positive jesus

Belief in positive Jesus is not faith.

There is a pressure to disregard Jesus suffering, crucified, and to rather think, speak, propagate only Jesus resurrected and empty cross. This pressure sometimes becomes a belief that served as teaching in churches. Charismatic pulpits are full of self-satisfying, self-serving preaching that feed self-obsessed deconstructionists or broken humans who are looking for a quick fix. A good word or a good prayer. To instantly resolve what a therapist, catechist, friend, or YouTuber couldn’t fix. What 5 min of daily prayer couldn’t fix. What ministry team couldn’t. What two books by pop coaches psychologists couldn’t.

This is a pressure sometimes called positive thinking and sometimes renewal of mind and sometimes whatever the latest TikToker or your fav person proposed last week.

Using false ideas to achieve quick fixes is not gonna survive just because ‘it works’.

The renewal of mind via someone popular is based on telling yourself everything will be ok. Just say these words after you wake up.

The renewal of mind via another someone popular is to declare certain things until you will believe it and then your life will be successful or turn around as you wish. You should be healthy, reasonably well off, have a good fam, "walk in victory" (whatever that means now to you).

Anything less is not admirable.

If your life does not turn in such a way, it means you are not checking in to the Christian way of life.

Enter Paul in prison.

Enter Perpetua and Felicity.

Enter John of the Cross.

Enter Maximilian Kolbe.

Enter Jesus. And Mary and Joseph.

The renewal of the mind is not even about the mind. But who talks about it? When something is trendy, most assume it must be true. Instead, we should see why the trendiness occurs now. It shows up because we have exchanged faith with beliefs that suit our desires.

Neurosciences are discovering things that were known to the early Christians and desert fathers. Charismatics are turning into feel-good bunches. As the early Christians despised Greek philosophies we must stand in front of trendy mind/bending games and bend our knees only before the King of Kings.

Faith in Jesus is different. His full Paschal crossing is an ultimate abandonment to His will and it does not look like anything that sells nowadays or has the most clicks.

If you want to preach about physical healing don’t be afraid to go to hospitals and hospices. That will teach you more about Jesus than the platform preacher. Or visit often friends who have a child suffering from an incurable disease.

If you want to preach about inner healing don’t be afraid to listen to people who went through hell on earth without running away because your boundaries can not handle it.

If you want to preach about spiritual healing, don’t be afraid to send people to the old, good confession with a reasonably experienced confessor or to an exorcist or a person experienced with deliverance, prior to sending them to a psychotherapist who was trained in one of 600 psychotherapies and tries to see if you are a good fit for them. Or before sending them links to websites with remedies you swear by after which you have to swallow 15 supplemental pills a day.

There is only one Jesus. With His hands and feet and a side still showing the wounds as he paid to rescue us from the trends of centuries. He is in heaven, wherever or whatever that is. He is whole. He minds if you want to forget what He remembers in eternity as the ultimate sacrifice. The angels sing about that forever. So will you.

To the Lamb that was slain, all glory be. Hope treads on fantasies.

Deliver us, Jesus, from flimsy, fragile, cheap religion made in our image.