We’ve all experienced conversations where we’re talking about one thing with someone and they think we’re talking about something totally different.
A couple of months ago, I was going to help someone at our church move. We agreed to meet at the Name Brand Storage in town at 10:00. I was at the storage place on time, but no one else was there. I waited for some time then decided to check. There were two Name Brand Storages in town. I was at the wrong one. Had I listened more closely to where we were going to meet and heard the correct address, I would not have ended up late and red faced.
Sometimes talking with someone about the Lord is the like that. We think we both understand what the other is saying, but the truth is we don’t. When you ask a cultist, “Do you know Jesus?” you’ll often hear, “My church teaches that we have to know Jesus to have eternal life,” or something similar. That sounds very mainstream, but the truth is they define Who Jesus is as Someone very different than the Bible does. There is another Jesus, a another Spirit, and another gospel. Paul warns us of this in 2 Cor. 11:3-4. If you have the wrong Jesus, you’re wrong enough to lose your soul.
To Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is the Archangel Michael who is God’s first and greatest creation. To Mormons, He’s one God among many gods. To the United Pentecostal Church, He’s just one Hat that the one Person called God wears. So, be careful how you define your terms. A simple, “Who is Jesus to you?” will often reveal the difference, but not always.
When I talk with someone like I’ve described and they tell me they worship a different Jesus, I’ll ask them a series of short questions:
- If a man were to worship a tree, would you call him a Christian?
- If a man cut down the tree and carved it into the shape of an idol and worshipped it, would you call Him a Christian?
- If the man brought the idol into his house and worshipped it, would you call him a Christian?
- If he renamed the tree, “Jesus,” would he be a Christian?
Of course, the answer to each of these is, “no,” but it helps focus on the problem. Just because you worship someone or something called, “Jesus,” doesn’t mean the Jesus you worship is the Jesus of the Bible, The Almighty God, second Person of the Trinity.
So, it’s good to check out what you’re talking about. Define terms early in your discussion, and you are much less likely to walk away red faced.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 
So I have a question for you Mike. Why is it that nowadays people don’t understand the concept that if you believe in Jesus it has to be the true Jesus. I have tried to warn friends, even had discussions with family members and they just think I’m too analytical and I need a chill pill. What is wrong with Christians nowadys? Your post this time has been my calling for the last 5 years, concerned for believers who are so myopic that they think all you need to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and if your Jesus is a bit different than mine, who cares.
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Hi Les,
I think it’s just the same old thing. Walter Martin used to say, “The next best thing to a lost soul is a sterile Christian.” If these people have the wrong understanding of Who Jesus is, they may well be wrong enough to lose their souls. As you know, Christianity isn’t just fire insurance, it is a relationship with Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. I was like the folks you describe for five years before I met the Lord. I thought I was a Christian. I thought Christianity, church, was little more than just a club that good people belonged to, and if I wanted to be a good person, I needed to belong, too. Then God opened my eyes through reading the Kingdom of the Cults which described salvation as giving control of my life over to Jesus Christ. As you know, I struggled with the idea of having someone else control my life, but God didn’t give up on me and wrestled with me for six months before I finally gave in.
It could be your friends and family have the same view of Christianity as I did. It’s a club for some, a tradition for others, and what you consider yourself simply because you’re an American. Lots of reasons not to take it seriously, but I’m not sure how to break through. I just keep plugging. As I used to write up on the white board at church, “It’s not our job to save people, just to inform them.” The Father draws (drags us sometimes) them, the Son saves them, and the Holy Spirit fills them. Pray and share is all we can do and all we’re told to do. I know it’s a heartbreak to see loved ones reject the Truth, but we never know what God is doing in their hearts.
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