Jesus is NOT my homeboy!

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St.Eric

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Jesus is NOT my homeboy!
(He is GOD)

I saw that on a shirt the other day and LOVED it! I am really tired of the current Christian-Pop-Culture that equates Jesus as a “buddy”. Christ is our King and savior and not our homie. If Christ appreared today- you can bet we will be prostrate on our faces before him and not using street slang and slapping him with “high-fives”.

Were has the respect, reverence, and solemnity gone? I pledge to do my part to bring it back. Amen.
 
That’s a wonderful reminder.

I heard a song about “J.C.” it was for the teen crowd, I guess.
I thought that was a tad to “homeboyish”…J.C. and me…my savior J.C. :eek:
 
Jesus is my best friend and as such requires my deepest respect and love, but not only is He my best friend He is my Lord and God and as such this demands my reverance, love and worship.

What has gone wrong with the homie business is that in an effort to appeal to the kids it omits that Jesus is not only best friend above all friends, but He is also God.

No greater friend can man have than the friendship of God; this puts all reverance and awe in it’s correct place whilst Love allows us to make bold gestures of love and live an intimate open friendship with our Lord by His grace.
 
blessedstar said:
Jesus is my best friend and as such requires my deepest respect and love, but not only is He my best friend He is my Lord and God and as such this demands my reverance, love and worship.

What has gone wrong with the homie business is that in an effort to appeal to the kids it omits that Jesus is not only best friend above all friends, but He is also God.

No greater friend can man have than the friendship of God; this puts all reverance and awe in it’s correct place whilst Love allows us to make bold gestures of love and live an intimate open friendship with our Lord by His grace.
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For better or worse, my current RCIA class is giving the Catechumans that basic idea of Jesus as a best friend who is huggy-wuggy lovey-dovey. The opinion seems to be that is is the best way to get them to accept Jesus, and you can work on the God part later.

In my case, by basic attitude towards Jesus is based on the cover of the Divine Mercy CD I pray to every day. A rathher stern Jesus, not at all smiling. Why should he? He has stated what he wants VOLUNTEERS to do on a daily basis concerning the Divine Mercy Novena and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Bring him souls, pray as directed. Come back tomorrow for more. See you at your death as a way of saying thanks
 
I have been blessed with truly great people for my parents and grandparents. What I have learned from them is that deep deep respect and awe of a person can be combined with real intimacy and familiarity. Not of the ‘homeboy’ variety, but genuine nonetheless.

This is what I also bring to my relationship with the Father and Jesus. After all, they know us intimately - there is nothing we do and nowhere we go that is outside their presence. I don’t think they mind the occasional familiarity - after all, St Teresa of Avila used to pray on the can.

But the ‘homeboy’ image diminishes Jesus.
 
Andruschak said:
For better or worse, my current RCIA class is giving the Catechumans that basic idea of Jesus as a best friend who is huggy-wuggy lovey-dovey. The opinion seems to be that is is the best way to get them to accept Jesus, and you can work on the God part later.

In my case, by basic attitude towards Jesus is based on the cover of the Divine Mercy CD I pray to every day. A rathher stern Jesus, not at all smiling. Why should he? He has stated what he wants VOLUNTEERS to do on a daily basis concerning the Divine Mercy Novena and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Bring him souls, pray as directed. Come back tomorrow for more. See you at your death as a way of saying thanks
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There could be some merit to this approach you cite in your RCIA class. When I was a born-again protestant, I too had the luvey-duvey, homeboy, what would Jesus do, and would Jesus wear a rolex, mentality. As I have grown in my faith journey, and eventually crossed the Tiber and found the fullness of the Christian truth, my relationship with and image of Jesus has changed. From that homeboy to an awe-inspiring Father, King, and Savior. I liken it to my relationship with my children here on earth. I have a very intimate relationship with them, I am their Father, their leader, their confidant, their spiritual director, but I am NOT their buddy.
 
LilyM said:
… After all, they know us intimately - there is nothing we do and nowhere we go that is outside their presence. I don’t think they mind the occasional familiarity - after all, St Teresa of Avila used to pray on the can.

But the ‘homeboy’ image diminishes Jesus…
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I think there is a profound humility in praying at times we are most vulnerable…like on the can…I usually pray while I am in the shower! After, pray always and everywhere! Remeber, during the particular judgement, we will be standing naked, alone, before God. Better pratice now! 😃
 
Perhaps there is some merit in both points of view. I feel, as many of you seem to, the Christ Jesus is my King, and I should treat him as such. To him every knee will bend, and mine he will not have to force.

But at the same time I see things like this:

Mathew 12: 46-50
46 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.
47 (Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”)
48 But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

So perhaps it’s not a matter of one or the other.
 
Stephen_Butler said:
Perhaps there is some merit in both points of view. I feel, as many of you seem to, the Christ Jesus is my King, and I should treat him as such. To him every knee will bend, and mine he will not have to force.

But at the same time I see things like this:

Mathew 12: 46-50
46 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.
47 (Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”)
48 But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

So perhaps it’s not a matter of one or the other.
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This is a good point and in light of what you see on peoples’ shirts these days if someone wearing the Jesus shirt is reverent and has a good faith I don’t think I would frown on them – I do of course esteem Jesus on the highest level I can imagine but he is also very close. He is God and man; Lord and the best friend that laid down his life for us.
 
Amateur_Soul said:
He is God and man; Lord and the best friend that laid down his life for us.
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Beautifully said.🙂

Too far either way is not a balanced relationship with the Lord.

If we only see Jesus as King and God then we are at risk of distancing ourselves from Him seeing Him like a king of this world, which He is not like a king of this world, He is meek and humble of heart. The relationship with God in this scenario is excessively fearful, lacks love, is legalistic and remote which can be a great temptation to pride which opens up the door to temptation to all other sins.

If we only see Jesus as a man and best friend then in our human weakness we are at risk of taking Him for granted and exercising a familiarity with Him. We can never be too intimate with Jesus, we are called to the deepest union with Him, but we cannot enter here by an arrogant familiarity that lacks all due reverance and awe because this lacks love. Here we are at risk of seeing Him as a peer rather than our Master which can be a great temptation to sloath and disobedience which opens up the door to many temptations and excusing of our’self’.

But both seeing Jesus as God and best friend makes the relationship with Jesus both an intimate friendship that is awefilled and reverant; here true humility is found.

When we are Christ-centered we then also possess respect for our brothers and sisters as we always are respectful of their image and likeness of God and the indwelling of the Truine God; we see the face of Christ in each other. We also acknowledge our weak humanity, that we are all sinners and this makes us merciful instead of legalistic, humble instead of pride-filled, small instead of puffed-up, kind instead of harsh etc, in other words it increases virtue in each other. This keeps at rights our friendships and relationships with others and increases love for each other by God’s grace.
 
continued

Having said this, as another poster rightly pointed out, we cannot know the state of others souls nor can we be judge, so if someone takes the ‘homie’ approach we do not know they lack reverance, awe and love of God, really we are making presumptions and pre-judging of which we have no right to do and more than this we set ourselves up as judge and god of our fellow sinners, this severely lacks love and we will find we are judged with the same harshness by God.

Considering this then and our profound weakness we would be better to think those and all others better than ourselves and to think of ourselves as the least, because no man is better than another as we have all done evil, we have all sinned, so as the Holy Trinity eternally defer in Love to each other so we should constantly defer to each other praising God for each others talents and good works and placing ourselves last before each other so that no man is first, but Love is first.

No man can claim the Law as their righteousness as all men fall short of the Law, Christ Jesus is our righteousness and His Name is Love and He is Love, merciful, kind, generous, humble, self-sacrificing, meek, friend, Master, Servant and all of the aforementioned describe His Authority as Best of Friends, Father above all fathers and King and Lord.
 
Jesus taught us to call God “Father”.

Well, I’m a mother, not a father, but there were times when my children told me they didn’t love me, usually when I was dispensing “justice”. They were made to understand that they might not ‘love’ me, but they did have to respect me.

I am reminded of the apostle John who was Jesus’ cousin and ‘hung-out’ with Him for many years, probably most of his life. Talk about Jesus being *his *homeboy!

When he had a vision of Jesus (Revelations) John “…fell down at His feet like a dead man…”

I rather imagine that when I eventually see Christ in all His risen glory and finally realise the horrendous price He paid for my redemption I am going to be, not only speechless but, so horribly conscious of my sinfulness and utter unworthiness.
 
blessedstar said:
Beautifully said.🙂
**
Too far either way is not a balanced relationship with the Lord. **

If we only see Jesus as King and God then we are at risk of distancing ourselves from Him seeing Him like a king of this world, which He is not like a king of this world, He is meek and humble of heart. The relationship with God in this scenario is excessively fearful, lacks love, is legalistic and remote which can be a great temptation to pride which opens up the door to temptation to all other sins.

If we only see Jesus as a man and best friend then in our human weakness we are at risk of taking Him for granted and exercising a familiarity with Him. We can never be too intimate with Jesus, we are called to the deepest union with Him, but we cannot enter here by an arrogant familiarity that lacks all due reverance and awe because this lacks love. Here we are at risk of seeing Him as a peer rather than our Master which can be a great temptation to sloath and disobedience which opens up the door to many temptations and excusing of our’self’.

But both seeing Jesus as God and best friend makes the relationship with Jesus both an intimate friendship that is awefilled and reverant; here true humility is found.
Click to expand...
Now THAT was beautifully said! 🙂
 
St.Eric said:
I think there is a profound humility in praying at times we are most vulnerable…like on the can…I usually pray while I am in the shower! After, pray always and everywhere! Remeber, during the particular judgement, we will be standing naked, alone, before God. Better pratice now! 😃
Click to expand...
All I can say is this: I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this!👍
 
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