Jesus was a Genius . . . or Was He?

   Jesus the brilliant teacher. The ultimate communicator. The best of all time, right? Of course, you might expect a statement like that from someone who believes He's God in human form. If you're Deity, being genius would be relatively "easy", wouldn't you say? But consider the fact that He was also fully human as well. In His unstained humanity, the Galilean Carpenter's mind, emotion and body were not affected by sin's devastating and crippling consequences.


   With this as a theological premise, this advantage served Him well in relationships and in the communication of the Father's message to the world and related teaching to His (potential) disciples. The result? He taught with authority, clarity and relevance like no other teacher or Rabbi before or since. Instead of catering to the religious crowd, accustomed to a steady verbal diet of religious jargon, Jesus instead chose a more "earthy" approach. Instead of heavenly language, He dealt more in familiar, common prose. Think of it - God among us - talking about birds, seed, trees, flowers, short stories, relationships, verbal vignettes pack with theological meaning but hidden just under a thin topsoil of street language. 

   Later, one of His most ardent followers, a guy named Paul, used the same technique when attempting to explain God and His ways to a largely pagan culture, quoting Greek Poets and using non-biblical terms to describe the Almighty to people not skilled in the art of speaking "Christian-ese". What a loser. I mean, who taught this guy how to reach people, anyway?


   Though far from "genius", The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook - Slaying the Living Dead Within addresses the doctrine of total depravity, often overlooked in the Christian feel-good-about-yourself subculture so prevalent in America's churches. "Entertain me!" "Make me feel good." "Give me something to consume." And yet this doctrine remains a core theological and practical truth, impacting our daily struggle with sin and the zombie beast inside us all.

  Apparently this zombie metaphor is striking a relevant chord in both churched and not-so-churched audiences, evidenced by the enormous positive response from the book (see what people are saying HERE. However, there are two extreme ends of the spectrum who may not appreciate this ancient approach to communicating heavenly truth. Though some may love the straight up zombie section of the book, they will have trouble accepting that they are totally ruined in God's sight.


  But the other crowd - those who use words so archaic you have to blow the dust off them to even begin understanding them - may also have difficulty dispensing credibility points here. To them, God always speaks in churchy language (and with a straight face). Theology is serious business to them, and there's no time for birds, seeds, flowers . . . . or zombies! Analogy, illustration and metaphor have no place in explaining the Bible.


   But for the other 95% of believers who connect with the metaphor, it seems to be resonating deep within, down where truth affects real life. And people are learning how to biblically overcome the flesh-monster living inside. 


   If He walked the earth today, Jesus would probably speak in terms familiar with our culture. Of course, modern-day Pharisees might take issue with that, labeling Him a "shallow Teacher". 


   Yea, either that or a freaking Genius.