I have been in a state of mental unrest for the past few days. I have been sort of disturbed; I am unsure exactly as to why, but I will try to explain. This ailment has come due to several different opinions that expressed what people thought Christ was like. Some were visual -- Jesus had short/long hair, dark/light skin, beard, etc. Others made claims to his political stances -- Jesus was a socialist, Jesus gave free healthcare, Jesus was anti-war, etc.
I will be the first in line to admit that I don't know every corner of the Bible by memory. I can search and find answers with relative ease, but when it comes to actually knowing the Bible (as we "know" our parents), there is certainly room for improvement. That being said, I am just not connecting the dots from the Bible to these claims being made. I am unable to find textual reference to the physical or political characteristics of the Savior.
As an advocate of capitalism, it doesn't rest easy that someone is telling me things such as "Jesus looked at competitors with disdain, and took away to give to those less fortunate for equality's sake." I agree that Jesus had/has sympathy for the poor and calls us to readily give without limits. But to say (for an absurd example) that Jesus is a Tea Partier?... I'm not buying it. It is too much of a stretch to make such assumptions based on tendencies in His treatment of others.
My position is as follows, based on my understanding (or lack thereof): (a) Christ refrained from being caught up in such worldly things like politics, and (b) perhaps the Bible chose to omit a physical description because such things cause us to divert our focus away from the important aspects of Christ. His two commands to us are (1) Love God with everything you have, and (2) love everyone as you love yourself. Luke 10:27.
What I have noticed is that we have a tendency to mold Christ into what we think He is, in a manner favorable to our own contentions. Christ, in our minds, should not be perceived in a certain way because that is what happens to comport with our lifestyle. Now to keep myself in check, I have to consider the possibility that I may not be right, and that Jesus may not have been the things that make me comfortable. But it's not about conforming His life to ours -- it is about modeling our lives after His.
