Jesus Ain't Yo' Boyfriend!

A culture of faith that is weighted primarily towards the emphasis of the individual usually leads to a higher view of the individual and a lower view of God. The individual is actually misled because he or she is removed from the context in which they were intended to function.

Many of the terms that the New Testament uses to describe Christ’s relationship to us are plural, rather than singular. The idea of an individual relationship with God was non-existent in Jewish culture prior to Christ. And even to this day, this is one of the central problems that many faithful Jews have with Christians. Before orthodox Jews can read the scriptures or pray publicly, they must have a group of ten gathered (a minyan). In their relationship with God, there is still an overwhelming sense of the individual’s context in community.

We who follow Jesus are described by scripture in corporate terms such as the ‘Body’ or the ‘Bride’ of Christ (Romans 12, I Cor. 12, Revelation 19), and there are many promises from Christ to the corporate Body. But what is true for the whole may not be accurate to describe the part. When you hear of a couple who are in love and are planning on getting married, you don’t hear the man describe how captivated he is with the cell that is found in the lower tibia of his bride-to-be. Instead you hear of his love for all of her-for the whole. The cell of the tibia gets to be a part of the love of the bridegroom because it is a part of the whole body.

You and I are merely individual cells in the worldwide body of Christ. We have a part to play and a function inside the body, but I am not the body, I am merely a part of the body. A cell is nothing but useless if it is cut off from its supply of oxygen, waste removal, blood and food. But inside an organ, each cell performs a valuable part of a function that keeps the body healthy. This is our context; this is where we find ourselves described in New Testament terms.

Somehow we have lost our context. Somehow we have been led to believe that Jesus can be described as a “boyfriend” by a single Christian sister. Somehow we have romanticized the Love of Christ into filling a void and taking a role that Jesus never promised to fulfill. He declared that He loved the Body. The Body of Christ, which is a plurality of all, is who He is returning to rescue. The Marriage Supper isn’t for me, it is for the Bride, and I am merely a cell in the Body of His Bride. I am loved by Him, and I am saved by Him, but I need to remember my context.

I say this because our Christian sub-culture has been packaging Jesus in ways that Scripture never describes. There is reason to be concerned when Jesus, who was poor and homeless as he ministered here on the earth, becomes a Savior who promises us financial gain. There is reason to be concerned when we ignore our greed and covetousness while we judge others for shortcomings that fall in other areas. Something inside us should be shaken to the core when we as a corporate church declare the sanctity of life for the unborn but forget to care for that same life once the person is born.

Jesus doesn’t merely have a personal relationship with us. He also has a corporate relationship with His people. Everything is corporate with God; the individual is always part of the greater group. God didn’t create a planet, he created solar systems. God didn’t create a species, He fashioned entire ecosystems. Even God is triune, in community with Himself. Sometimes we forget and focus on only one aspect of the Trinity, just as we forget and focus only on “Jesus and me.” By focusing too heavily on the individual, we miss the value in the holiness of corporate relationship with our God.

When we think it’s “just me and God,” we must remember the prophet that tried to pull that line on his God (I Kings 19, Romans 11:2-5). As Elijah lamented that he was the only one who was left to truly follow, God rebuked him and put him in his place. God declared that there were seven thousand others in Israel that hadn’t worshiped another god, in order to teach Elisha that he was part of the corporate. God dealt with Elisha as an individual, but Elisha had forgotten his part in the Body.

If you have forgotten your part in the community relationship that God has with His people, I implore you to repent of your pride and embrace all those who are serving, worshiping and following Christ. These are your brothers and sisters, and by forgetting God’s relationship with them as well, you have lifted yourself up above them. Rather, consider others higher than yourself, and serve one another. And then you will rejoice in your relationship with God through the Body, knowing that in some way you will be part of the promise. When Christ is seen as Savior, it’s hard for any individual to claim Him as boyfriend. The corporate is the context.