Many in our culture have intentionally sought to move away from the idea of consequences. We like to believe that we can make mistakes and find “no fault.” We have been told that love does not hold accountable and it certainly does not enact consequences for actions. Instead, to “forgive is to forget.” As with many notions, many of these ideas have been carried over to our understanding of God, salvation and Jesus. In many people’s minds, God is quite similar to Santa Claus: He’s an old guy with a long white beard who lives up north somewhere, and he says that everyone must be good or they won’t be rewarded but in the end, let’s face it, everyone gets a present, so it really doesn’t matter how we live as long as we keep the big sins fairly quiet, because we’ll still get our presents (in this case, salvation).

Many people carry an image of Jesus with them that is anything but accurate. For many, Jesus is a skinny Caucasian who’s really in touch with his feelings (and perhaps his feminine side and Vegan tendencies) and just wants everyone to be happy and feel loved. It really doesn’t matter what you do or how you live as long as it’s not as bad as that guy over there; he’s really bad and I’m not like him… and after all, we’re all basically good people at heart, right?

Yet such notions could not be farther from the truth and they certainly do not align with the biblical portrayal of Jesus. I was confronted with this very fact the other day while reading 1 John. It was one of those moments when you know you’ve read a passage before, but you haven’t really stopped to meditate on it until that moment. Consider 1 John 2:28-29:

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

I was familiar with the second part of that verse, fitting, as it does, with much of John’s overall emphasis on practical holy living as a true test of our faith. I don’t know why, but I had never really paused at the first part of this section. John says that we must abide in Christ so that when He appears, we may be confident and not shrink from Him in shame.

This image of shrinking from Christ in shame caught me off-guard and has rested upon my soul for the past couple of days. How different is this Jesus than the one so commonly touted by so many who will pat everyone on the back like an old college friend just glad to see you. How different is this Jesus whose holiness blazes forth uncontrollably. How different is this Jesus who causes us to shrink from Him in shame. How different is this Jesus who takes sin so much more seriously than do we, that is until His coming.

I truly worry that many who claim to know Jesus do not know the true Jesus, the Jesus of Scripture, Jesus as He presents Himself; holding the right and the power to judge (Matthew 25:31-46, etc.) and who will come again waging war with the sword from His mouth, finally calling those who have committed treason to account (Revelation 1:16, 2:16, 19:15, etc.). This is the Jesus who will conquer all once and for all.

Any conception of Jesus must be derived from Scripture rather than culture. We are not free to view the Bible through the lens of culture. In fact, we must strive to do exactly the opposite. We must lovingly assert that true love always asserts consequences and that Jesus has come to save His people, but He will also return to judge His enemies and rejection of Him will carry the severest of consequences. Santa He is not.

This is certainly not a popular concept, that if we are not in Christ that we are His enemies, but it is the Scriptural truth and it is at the heart of the Gospel message. The Gospel is about being saved by God from God and we are called to the mouthpiece of this message that is both uplifting and terrifying.

We must do a better job at not only proclaiming but at portraying biblical love, complete with its consequences. Biblical love does not excuse or tolerate sin. This includes churches understanding and implementing church discipline and it means rejecting any false notions claiming that humility means uncertainty. We must not pursue orthodoxy at the expense of humility yet we cannot do away with doctrine. We must be men and women characterized by love and service, but most of all, we must proclaim the Jesus of Scripture and nothing else.

• Read The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson
• Read American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon by Stephen Prothero
• Read Jesus in America: Personal Savior, Cultural Hero and National Obsession by Richard Wightman Fox
• Read Touchdown Jesus by R. Laurence Moore