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We have a problem with Jesus. Particularly when it comes to evangelism.
The problem isn't with who Jesus is. Though it's a cliche, Jesus is the answer to all our questions and longings. He is the compassionate one the broken want; the forgiving one the flawed need; the strong one the weak can cling to; the challenging one the complacent require. In evangelism, as in all ministry, if we're not talking about Jesus, we're missing the point and we're missing the power.
So what's the problem? It's with the simple word "Jesus". As soon as you read that word in the first sentence of this post, you had a mental sketch of this man in your head. It may have been a picture; may have been some words; may have been a vague idea. It's the same for everyone. Even in our post-Christian culture, Jesus is still so famous that everyone has an idea about him. He may be lots of things, but he’s not a nobody.
Over the years, I’ve found myself in conversations with people in pubs, coffee shops, trains and, yes, church, and been talking about Jesus… only to realise that we’re talking about two completely different people. I’m talking about the Jesus of history—Original Jesus—and they’re thinking of Good Teacher Jesus, or Religious Rule-Keeping Jesus, or Children’s Story Jesus.
And it’s as a result of those conversations that I wrote Original Jesus. It’s the follow-up to Christmas Uncut, and each chapter simply takes a common mental image of Jesus and looks at an episode from Luke’s Gospel to compares and contrasts that version of Jesus with the real, historical Jesus.
It doesn’t do so in a way that says: “Ha, you’re wrong,” but in a way that connects the mental image to the real version. So you’ll see that, yes, Jesus is a good teacher—but that he is also, excitingly, so much more than that. That, yes, Jesus is an intolerant judge—but, strangely, in a way that we all deep-down long for him to be. We’ll see that Jesus is a first-century freedom fighter—but that, wonderfully, he offers a freedom that we still yearn for today.
Original Jesus is a short book (64 pages), because I’ve often found that lots of people who want to think a bit about Christianity either don’t read much, or don’t have much time. It is (hopefully) warm in tone and clear on the gospel.
And so it’s easy for you to grab and to give. After all, it’s not been written for you, or for me (though hopefully you’ll enjoy it!). It’s for friends who we know need to discover the Jesus of compassion, of forgiveness, of strength, and of challenge, and of so much more.
We all know people like that. And I’m praying that God would use this book, and use your courage in giving it to them, to bring them to meet Jesus. The Original.
Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.
