Last semester I read Gayle Erwin's book, The Jesus Style. It was a great book, very convicting and challenging. I recommend it to everyone! This is the book report I wrote last semester, hopefully it will challenge and encourage you as well.
The Jesus Style makes you see Christ in a new way, freeing the reader from what he might already know and believe in a cultural and theological context. It reminds you of the fascinating person Jesus was, being fully God and fully human – that the gospel isn’t just a dogma we can study. “We tend, today, to know much about Him – but fail to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him” (pg 4).
In Colossians 1:15 Paul writes: “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation”. So Jesus being God expressed in a bodily form, having all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Him is worth getting to know better than anyone else in the world. If the Holy Spirit moves actively in your life, you will hear Him speaking of Jesus.
Erwin creates a list of the nature of Jesus. The list contains fourteen aspects: servant, not lord it over, example, humble, as a child, as the younger, last, least, no force, no blind ambition, no reputation, human, obedient, death.
Being a servant means that you do all you can to make life better for others. Others’ interest is always before your own. It is a loving choice you can make in order to minister to the people around you, which means that it is never a result of coercion or manipulation. Coerced slavery and servanthood by choice are two completely different things. Jesus described the basic element of love when He stated that He chooses to lay down His life and no one was taking it from Him. He didn’t let people to manipulate Him but always kept the strength to make loving choices. Erwin had a good point in dealing with manipulators: “If we permit someone to manipulate us, then we have contributed to and reinforced that person’s sickness. To resist manipulation, though it may be difficult and many cause scenes, is to contribute to that person’s health and certainly contribute to our own health” (pg 54).
Jesus says in Mark 10:44 that “whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all”. Now, slaves don’t have titles that would raise them above their lowly levels or above others. Slaves don’t have status symbols apart from the scars that come from hard work. Erwin points out that “there are so many ways that the nature of Jesus is in direct opposition to the leadership patterns of the world that have been unquestioningly adopted by the church that this list could go on and on. - - Visible modelling has greater force than the expression of doctrine. We have been so careful to identify doctrinal heresy; perhaps it is time to identify heresy of practice” (pg 61). Jesus was Immanuel – God with us. He never “lorded it over” the disciples but always set an example to them to follow. He never made them do anything He Himself wouldn’t have done first.
Jesus puts a high emphasis on humility in the gospels. In Matthew 18:4 He tells the disciples, “whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Erwin makes some very interesting points concerning humility. It’s not an inferiority complex asserting that you would be nothing, but it’s simply seeing yourself as you actually are – no higher nor lower. Humility is getting rid of hypocrisy. Jesus was not being arrogant when he claimed to be “the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6. He was being true about Himself.
Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient to the Father. We are called to follow in His footsteps. “If anyone would come after Me [Jesus], he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Any act that is not beneficial to others is disobedient and damaging to the body of Christ. Obedience thinks more about giving than receiving.
All in all, Erwin succeeded to present Jesus in a very biblical way. The book shows how He was the least of all, the last of all and the servant of all. And the motivation behind everything was God’s pure, unconditional love.
I was very blessed to have finished reading this book the day before we left to the gipsy village in Serbia. I had never been in such a poor area and those days were very challenging to me. Being away from the luxuries I had always taken as granted: warm showers, clean clothes, etc, made me understand Philippians 2:5-7 much better: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” And that’s what The Jesus Style is all about.
The chapter in the book that talked about humility really stood out to me. I had long misunderstood humility. Erwin explains that “one of the most loving things I can do for someone is to be honest (humble) about myself so they don’t have to shift through my deceptions” (pg 74). If we always put our best foot forward for others to see, we are not exactly walking in the light. “Humility chooses to be real, to hide nothing, to be open” (pg 76). Being transparent is a big part of being humble, allowing others to see our failures.
Reading about being the least and the last of all was also quite challenging. As obvious as it is, I had never given much thought to the fact that “being first means to relegate others to lesser positions” (pg 93). In the gospel of Mark Jesus has been recorded saying (in 9:35) that “if anyone desires to be first of all, he shall be last of all”. That means being a servant and a slave of all. Sounds so simple and yet our pride constantly comes on our way. Praise God for His grace toward us!
I want to turn more into the image of Jesus. “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away … Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2. Corinthians 3:13, 17, 18) Gayle Erwin helped me understand the significance of these verses. The presence of the Holy Spirit allows me to rip off my mask and walk openly – not because I’d be perfect and thus be guarded from the embarrassing gaze of the world, but because we are not “fading away” – unlike Moses – but are instead increasing or growing in Christ’s likeness! I just need to keep walking with Him, studying His word and dedicating my life to Him every day. By living after God’s manner I will also get God’s results. I can’t do anything in my own strength - I need to let God use His power in my behalf.
The Bible reveals us the nature of Jesus so that we would know how much He truly loves us, and how we can love each other, and how the church can be unified. As Gayle Erwin so well put it, “our maturity is to make us like Christ. Our ministry is to mature others to be like Christ. To be like Christ we must have His mind and absorb His nature.” (pg 179)
Joka toinen torstai menen muutaman muun opiskelijan kanssa viereisen kylän kehitysvammaisten asuntolaan viettämään aikaa siellä asuvien kanssa. Tällä viikolla menemme sinne toisen kerran, en malta odottaa koska pidin siitä aivan valtavasti viime kerralla! Soitimme ja lauloimme kristillisiä lauluja (useimmat lastenlauluja, sillä he olivat henkisesti joko lasten tai esimurrosikäisten tasolla), tanssimme ja vain vietimme aikaa yhdessä. Oli uskomatonta kuinka hymyileviä ja onnellisia ihmiset siellä olivat! Kun teimme lähtöä he halusivat varmistaa moneen kertaan että tulemme varmasti uudestaankin.
