I figured a good start to this post would be a nice smile from Lloyd Christmas because this is only descending into dumb and dumber territory from here. “Let me tell you about My Jesus” or if you prefer the actual name of the song: “My Jesus” by Anne Wilson. My first thought after hearing the song on therapeutic Christian pop radio was “The lead singer of Heart got saved??…Awesome!”
Anywho… It’s been a long while since I have written anything and this post has been cooking in the oven for awhile. “My Jesus”, there are a lot of Jesus’ out there and today I want to share some Jesus’ with you that have been shared with me. You dig?
“God, I thank you that I am not like other men…” - Pharisee
Aw yes, Pharisee Jesus. My favorite Jesus to have portrayed to me by others. It’s the preferred Jesus of many Christians today.1 Here’s the thing about “Pharisee Jesus” the people who demonstrate him are blinded by pride.2
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, I spend 15 hours a week in sermon preparation and my sermons are so much better than his.”
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, I follow you better than him. He doesn’t follow you like I do.”
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, his children aren’t Godly like mine are. He must be a bad father.”
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, our church is so much better than his. All of our members are spot on in their walks with Jesus.”
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, if he really loved you he would be more like me because I know you better and love you more.”
“God, I thank you that I’m not like Scott, it’s okay to show him little respect because he’s not worthy of us.”
See, I’ve had this Pharisee Jesus shown to me by other Christian’s. I recognize this Jesus because I used to have this Jesus. This Jesus allows you to look down on others in your pride and arrogance. Other people just don’t measure up to you and others like you because you are a better follower of Jesus. That in turn allows you to stand above everyone else. Trust me on this - you will fall. The Lord will humble you. It’s going to happen regardless of how great or close to Jesus you think you are.3
Also, as a side note: if you have the word(s) “grace” in your bio/profile or ministry or church please make sure you model that word. I had an interesting Twitter (X) exchange with a pastor who had “grace filled believer” in his bio and he had zero grace. I’ve been treated better by people with pronouns in their bio…
You have no idea the damage you cause with Pharisee Jesus and your arrogant attitude towards others. I caused a lot of damage in peoples lives and had to go back and apologize.
There are other Jesus’ I could write about - “Prosperity Jesus”, “Progressive Jesus”, “Social Justice Jesus”, “Salvation by works/obedience Jesus”4, “King James Only Jesus”, “Universal Jesus aka Coexist Jesus”, “Paul’s Gospel Jesus”.
Dumb & Dumber. The Jesus’ portrayed these days are just dumb.
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” - Tax Collector
If you portray Pharisee Jesus to others it’s probably a good idea to stop reading now. But in reality no one reads footnotes these days.
I had “Pharisee Jesus” during my first year at Liberty University. I was so prideful and everyone else was the absolute worst sinner.
My flesh desires to be there to see the people who have treated me like this fall. But I know from experience how painful it is to have The Lord humble you. So I just pray for these people to have their eyes opened and to humbly walk with The Lord and others.
Now this Jesus is loosely tied to Pharisee Jesus in the sense that you look down on others who aren’t “following Jesus” like you are so therefore they probably aren’t really saved.