bird my dad once called me, unable to settle or find true satisfaction anywhere? I can now finally reply with wholehearted assurance that the answer is no. The anxiety and dissatisfaction arose from the fact that I fled the lost world only to build a "Christian bubble" around me. Don't get me wrong, I desperately needed and I am thankful for this Christian bubble as a place and time to heal and to reconcile "who I was and AM as a Muslim in order to comprehend where I am going as a Christian." My true transformation needed this. However, every aspect of my life started to become attached to and dependent upon Christians.(once again) I started to see how so many around me only ever interacted with other believers. I started to crave the lost. NOT because I tempted the former passions of my flesh, being lured back into a grave of sin. Absolutely not. I passionately and tearfully cherish my walk with Jesus. Rather, I started to crave the lost because that is exactly where God can use me the most for His Kingdom.  I caught myself using the "Christianese" language of "praise God and blessings" way too much. I would catch myself using Christian lingo while visiting friends and family in Canada, getting disgusted with myself. Please don't get me wrong, I DO praise God and I sure do count His blessings.... but He did not relentlessly pursue me to get comfortably Christian in my Christianity, not relatable to those He expects me to now relentlessly pursue. 

It hit me, not only have we made Jesus unrelatable to the world, but "I" was slowly becoming not relatable to the world. So, I made a decision which I intend to use as an anchor and motivation in my organization objective.... more accurately put, my life purpose: The message I communicate must be one that is relatable to anyone, everyone and anywhere. That means that when I am speaking and teaching before people, I can feel confident that there can be an atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Budhist, or new age person sitting among the crowd and he or she can grasp what I am saying. What I am saying is not a "Christian" thing, it is a "Humanity" thing. We have over-spiritualized Jesus. We have stuffed Him in a spiritual box, not relatable to the rest of the world- His message, identity and very essence detached from philosophy, psychology, environment etc. I can picture Him yelling out from this over-spiritually stuffed box, "...But I am a philosopher!, I am a psychologist! I am an environmentalist!" We have forgotten that Jesus is all of creation- "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" Colossians 1:17.  I want my core spiritual message to walk through the common courtyard of all these genres while being dressed in what the world can recognize and relate to, therefore building a bridge of familiarity and destroying hostility. People give high obedience to what they already know. We must wrap truth around what they already know. Jesus and Paul were masters at this while always maintaining their core identities. That is authentication. People desire to be around authentic people over people who are not relatable.

We want people to meet us at a spiritual point, so that we can speak to them and give them understanding of spiritual things. Where we have become misguided is that we must meet people where they are and not where we want them to be. Just as Jesus meets us where we are and not where we should be. My savior was revealed to me as I was a culturally Muslim- new age worshiper and He walked me to spiritual awakening through a seeking heart and His Holy Spirit, ultimately leading me to Him. We must remember that we meet people in a common place where we can relate to them and walk them towards spiritual things through the power of the Holy Spirit and in God's time. I have a Kurdish friend in KC. She has denounced the "religion of Islam" but her identity can not escape being culturally Muslim. Yet, she proclaims herself to be a new age follower, being led by the enticing notion that we are our own God's living a life where our approach to the "universe" dictates our success, growth and overall life. Hmmmm hope that sums it up. She confides in me. She trusts me. She seeks me out for guidance and advice. She feels that I "get her" and that we can meet in a common place regardless of our different beliefs and relate to one another. What she does not see is that everything I say to her and encourage her with is from my faith. Yet, my words and my friendship is not dressed up in Christianity or Christian lingo. I demonstrate my faith, I do not need to define it. I have confidence not in me, but in my God that as we continue to be in this common place of fellowship and love, that "naturally" she is being walked towards a spiritual horizon with the hope that the veil may be torn in time....giving all ownership to Christ and not to the universe or oneself. I suppose I love spending time with my Kurdish friend because she draws me back to a familiar place...

We focus so much on the branches and leaves, that we have forgotten the seed beneath the soil. This seed is where all humanity finds a common place. I am very intentional when I teach to point out a deeply humbling truth that sometimes is hard for Christians that have placed themselves on a pillar of righteousness, to accept. It is that we all have the same universal needs and roles, and the only thing that separates us as believers is that we have the saving grace and love of Christ and we are commissioned to share it. When we know Christ and live for Christ, our needs and roles wrap around Him and His Kingdom cause. We must destroy lines of separation if we intend to effectively engage in Kingdom work. "Us" and "Them" mentality must be replaced with "We." This statement pulls us down from the clouds, and like it or not, sits us down in the company of all people. 

I suppose that is why I felt uneasy in my Christian bubble after awhile.... in some small, but detrimentally unconscious way, I raised myself above the crowd- living in our self made Kingdom. I needed to be pulled down and sit in a common place with the rest of humanity.......sharing life together, finding points of compassion, therefore, creating parallel paths that I pray leads to truth.

God kicks me in the butt when He reminds me, "Who do you think you are...?" I love when He keeps me in check, especially considering "We don't have time to waste"