First off, I think Deepak Chopra gives me my Wendy’s breakfast order every morning. 

Well.  Probably not THE Deepak Chopra.  But this guy looks just like him. 

*  *   *

The myriad disagreements between Christians struck me this morning during my drive through the cold drizzle of this gray Saturday.  

This was probably because I passed my old Lutheran church.  They’ve been going through some drama because of the “gay issue” in their denomination.  Apparently the ELCA has approved the ordination of gay bishops.  Although I’m not too sure.  I’m no longer in the loop on such things, so that’s not gospel truth.  But at any rate, there has been some controversy in that denomination over the “gay question.” 

The church that I belonged to was in complete and total opposition to its denomination’s choice to favor gay ordination or whatnot.  So the huge sign for the church outside received a wide black box right over the word “Lutheran,” so that when you drove by, you’d see “St. Timothy [BLACK BOX] Church.”  

After a while, they removed the black box, and instead, put a little banner under the word “Lutheran” that said “Reclaiming the Name!” 

Now, even that banner is gone.  So they’re just back to plain old Lutheran.  I’m sure their positions on the matter are the same, but they’ve, for whatever reason, decided to remove the banner and black box. 

As I passed that church on the way to work today, I thought about how many things there are that Christians disagree on, and how that disagreement, on each and every side, is firmly rooted in that side’s view of Christ.

We’re all so convinced about what Jesus was all about. 

You say you follow Jesus. 

Which one? 

There are so many.

There’s Orthodox Jesus, Catholic Jesus, Calvinist Jesus, Emergent Jesus, Bono Jesus, Che Jesus, Obama Jesus, Bush Jesus, TBN Jesus, Christian Identity Jesus, Black Baptist Jesus, Anglican Jesus…

Each Jesus has so many points of agreement with another.  But there’s also a lot of disagreement.

There’s a Jesus today who extends not only open arms, but fully affirming and accepting arms, to practicing homosexuals today.  The Jesus who does this has very sincere and authentic followers.

There’s also a Jesus who is quite convinced that homosexuals are hell-bound and are walking displays of the reality of sin in this world. 

There’s even a Jesus who disapproves of consuming any amount of alcohol, even a glass of wine with dinner. 

And then there’s a Jesus who is an avid beer afficianado, who whole-heartedly approves of a good German brew.

Without ignoring what all these Jesus’ have in common, you can’t deny the differences. 

You can’t deny that the church as a whole may be hopelessly shattered, divided by very important doctrinal differences.

Which Jesus do you follow?

“The one from the Bible,” you say.

Well, funny thing about that….

There are just as many Bibles as there are Jesus’.  And each one is backed up by tradition and the commentary of that tradition’s scholars or elders.

I don’t really see where the Christian church has ever had much agreement or unity.  It probably began seeing divisions right after the time of Paul (if not during). 

And I have no idea which Jesus it is that I follow.