Another

In Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia he famously warns against "another gospel" which, he warns, is not a gospel (Gal 1:6-9). Let's just say he's against it. Paul also talks about a "different gospel" in his second letter to the church at Corinth (2 Cor 11:4). In that same verse, Paul warns against "another Jesus." Now that's an interesting concept, isn't it? I mean, how many "Jesuses" can there be? As it turns out, there can be quite a few. As it turns out "another Jesus" is actually prevalent in our world today.

We have Jesus -- the one in the Bible, the one Paul refers to as "the one we proclaimed" (2 Cor 11:4) -- and we have "another Jesus," a host of options that bear the name but contradict the biblical Jesus. In the Bible, for instance, Jesus is God's "only Son" (John 3:16). One prominent group today has a Jesus that is God's spirit son and the spirit brother of Satan. Sorry. You claim to be a follower of Jesu, but that's another Jesus. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was God (John 1:1), that He made all things, and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). There is a group that argues that Jesus was made, a created being, which is fine for them, but is not the Jesus of the Bible. That's another Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible was concerned for the poor and the marginalized, but He said He came to save the lost (Luke 19:10). When the disciples were miffed because money that could be given to the poor was wasted, Jesus said, "You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me" (Matt 26:11), demonstrating that He cared about the poor, but that was not His primary focus. There are lots of folk who argue that Jesus was all about social justice and the moment they say "all about," they introduce another Jesus, not the one in the Bible. Some hold that He came to show us a better way; He said He came to "Lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15). He showed a better way, but Jesus came primarily to die for sin, and if their Jesus is not that Jesus, it is another Jesus.

The list could go on. There are lots and lots of Jesuses. And that can make it confusing. "Well," they will tell us, "the guy said he believed in Jesus," never realizing that the Jesus he said he believed in was another Jesus. We hang onto the name and fail to grasp who is behind it. Sometimes it's an angel of light. And we are too willing to embrace another Jesus and another gospel as if they are genuine, to our detriment.