Everything That's On My Mind

I've been tagged and also chastised, deservedly so I suppose. For those of you new to reading blogs, a "tag" is a set of questions that one blogger answers and then "tags" their blogging friends to do the same. I've seen this one bouncing around different blogs, so this tagging wasn't entirely unexpected.

1. I dig that Jesus is deep. (Pun most sincerely intended.) When Jesus taught, he didn't wrap everything up into a nice, simple three point "how-to" sermon. He didn't over-simplify things just to grab people's attention. If something he taught was challenging, He allowed his audience to work at understanding. He wanted His disciples to wonder, to ask question, to develop their understanding gradually. Jesus didn't lower himself to the lowest common denominator, he raised the common denominator.
2. I dig that Jesus is common. I love that Jesus is a regular guy. God did not send him to earth to a family of privilege. He didn't attend the best schools and learn from all the best teachers. He didn't dwell in ivory towers teaching the elite. He was a common, working class guy who taught and served common people. He didn't seek to change the world through influencing the powerful and learned. He basically invented the grassroots campaign.
3. I dig that Jesus is direct. Jesus never pulls his punches. When something needed to be said, he said it. He was never intentionally antagonistic or abrasive, but he didn't soften what needed to be said. In every situation, he spoke the truth in just the right form and with just the right intensity. An amazing trait.
4. I dig that Jesus is patient. Even a cursory reading of the gospels reveals the disciples to be inconsistent, petty, short-sighted, and faithless. Yet through it all, Jesus never tossed them aside for a better bunch. He patiently allowed them to grow and develop into the men that would establish his church. Fortunately, he is still just as patient today. If he wasn't so patient I'd be in big, big trouble.
5. I dig that Jesus is alive. OK, so I'll end with the obvious one. Jesus isn't a hero, a philosopher, an icon, a revolutionary, or a martyr...he's God-made-flesh, crucified and raised to life eternal. He's not the ideal man to be emulated, he is the son of God who created us and, thank God, is re-creating us each day.

So now I'm supposed to tag five bloggers, but I don't think there are five other bloggers reading this. Bob and Corrine, consider yourselves tagged. Anyone else who's reading this but doesn't have a blog, feel free to leave your five in the comments.