There are a lot of Christians – well-meaning people – that have created a totem Jesus. This totem Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. The totem Jesus tolerates sin to the point it becomes justified in the concept of “God knows, I am only human…” David, the author of the Psalms, understood that following after the Messiah of the Bible meant that he must accept God’s invitation on God’s terms: I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me (Psalms 101:3). As a child of God, we should always be on the watch for the totem-Jesus that others worship, lest we fall into the same trap. A continuation of this context can be found through the writings of the prophet Samuel, And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain (I Samuel 12:20-21). Many Christians would never dare to worship Buddha, Hari Krishna, or Muhammad, yet they subtly create a totem-Jesus. This easily happens when we are flesh-focused instead of focusing solely on Christ.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus taught all that would listen, No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13). The problem is that too many Christians want to continue to live in the world so they begin to transform the Jesus in the Bible into a Jesus that more resembles their spiritual needs and without the spiritual convictions associated with the life that Christ calls us to live. The totem-Jesus does not judge and is seen as having an infinite ability to forgive, to the extend he even forgives without being asked to forgive. This totem-Jesus always leads to the same result: For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another (Titus 3:3). Although this verse is a warning for Christians not to see themselves as better than the lost world, it still shows that even as Christians, we struggle with these very things as we still have to deal with the sinful nature of our flesh. The apostle Paul wrote, Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (II Corinthians 4:10-11). It must be that we seek to crucify our flesh each day – cut of its sinful desires and lusts – so that we can show evidence of the Lord Jesus Christ that reigns within. We have to be willing to resist sin, resist corruption, and resist creating totems. We must worship and follow Jesus – the Jesus of the Bible and not of our own creation.
So, who exactly is this Jesus of the Bible? The Bible tells us exactly who Jesus is: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16); I and my Father are one (John 10:30); Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6);There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God (I Samuel 2:2); I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32); Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8); Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12:6-7). But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:15-19).
He is one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He’s the same holy God of the Old Testament, and is the same from everlasting to Everlasting. In all his might and holiness he still has the ability to know the most intimate details of our life. He is the one true God, and only through him, we are justified through His death on the cross. I challenge you to take a moment and think about the Jesus you worship – is he a totem or is he the Jesus from the Bible?
