More than a Mascot: A Call to Recognize the Scriptural Christ

I don’t generally listen to Cece Winans, but every other day, on my 4 minute drive to physical therapy, her song, “That’s My King” frequently comes across the radio. There is a line, repeated over and over, “All of this is for you!” As it plays, the image that comes to mind is this vast throng, eager and frenzied, as if the emotionalism and hype they are offering to Jesus is something phenomenal and impressive. Every time I hear it though, I want to ask them, “Is this what Christ wants?”  Does Christ desire this offering of fanfare? I can’t help but feel as though I observe a striking similarity, between the ‘fame’ and ‘glory’ Satan offered Christ on the high mountain, and the hype generated “for Him” in such settings. “All these I will give you,” (Matthew 4:8-9) Both are truly empty offerings. Both are based on the assumption that the prideful cravings of sinful humanity for grandeur would appeal to Christ.

My stomach twists into knots when I observe this type of hollow adulation, purportedly for Christ, because, I think, when it comes down to it, this fanfare is not truly for Him. It is not for the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I believe it is for someone else, and I find that terrifying for every individual in such a crowd. I believe these offerings are for a caricature—one that bears His name, but aligns with their preferences. I believe the Christ worshipped in these settings may be little more than a mascot for a hundred different idealistic perceptions of Christianity.

I wish it wasn’t the case, but modern evangelicalism has tragically failed the church world, in their portrayal of Jesus Christ. Jesus is often portrayed as our buddy, a benefactor of temporal blessings, a personal cheerleader or life coach, or even a revolutionary figure fighting for human causes. Thousands of people latch onto these concepts, and then sing about Him, clamor for Him in frenzied fashion, claim to speak on His behalf, and boast about their closeness to Him. His name is plastered on t-shirts, social media feeds, and across their books, but the heart-wrenching truth is that these masses are not being introduced to the legitimate Christ. They are being introduced to a fraud. While His name falls from every set of lips among them, the Christ of Scripture has nothing to do with them. (Matthew 7:22) He is not the one they truly worship. They have created a version of Him, which serves their ideals, but has been diluted of His holiness, power, and authority. 

I wonder sometimes, if this is how Moses must have felt when he descended from Mount Sinai to find the Israelites dancing around and worshipping the golden calf. (Exodus 32) A hollow, manipulated figure, bearing the title of ‘god’, yet void of any power and likeness to the sovereign, omnipotent God. The language may be similar, the enthusiasm is convincing, but at its core, it was idolatry. Is that what the church world has accomplished? Spreading awareness and zeal, not for the Christ of Scripture, but for a human-crafted Jesus who serves their ideals rather than the God of Scripture. I would highly encourage you to read that chapter, and note how God reacted to the sin and evil in that act.

If you’ve ever wondered, “why exactly was God so angered by this?” I believe the reason boils down to our perceptions. The people approached Aaron and said, essentially, “Hey, give us a god we can look at! One we can see!” Aaron crafted this calf, and said, “Ok, here you go!” It was a gross misrepresentation of Him. It distorted their perception of the true, living God who is so holy one cannot look at Him and live. (Exodus 33:20) We are commanded not to make an image because every image of Him will always fall dreadfully short of His glory. Every image is a lie which obscures the truth about Him.

I am willing to admit that maybe I overthink things from time to time, but I see the similarities. A couple of years ago, I began to observe a troubling trend among fans of the popular series, The Chosen. People began to venerate Jonathan Roumie, and place his image as they screen savor, or phone background. They said things like, “I can just pray better when I see him. I feel like he’s such a great representation of Jesus.” But this is dangerous. It’s heart-breaking, because it is not directing eyes to Christ. It is distracting them from Him. When I was a little girl, I had a little Bible story book featuring a cartoon Jesus. While, no doubt, this was given to me with the belief that they were teaching me about Christ, it didn’t at all. It made me believe that Jesus was make-believe. That He was no more real than the Saturday morning cartoons. Someone put a picture in front of me, but it did not do anything to acquaint me with the Christ of Scripture. It was a distraction from Who He truly is. I feel the same way about Jesus in memes and cutesy merchandise that uses Him to make a buck. Everywhere we look, the church world is putting a concept of Jesus “in our face”, “Here He is! Look at Him! Here is our God!” But it’s nothing like Him. Jesus Christ is not a brand, and I feel like, if we understood Who He truly is, we would fall on our faces and repent of the way we’ve exploited His name and abused His ‘likeness’.

I don’t believe these shallow portrayals of Jesus are an accident. Truly, I believe they are symptomatic of deeper theological problems. Am I alone in thinking that they must be a reflection of a church world that doesn’t perceive the fullness of Christ and Who He is according to Scripture? R.C. Sproul once said, “The unregenerate person will believe anything about God except that which has been clearly revealed in Scripture or in creation.” This is precisely the issue. This is where false gospels are born and flourish. I don’t believe that it happens because a person is “slightly off” in their perception of Jesus. Wouldn’t that tendency, to embrace and promote errant, weakened, cheapened representations of Christ come from having embraced an errant, weakened, cheapened Jesus? 

This is a hard truth! The disorienting reality of religious deception is that people may yearn to be accepted by God, and appear to embrace Him, but in their deceived, fallen state, they require a version of Christ who affirms them where they are. One that fulfills their self-interests. One that is small enough to fit into their frameworks of works-based righteousness, goodness, or spirituality. One that mollycoddles their self-perception. One wants to be “seen” and “associated” with Jesus, but may not truly be acquainted with or familiar with the Scriptural Christ. This happens because, truly, in the deepest recesses of who they are, they are at enmity with Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 17:5, Jesus is declared by the Father to be His Son, in whom He is “well pleased” and He commands us to “listen to Him.”  (Romans 1:1-4) In a world where Christ is misrepresented so frequently, how do we know if we are embracing the legitimate Jesus Christ? How do we tell the difference? I can promise you that the only reliable source is Scripture alone. That is where we will discover the fullness of Christ and Who He truly is. While false teachings surrounding Christ are often propped up with a smattering of truth from cherry-picked verses, it is the whole picture of Christ, presented in the whole Word of God, that gives us an accurate portrayal of Him. (John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:1-3; Hebrews 10:7; John 5:39; Luke 24:27)

While cheapened versions of Him are ubiquitous under the guise of Christianity, Scripture gives us a starkly different image of Christ. In Revelation 1:12-16, we see Him in His glory: eyes blazing like fire, a voice like rushing waters, His face shining like the sun in all its brilliance. In Revelation 19:16 Jesus is named “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (It’s inscribed on His thigh!) In Philippians 2:10-11, we are told “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This Jesus is not soft, permissive, or affirming; He is powerful and sovereign. He is not a passive figurehead or a cheerleader to endorse whatever makes us feel good! He is not a symbol of moral niceness! He is not a piñata raining down blessings for us to scramble greedily towards. He is not a prop for our political, business, or personal agendas! He does not need our help! He does not bend to our demands! He is not tolerant of the pride that underlies our fallen nature! He is not marveling at how wonderful we are from a cloud in Heaven! He is not sitting on the edge of His seat, hoping against hope that we will love Him! Jesus is not a “pick-me-up” like or anything remotely like a cup of coffee.

Christ is the One who, when He returns, will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God (Revelation 19:15). He is the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:12) and the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He is the Alpha and Omega. (Revelation 22:13) He cannot be manipulated to fit human desires, nor will He be reduced to a mere tool for human fulfillment. He is the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 43:15), the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), and He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23).

The Scriptural Jesus demands repentance and submission to His Lordship (Luke 13:3).  He is not moved by human approval. (Luke 16:15; John 5:41-44; John 6:14-15) His death and resurrection and divinity require that we relinquish all of our self-reliance, and trust entirely in Him to appease the wrath of God against us. (Acts 4:12) Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). He is both terrifying in His holiness and infinitely merciful in His love. (Revelation 1:12-16; 19:11-16; Hebrews 12:29; Luke 23:33-34; 1 Timothy 1:15-16) To know Christ is to be humbled beyond comprehension. (Luke 5:8; Matthew 3:13-14) This is a far cry from the self-affirming Jesus marketed in celebrity Christianity, prosperity gospels, motivational sermons, and plastered across all manner of Christian merchandise.

Scripture warns us against reducing the glory of Christ into something palatable or convenient. Paul admonishes us in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed… you put up with it readily enough.” The church in Corinth had begun to entertain a false version of Christ, just as many do today. There is a tremendous danger in these misrepresentations of Christ. They lead souls away from the fullness of Christ’s glory and the transformative power of the Gospel, into a false assurance of salvation. Matthew 24:24 warns, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” The father of lies mingles a smidge of apparent virtue with lies, creating a seductive allure that distracts and deters people from coming into the knowledge of Christ as revealed in Scripture. .

In Mark 7:6-7, Jesus quotes Isaiah, saying, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Jesus Christ, as revealed in Scripture, is infinitely more glorious, more awe-inspiring, and more powerful than any caricature man can create.  As John 1:1 reminds us, He is the eternal Word—God Himself, not a servant of human agendas. In John 14:6, He makes the exclusive claim that He alone is “the way, the truth, and the life.” This truth leaves no room for ambiguity or manipulation. So many have rejected this Christ, in favor of a Jesus who simply blesses them. He has been made safe, approachable, and harmless. But as Hebrews 12:29 declares, “Our God is a consuming fire.”

In the end, all the fanfare and distorted images of Christ will collapse under the weight of His true glory. (Isaiah 2:17-18)  The fleeting comforts of a man-made Jesus will vanish, leaving only the reality of the Holy One, who calls us to humble submission and awe. (Matthew 7:22-23; Philippians 2:10-11) His justice will not be softened, His grace cannot be manipulated, and His lordship will not bend to our desires.(Revelation 19:15; Romans 9:15-16)  Christ is not what we make of Him; He is the Alpha and Omega, the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Revelation 22:13; Hebrews 13:8) When the falsehoods fade, only the true King will stand, and with Him, all who have truly known and followed Him into life eternal. (Revelation 21:6-7; Matthew 25:31-32; John 10:27-28)