Philip Leon Brown

Jesus In America Philip Leon Brown

Have you wondered where Jesus would go and what he would do if he were alive today? Would he lead a congregation of thousands and reach around the world with his media empire? Would he be the head of a religious collective charging people to attend seminars at his retreat? Or would he be a traveling evangelist, scheduling stadiums and making media appearances to stir up attendance?Jesus might do a little of all of those things, considering he was not afraid of big crowds or confronting social norms. That was not his focus in the Bible, though. What he did was move from town to town meeting specific people and takimg care of their needs. He would go to local churches if he were invited, but stood up to their hypocrisy and was frequently chased out by angry mobs. Jesus spent most of his time out in the country preaching to people who traveled on foot from the nearest towns. Sometimes he spent the night with friends, but he frequently chose a stranger to stay with. He was not concerned with what others thought of him, spending time people of any profession and treating women as equals. He ate and drank what was offered to the point of being called a glutton and drunk. Most importantly, Jesus met the needs of the person he was with. When he chose someone to spend time with, he met their specific needs before he left. That ranged from healing people he walked by, to giving inner peace to the Samaritan women, to raising Lazarus from the dead. We do not know everything he did, because John 21:25 says there were too many things to write down. If the thought of Jesus running around the United States is a little too far out there for you, you can look at this book as expanding the vision of the church by asking two questions. The first question is, "Who is my neighbor?" By presenting short stories about people who live within a few miles of you, you may be exposed to situations that make you more aware and possibly uncomfortable. The second question asked is, "What would Jesus do?" Would Jesus drive by these people and pretend they do not exist like we do, or would he stop the car and get involved in their lives? There are questions at the end of each story to help you consider how you think about the group in each story, and if it is really the Christian way to think about them.