We have a problem with Jesus
Jesus is So Cool (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When it comes to outreach, we have a problem with Jesus. So what’s the problem? Your image of Jesus is (I hope!) informed by Scripture. He’s the incarnate, crucified, risen, ruling Son of God — the original Jesus of history. But that’s not the image most people have of him. When you say “Jesus,” they have an identity for him in their heads. It’s just not the real one. This is a function of the times we’re living in. Think about witnessing in the United Kingdom which is de- Christianization . In that sense, we’re all moving back to the context of the first-century Gentile world — pluralistic and un-Christian. The difference is that the early church outside Israel was witnessing to a pre-Christian society. In Athens, when Paul talked about the risen Christ , they’d never heard of him. They mocked the apostle for “advocating foreign gods” (Acts 17:18). We speak into an increasingly post-Christian society. That means that ...