“Until Jesus Is Enough”

Until Jesus is enough for you, no person or thing will ever be.

Steven Furtick

This meme may sound awfully right and satisfying to some, but I think it’s messed up. I think this was written from the point of view of somebody who doesn’t know Jesus very well. But let me start first by examining the “tone” of it.

It’s written as if to warn against greed or selfishness. It’s written as if to tisk-tisk the one who cannot be satisfied with what satisfies normal people. It’s written as if to shame those in the church who are dissatisfied with whatever they’re getting at church―or with whatever they are supposed (by the one writing the meme) to be getting from Jesus.

It’s written as if to get the complainer to back off a bit―as if hoping to get the still-seeking believer to ease off a notch or two―as if to counter the one who’s saying “there must be more to Christianity than this!”, and to encourage the others to pile on with their more-Spartan sensibilities. And I could see a circle of churches bonding together over this in a mentality that says “Let’s just gladly make do with what we have”.

But again, I don’t think they realize what they have. To me, it seems that they see Jesus simply as the one who saves them with his “amazing grace”, and now that they’ve got that checked off, they work to keep themselves contented with that and that alone from Jesus. But he is so much more.

Jesus is so much more!

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4. ESV.

So many are keen on Jesus “making purification for sins”, but don’t seem very impressed with all the other things he is―with all the other “hats” Jesus wears, so to speak. The way the NIV puts verse 3 has Jesus as “the exact representation of God”―and that’s the very God who said this:

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9. ESV.

But I don’t think that whoever would say something like what this meme says is spending much time in pursuit of God’s ways and God’s thoughts. I don’t think he’s feeling a sense of amazement over how awesome those ways and thoughts are―or else, he’s not connecting Jesus with those ways and thoughts, but simply has him as being that sacrifice “making purification for sins”, and little more. I don’t think such a person is taking very seriously the expectation of God that the believer is supposed to grow and mature and attain to “the fullness of Christ”:

until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Ephesians 4:13. ESV

No, instead, it seems that the author’s position is not one of being amazed with the fullness of Christ, nor of going after it.

About Infinity

Infinity is a mathematical concept, and is probably not the perfect term for talking about God and Jesus and their attributes. Given that, however, it may be useful to do so in this instance. That is to say that it may be useful to think of “infinity” when we try to get our hands around just how much more awesome God and Jesus are than we ourselves are, or can even grasp. And I don’t know what God would say if we were to ask him whether he’s simply “higher” in his ways and thoughts, or whether he’s infinitely higher. But let’s just suppose for the sake of argument that he would agree to the term, “infinitely higher”. If that were the case, then we could revisit this meme, and change the wording thus:

Until Jesus Infinity is enough for you, no person or thing will ever be.

If we put it in mathematical terms, it seems quite a silly statement, for who would not be satisfied with infinity? Now, we could shift here, and reinterpret this meme as not just talking about dissatisfied churchers, but about the insanity of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. indeed, for people like that, they never seem to be satisfied (for long) with the praise, gratitude, or respect they get from others―nor with their salaries or living situations―nor with their relationships―nor with their own emotions. I know some narcissists who go to church, but their problem is not that Jesus is not “enough for them”; rather, it’s that they can’t stand Jesus’ teachings about self-sacrifice and submission and obedience and humility and suffering. For some reason, they’re quite willing to take on the name of “Christian”, even though they actually hate Jesus’ real teachings.

Even so, I could see a meme like this being pointed at a narcissist―but if that is its intent, this is not obvious.

So that’s what makes me suspect it comes from someone with a low view of Jesus―from someone who would think something like this: “I know that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for my sins, and I’m really grateful for that, but when I find myself dissatisfied with my church life, I just have to remind myself to be grateful, no matter what.”

And for the record, I have nothing against gratitude. But I do note that such a person is not being amazed with the life, but jaded by it. Indeed, where is this spirit in such a person?”

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23. ESV.

The person who would say the thing I highlighted in gray above is not the same person would would write a line like the Lamentations quote above. No, the latter is one who is routinely amazed with things, and not one who’s trying diligently just to keep himself reasonably grateful.

Kay Butts In

So, as I’m sitting here typing, my wife, Kay butts in on Messenger. She had sent me out this morning to get her a “special coffee”―a Mint Mocha Breve, if I recall, from Mazevo a few blocks away. She says to me:

very sad. i’m getting to the bottom of my special “coffee”

Kay

And as she and I had already been discussing this “enough for you” meme above, I replied thus:

Until special coffee is enough for you, no person or thing will ever be.

Jack

Of course, with coffee, if it’s really all that important to have more, one could go get more. Right? Sure, it’s expensive, and one’s budget may be only so large, bug generally, one could probably arrange for more of it. Right?

But what’s the obstacle to getting more of Jesus? Really! If you got some of Jesus, say, this morning, what’s to keep you from getting more of him this afternoon, or perhaps tomorrow? Have you already gotten the whole of him, having exhausted his every line of teaching, and every bit of his wonderful example, with nothing left to be learned? And having lived this long, and obeyed him this many times, are you done with the living and obeying? Or is there not more to do?

Why not a meme that says:

“If Jesus isn’t enough for you, you haven’t gotten yourself enough Jesus.”

Or:

“If Jesus isn’t enough for you, you may not be considering the real Jesus.”

Or even:

“What makes you think you really understand Jesus if you’re finding your Christianity to be dissatisfying?”

The Churches

In my observation, most of the churches are in the business this meme seems to be in: keeping people satisfied with less than Jesus had in mind for them. They won’t obey all his commands, and they won’t pass on all his teachings to their members. They won’t seek out all his wisdom, or strive after all his example of self-sacrifice and submission to God. They’re simply not “all-in”, but deliberately give the impression that “all-in” is definitely the way to live. It’s empty rhetoric, and most of the members can be counted on to believe it, and even to repeat it. But it starts causing problems when they actually push the boundaries―when they dare to explore and probe and question, and seek more―when they try it for themselves and find out what the Psalmist knew:

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Psalm 34:8. ESV.

And let us notice that the author says “in him”, rather than “in the assembly”. They are not the same thing. And frankly, I think there’s a lot of conflation that goes on between “Jesus” and “The Church”. I think that a lot of people mistakenly assume that being devoted to “The Church” is the same as being devoted to Jesus―and that by simply “going to church”, they’re more than like going to get everything that Jesus has in mind for them to get―and that they’ll be obeying pretty much everything Jesus has in mind for them to be obeying.

But Jesus did from time to time express disappointment or even alarm at the fact that his disciples, even though still banded together in that small group, were not doing as well as they ought to have been doing by that time:

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see…”

Matthew 15:16-17a. NIV.

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?

John 3:9-10. NIV.

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 14:9. NIV.

¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” ¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

Matthew 17:16-18. NIV.

The tone of each of these encounters makes it seem like Jesus expected that they should have been doing better than they were―understanding better, knowing better, having better faith.

He was pushing them forward, to something more. He was pushing them to becoming like him:

It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.

Jesus. Matthew 10:25. NIV.

Is it not famously known that the imitation of Jesus was one of the goals in the original version of the religion we call Christianity? And so we see Jesus having to remind these disciples of his to get with the program, so to speak―to speed up the learning and the imitation, to become like him.

And let us pause for a moment to notice those glorious first three words in the verse above:

It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.

Jesus. Matthew 10:25. NIV.

Hmmm. “It is enough.” Is he saying what I think he’s saying? Is he saying that for those who actually become like him, it is “enough”? (Remember the meme: “Until Jesus is enough for you, no person or thing will ever be.”) If the very point of Jesus being here was to teach people to become like him, then, shouldn’t we pack that into the meme’s word, “Jesus”? That is, “Until becoming like Jesus is enough for you….” Or should we rather stick with the other part we already discussed: “Until Jesus’ atoning sacrifice is enough for you….”?

The fact of the matter is that Jesus came for both reasons, and not just the one: to make that sacrifice, and to bid all people to become like him. Many, I observe, tragically make a religion out of just the one, and not also the other. And it’s no wonder that they would find themselves dissatisfied, experiencing less than the whole of the intended experience. How tragic, then, if they should not go after the whole of it, but strive instead to be satisfied in an austere religion that has little to do but sit around being satisfied, and beyond that, little to strive for, to reach for, to be grasped―little to be amazed over, or to have one’s mind be stretched by something.

And if they should not come to that conclusion themselves―to attenuate their satisfaction by simply deciding to be satisfied with less than the whole of what Jesus intended―they will likely have friends who will suggest that very thing for them, perhaps even with this very meme.