Which Jesus? (Quote to Ponder: Rob Bell from Love Wins)

I finally finished reading Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”  I plan to write several posts on this book, but today I want to ask a question that Rob raises, which in my opinion is quite important when discussing issues surrounding evangelism.  The question is: “Which Jesus?”

When People use the word “Jesus,” then, it’s important for us to ask who they’re talking about.

Are they referring to a token of tribal membership, a tamed, domesticated Jesus who waves the flag and promotes whatever values they have decided their nation needs to return to?

Are they referring to the supposed source of the imperial impulse of their group, which wants to conquer other groups “in the name of Jesus”?

Are they referring to the logo or slogan of their political, economic, or military system through which they sanctify their greed and lust for power?

Or are they referring to the very life source of the universe who has walked among us and continues to sustain everything with his love and power and grace and energy?

Jesus is both near and intimate and personal, and big and wide and transcendent.[1]

Which Jesus did you grow up with and which Jesus do you see portrayed to popular culture?  What does this quote bring to your mind?