Much of Christianity, inculcated in diverse and varied opinions about Jesus, has so drifted from gospel Christianity that it barely resembles the 1st century version of the faith. Current discussions of the God-Man Jesus Christ are dominated by a postmodern hermeneutic which gives license for any and all comers to cast their ballot and vote for their favorite Jesus candidate. One prevailing view in this milieu of conjecture is that Jesus was and is a "nice" guy. Unfortunately this is not a compliment. Nice, pleasant, cheerful, and cautious is not how Christianity broke onto the scene 2000 years ago. Christianity and the current version of Christ in our day causes most to give nothing more than a yawn in response. Of all that the Scripture says about Jesus, one thing he was never described as was "nice." The term "nice" originally meant silly or stupid. Today it means little more than vanilla, bland, and Melba-toast boring. If we as Christians hope to see any change in our cultural climate, we must articulate afresh the historic and biblical teaching of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The liberal form of the emerging church has all but abandoned the bloody cross and empty tomb because it is too unattractive and repulsive to sensitive postmodern ears. Most are offended that we would dare preach long and hard the reality and necessity of penal-substitutionary atonement. Unkind, unloving, intolerant, and brutish, seem to be the opinion that flows from academia as well as the current lay opinions within the church. A movie like The Passion of Christ is viewed as pornographic in its violence and receives the shrieks of horror from viewers. I find it ironic that slasher movies like Saw III and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit screens without a hitch, but a movie that dares to put to screen the horror and violence of the cross is labeled pornographic. We are such a fickle people. Yet what is needed is not more of the same bland platitudes which speak of a buddy Jesus. Rather, we should offer to this world the reality of a masculine Christ that is not safe or tame, but one who received the only proper response from those who would dare reject Him- hatred and crucifixion.

If we are to preach Christ crucified, we must also preach a Christ that opponents would see as worthy of crucifixion. It is a dangerous thing to speak and teach an unfelt cross. If Christ is to be rejected in our day, let it be for those things He was rejected for in His day, and not because we’re trying to pacify an already hyper-sensitive, politically-correct culture which cries for truth but openly rejects it. Dorothy Sayers puts this well when considering modern versions of Christ and Christianity:

The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore; on the contrary, they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him "meek and mild," and recommended Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.

To those who knew Him, however, He in no way suggested a milk-and-water person; they objected to Him as a dangerous firebrand. True, He was tender to the unfortunate, patient with the honest inquirers, and humble before Heaven; but He insulted respectable clergymen by calling them hypocrites, He referred to King Herod as "that fox"; He went to parties in disreputable company and was looked upon as a "gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners"; He assaulted indignant tradesmen and threw them and their belongings out of the Temple; He drove a coach-and-horse through a number of sacrosanct and hoary regulations; He cured disease by any means that came handy, with a shocking casualness in the matter of other people’s pigs and property; He showed no proper deference for wealth or social position.

Are we to spend our days on this earth passively trying to avoid sin rather than attempting great and glorious things for the One who is in the process of redeeming all things for His glory? Let’s not sit passively and live cautious, careful, nice lives. Let’s not speak of Christ as if we’re in a library or sipping tea in a parlor with well dressed grandmothers who desire to speak of pleasant things that go well with their decaffeinated citrus blends. If we play it safe, we may find that we have spent the best years of our life doing absolutely nothing of merit as we wait for our light to turn green so that we can escape this frightening world. Sure, you might be thought of as a "nice" guy, but don’t assume this has anything to do with being conformed into the image of Christ.