Dear Jerusalem Perspective neighbors,
Lately I’ve been asked by several people, “Now that you’ve assumed leadership, what’s your vision for JP?” Our recent tributes to David Bivin have been an opportunity to reflect on his life’s work and how I intend to carry it forward.
As I thought about my vision for JP, I realized I can’t separate that vision from my understanding of Jesus. For me, who Jesus is determines what my vision for JP should be.
So how do I view Jesus? Even this question can be answered from a few different angles. There is, of course, the understanding of Jesus advocated by Jerusalem Perspective as a faithful Jew of the Second Temple period. That is an historical view of Jesus I profoundly agree with. But there is also an understanding of who Jesus is today. This view of Jesus is informed more by my experience in various forms of ministry than by academic study.
In my view Jesus is, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, a uniting figure who brings together people from all walks of life. Most people, I find, have a positive view of Jesus, and this friendly attitude toward Jesus is often independent of a person’s view of Christianity. I’ve known many people who want nothing to do with the Church or organized religion who still think well of Jesus.
I’ve worked in drug rehabilitation centers where addicts who have exchanged sex for drugs knew to the core of their being that Jesus was their advocate and friend. I’ve known people with developmental disabilities who were institutionalized their entire lives and whose vocabulary was limited to a few words who knew that Jesus loved them. In fact, in one of my darkest moments, after I’d been driven out of pastoral ministry and before David asked me to come work for JP, it was the resident of a group home who reminded me that Jesus loves me! I’ve been to Bob Dylan concerts with aging hippies who, learning that I was in seminary or in ministry, said, “Jesus is cool with me!” And working as a C.N.A. at the nursing home, I’ve seen dying people cling to Jesus as their lives slipped away.
It’s not just practicing Christians and secular people in a Christian society who find common ground with Jesus. Because Jesus was Jewish he can be, and often is, a uniting figure for Christians and Jews. If Christians look at Jesus as a savior, Jews can at least look at him as a brother. And that common goodwill toward Jesus can help bring us together.
I think there is an even deeper reason why Jesus can be a uniting figure, and that’s because of his message of universal neighborly love. By healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and speaking words of welcome to outsiders, Jesus demonstrated with his actions what he meant when he taught about loving one’s neighbor as oneself. Jesus believed that it was through neighborly love that human beings could most fully show love and reverence for our Creator, and he believed that through acting on neighborly love the whole of creation would be redeemed. It’s hard to find fault with a message like that.
When I try to envision what JP can be and should be, that vision is tied to my understanding of Jesus as a unifier, a peacemaker, a friend. My hope is that Jerusalem Perspective can be a type of “neighborhood” in which all people interested in Jesus, no matter their country, creed, or color, can learn more about his life and teachings, the origins of the Gospels, and the ancient world from which they came.
I believe that if JP can serve this function, then all the different types of people who find themselves drawn to Jesus will be better equipped to show neighborly love to one another and to those outside the circle of JP’s neighborhood. By thus enabling readers to become better neighbors, JP will be doing its part to contribute to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Such visions are meaningless, however, if they don’t have practical implementation. One way I intend for JP to become a better neighbor is to open up more of JP’s older content to be free for all readers who sign up for a Basic Membership. That way, we won’t be keeping the message in, we’ll be sending it out.
My hope, of course, is that people who are drawn in will like what they find and want to support our vision by signing up for a Premium JP Membership or even a Friend of JP Membership, because without membership support JP can’t meet its financial needs. But JP won’t be worthy of support if it’s not living up to the vision of encouraging neighborliness through writing and talking and thinking about Jesus, the unity-maker.
Sincerely,
Joshua N. Tilton, editor
Jerusalem Perspective, LLC
