FROM THE MANUSCRIPT
In the author’s words
People say “follow Jesus” with urgency, but too often they do not mean, “Become humble like him.” They do not mean, “Love like him.” They do not mean, “Forgive like him.” They do not mean, “Examine yourself like he commanded.” They do not mean, “Lay down your ego.” They do not mean, “Serve.” They do not mean, “Be merciful.” They do not mean, “Become transformed.” Many times, what they really mean is this: Agree with my version of him. Submit to my doctrine about him. Accept my religious system. Fear what I fear. Repeat what I repeat. Join what I joined. Call my inheritance truth. And then they call that following Jesus. No. That is not following Jesus. That is inheriting someone else’s Jesus and mistaking surrender to their certainty for surrender to God. There is a difference between Jesus as a living spiritual confrontation and Jesus as a religious badge. There is a difference between Jesus as teacher and Jesus as weapon. There is a difference between Jesus who transforms the soul and Jesus who gets used to pressure the souls of others. There is a difference between following him and using him. And many people do not want that difference exposed. Because if it is exposed, then the question changes.
The God They Inherited, manuscript p. 325. Transcribed from the supplied manuscript; line breaks normalized.
The definition above is an editorial summary of this chapter, not a separately named theory or a claim of scientific proof.