For years, Christians have innocently reduced Jesus Christ to a personal pal or best friend. This theology is sometimes called the “Me and My Jesus” mentality. It is comforting to know that Christians believe in a personal God, but how far can we take that image? A good example of this was in the movie Dogma. In the movie, the Catholic Church roles out a new image of “The Buddy Christ”. In some ways irreverent, but yet funny, the scene from Dogma calls out to us Christians, who can talk about Christ as if we go out to Starbucks with him everyday.
True, scripture points to an individual believer’s confession as Jesus as Lord as the normal mode of salvation, but do we also forget that Revelation presents Jesus as the eternal Judge? Do we forget that God is eternal, divine, Master, Creator of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, the God of all things seen and unseen? Do we dare approach God with concept of reducing The Almighty to our friend?
John Suk, a professor of homiletics at Asian Theological Seminary in Manila, Philippines gives a great non-western perspective on the “Me and My Jesus” mentality. In 2005, Suk wrote an essay entitled, “A Personal Relationship with Jesus?” in Perspectives (A journal from the Reformed perspective). Suk gives some great thoughts about how to approach the personal relationship with God issue. Here are a few highlights:
