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How Jesus Got Demoted in His Own Religion

How Jesus Got Demoted in His Own Religion

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 What’s in this Newsletter:Christianity is fracturing under the weight of 40,000 denominations, burned-out leaders, and mass exodus — and most diagnoses focus on the symptoms while missing the root cause. In this episode, I’ll make the case that the real crisis is a stolen microphone: Jesus, the founder and only true authority of the faith, has been systematically subordinated by 2,000 years of brilliant but competing voices. If you've ever sensed that something is deeply off in modern Christianity but couldn't name it, this episode will give you the diagnosis — and point toward the only cure.There’s a moment in the Gospels that should settle forever the position Jesus should have in our lives.Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration, radiating the glory of God. Moses and Elijah appear beside Him. And Peter—good old Peter—starts nervously yammering about building shrines for these holy men, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing.And then the Father interrupts. A voice from heaven shouts: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”Not “Listen to Moses.” Not “Listen to Elijah.” Not “Listen to the prophets” or “Listen to the religious leaders.”“Listen to Him.” To Jesus. Alone.But here’s what’s happened over the last 2,000 years: we’ve stopped listening to Him alone. We’ve added other voices. Lots of other voices. Important voices. Brilliant voices. Voices that have shaped Christianity for centuries.The Apostles. Paul. The Church Fathers. Medieval theologians. The Reformers. Denominational founders. Celebrity pastors. Theologians. Authors. Podcasters. And in listening to all that noise, Jesus has been reduced from THE voice to ONE voice among many.He’s become an elective rather than the core curriculum. A consultant rather than the CEO. One opinion among thousands.And that’s the root of our crisis.Today, we’re beginning Act II: The Noise. My goal is that we will start paying attention to the noise. We will notice the noise and decide to silence it. We start here: with how Jesus went from being the singular teaching authority to being subordinated by a chorus of competing voices.RecapWelcome back to the Grounded podcast and this season’s focus “reJesus everything.” In case you’re just joining us, in Act I, we explored the pain of the current faith crisis. We acknowledged that millions are leaving the church, that people may be drawn to Jesus but repelled by Christianity, that even ministry leaders are burning out from running the machine, we’ve all inherited, and that having convictions and living by them will come at a cost today.Our Next EpisodesIn this section we’re going to diagnose the problem. Because pain without diagnosis is just suffering. So over the next six episodes, we’re going to look honestly at what’s gone wrong so we can fix it. And it starts here: Jesus has been subordinated. Despite all of our songs and nice words about him, he’s no longer the central authority of Christianity. He’s one voice among many. And when there are multiple voices claiming authority, you get chaos which leads to fracturing. Today we have 40,000 versions of Christianity.Let’s trace how this happened. In the Beginning, There Was One VoiceWhen Jesus walked the earth, there was no confusion about who had authority.Jesus spoke, and people listened. He didn’t quote other rabbis to establish His credibility. He didn’t build elaborate theological systems. He didn’t defer to the religious authorities of His day.He simply said, “You have heard it said... but I say to you.” That phrase—”but I say to you”—was revolutionary. It was scandalous. Because Jesus was claiming authority above all other voices, an authority that belonged to God alone.The religious leaders noticed this. They said, “Who does this man think he is? By what authority does he say these things?” And Jesus’ answer was clear: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Not some authority. Not shared authority. All authority.When Jesus taught, He spoke with clarity and simplicity:- “Follow me.”- “Love your enemies.”- “Seek first the kingdom of God.”- “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”- “If you love me, you will obey my commands.”There was no theological maze. No complex systematized theology. No endless debates about predestination or free will or the role of women, or the nature of the atonement. Just Jesus. One voice. Clear. Authoritative. Uncluttered. His sheep hear His voice. And for a brief moment in history, that’s all there was. Jesus and His disciples. The Teacher and His students. The Shepherd and His sheep.But then Jesus ascended. And other voices began to speak. And that’s where things started to get complicated. The first of the new voices belong to the Apostles. Peter, James, John, and others were personally trained and discipled by Jesus himself for almost four years. He ...
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