Religion doesn't get it - updated

If you asked ten people from ten different denominations identifying themselves as "Christian" to Describe Jesus, you'd get at least twenty-six different answers.

All of us have at least some ideas about Jesus, right?

Traditionalists might start off describing Jesus as a gentle-faced, bearded man in glowing white robes standing at the pearly gates with organ music playing in the background, his hands benevolently extended toward us not just as a gesture of welcome but also to remind us of the nail scars in his hands.

Strict fundamentalists might depict Jesus as a wild-eyed, wrathful judge scowling down at us between thunder clouds from heaven. Their version hints He's Just About Had It With Us ... for the last 2000 years ... and the time's long overdue before he rains down fire upon sinners, the unrighteous, the wicked and especially the misled (who have tattoos and play rock music in church).

There's just something satisfying in having smug confidenence that one day, all the sinners are gonna get theirs in hell- and boy will they ever be sorry for not paying attention to us.

Universalist folks might tell us Jesus was a good man, a wise teacher, a real regular guy who kinda sorta maybe misunderstood what he was all about, that was the problem, and got himself killed for no good reason. Their Jesus understands and empathizes with us ... he's cool with everything, because he's a silly-faced big fraternity brother in heaven who'd never condemn anyone to spend eternity roasting in hell, even if such a place really existed.

They might even shrug off the resurrection and imply that Jesus was just like us, no more divine or the literal Son of God than you or me.

Jesus as Jerry Garcia?

Other, more "politically conscious" churches with their roots in the turbulent 1960s see Christ as a social revolutionary and activist whose message was geared toward class warfare and ending economic oppression of the masses.

But which of those perspectives comes closest to grasping what Jesus is really like?

Seems each description skewers What Christ Was Like to specifically conform to an exact (whether it's traditional or universalist) religious criteria existing more or less independent of scripture.

Because none of them mention What Christ Is Like. Nor do they tell us much about how Christ lives inside those who've placed their faith in him. And having a relationship with the Creator of the universe through Jesus Christ is hardly ever mentioned, as though the Messiah lost interest, packed his bags and forgot all about us soon as he ascended back into heaven.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
-Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

I wonder when so-called "Christian religions" became arrogant ... man-made for man's benefit ... and why faith in Christ and a relationship with the living God isn't enough to satisfy the folks who think we need, and can work to give ourselves, anything more than God's eternal promise. 1 Corinthians 15:57

Our faith is not based on man-made religion ... it's about our relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ.