Has Jesus Become Larger Than His Message?

[FAMU]

I attend a religious meeting yesterday and there was a man there who was raised Christian and still attends the Christian church.

He stated that his biggest issue with man is that man has made Jesus bigger than his message. He felt that Jesus came to pass on a message and through the years people have come to almost ignore the message that Jesus came to teach but instead just go into "what would jesus do?"

How do you feel about that? Do you think the Jesus the person became bigger than his message?
_________________

[que90nek]

i think understanding his message is understanding him. the two go hand in hand.

[dns70]

How can Jesus be larger than the message when HE WAS the message?

St. John 1:1.
"In the beginning was the Word, the Word WAS God and the WAS with God, and the Word become flesh"

Jesus was the sacrifice. If all He did was come here and deliver a message, then we'd be lost. He had to die on that cross and live sinless. How can you make a sinless man too large? He is the example. Just like Que said; understanding Him is understanding the message. Once you understand how he was sinless, then you learn how to be sinless yourself.

I don't know, that sounds more like "shock preaching" than any real doctrine in my opinion.

[que90nek]

dns...my friend...you have slightly misparaphrased john 1:1...which is slightly dangerous because an entire religion is based off of the different versions.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was With God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."

now...the JW version says ""In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was With God, and the Word was a God. He was with God in the beginning."

if u catch the slight difference between the two...you can understand the significance. WHOA!

[Tastey]

I don't think that Jesus is larger than the message because Jesus was a part of the message.

If one seeks to truly understand Jesus they can't help but understand the message as well.

[adaya]

How can you really separate the two? As said previously, Jesus was/is the message. One reason that he came in the flesh is so that we could better understand and relate to the message; it was a way to bring it down to our level of understanding.

Mr. FAMU, I don't agree with the statement that the man made, but I have had discussions w/people about the so-called, "what would Jesus do?" trend. If that is the approach that some folks take to teaching about Christ, that's all well and good. After all, to be Christian is to be Christ-like, and though no one is perfect except Christ, Christians are to strive toward that perfection. The way to do that is of course to emulate Him.

However, what some people may miss in that approach is the "Why?" Not just What would Jesus do, but why would he do it? I think if people would seek the "why" along with the "what" then they would understand the full message, and wouldn't try to separate Jesus in the flesh from the Word.

[HulaSista]

Originally posted by adaya
How can you really separate the two? As said previously, Jesus was/is the message. One reason that he came in the flesh is so that we could better understand and relate to the message; it was a way to bring it down to our level of understanding.

Mr. FAMU, I don't agree with the statement that the man made, but I have had discussions w/people about the so-called, "what would Jesus do?" trend. If that is the approach that some folks take to teaching about Christ, that's all well and good. After all, to be Christian is to be Christ-like, and though no one is perfect except Christ, Christians are to strive toward that perfection. The way to do that is of course to emulate Him.

However, what some people may miss in that approach is the "Why?" Not just What would Jesus do, but why would he do it? I think if people would seek the "why" along with the "what" then they would understand the full message, and wouldn't try to separate Jesus in the flesh from the Word.