Jesus Only in a Post-Christian World?

Jesus only is our message, Jesus all our theme shall be, We will lift up Jesus ever,  Jesus only will we see.¹  

There is a good chance that it has been a long time since you sang these words in a worship service at your local Alliance church. They are from a hymn written by the Alliance founder, A.B. Simpson, and for many years it was sung regularly in most Alliance churches around the world. Perhaps in its day—early 20th century—it was a radical expression of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a modern world that was increasingly becoming secularized and religiously plural. However, if it was radical one hundred years ago, how much more radical is it today? In a day when exclusive truth claims are highly contested and religious exclusivism is seen as dangerous, the claim that Jesus Only is an appropriate religious perspective, is most often considered a narrow view—at best—if not outright bigoted, at worst. Yet, true Christianity holds to that very claim—that Jesus is the unique incarnation of God, and God’s clearest revelation of Himself. Jesus is the pivot of human salvation and there is something in Jesus that can only be found in Him and nowhere else.

It is now common to understand Western culture as being in a “post-Christian age.” Meaning that, if the Church and Christian ideals once played a central role in informing culture, that is no longer true. So, how can any movement proclaim, “Jesus only” and still have any credibility with the broader culture? To answer that important question, perhaps, we need to understand what we mean by Jesus Only as a core doctrine of Alliance thought. What we may find is that it is a message of inclusivity and love, more than it is a message of exclusion. While there are many important theological issues connected to this topic let me focus on three ideas that seek to connect the claim of Jesus Only with the challenge of proclaiming that belief in a post-Christian context

1. Jesus Only does not mean that there is no truth or beauty in other religions or in the lives of those who have no religion.

Belief in the idea that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God does not deny the idea that God is at work in this world in a multitude of ways. It does not deny that other faiths have value or that people who do not claim any kind of religious faith do not have important insights to offer, or the ability to live lives of truth and beauty. While we affirm the centrality of Jesus in salvation, we should also affirm that God works in many ways to bring people to that realization. We must affirm that even those of us who have discovered God through Jesus can still learn from people of other faiths or from people of no faith. Not only do Christians share much in common with other religious faiths we can often learn from their practices. Can we learn something about fasting from understanding the Muslim observation of Ramadan? Can we learn about compassion from the agnostic doctor who volunteers to serve in a war zone? There is truth and beauty everywhere in this world and our belief in Jesus Only does not deny that.

2. Jesus Only Affirms Jesus’ Uniqueness

In the opening verses of the Gospel of John the author clearly offers his perspective that Jesus is unique as the God who has come in human form to dwell among human beings on earth. He writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3). Then, John makes clear who he is referring to when he writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In these verses the gospel writer equates Jesus with God.

In the ancient world it was not uncommon to have stories of people who were thought to be gods. This kind of story was part of the lore and belief systems of ancient people. What is a wonder to John is not that a man could be a god, but that God could be a man. The incarnation offers a radically different idea than the perspective that it is possible for a human to somehow possess a divine nature. It is not a human adopting something of the divine nature but God taking on human form. In lowering Himself in this way God’s actions indicate that something is happening that changes everything.

When we speak about Jesus Only this is what we are talking about: as the God-man Jesus Christ is the one in whom God’s work finds its most poignant expression. Ultimately it invites people to consider the idea that the God of Christianity is the God who has come to us and revealed Himself in an unprecedented way and this is something that only Jesus can provide for us.

3. Belief in Jesus Only Acknowledges the Centrality of Jesus in Human Spirituality

When Simpson wrote the chorus of “Jesus Only” he wrote, “Jesus only, Jesus ever, Jesus all in all we sing, Saviour, Sanctifier, and Healer, Glorious Lord and Coming King.” This is not a doctrinal affirmation; this is an invitation to enter the divine life and experience God’s fullness. It is a spirituality that centers on Jesus and affirms that through Him all the possibilities of knowing God’s presence and power are ours. When we affirm the idea of Jesus Only we are embracing God’s ultimate self-manifestation in Christ as an essential element of entering the fullness of life that God has made available through relationship with His Son.

Further, Jesus Only affirms that while God may work in many ways, it is Jesus who will ultimately bring us into God’s eschatological presence. While we may have long discussions about what that looks like and who is included, it is the work of Jesus Only that brings us into ultimate union with God. This is a message of hope to all people because it is a message that says to the world that, through Jesus, God has come to them, acted for them and made the way for them to know Him intimately and eternally.

While the message of Jesus Only has always been a scandal it is not necessarily a message of narrowness and exclusion. It is a message that still acknowledges the reality of God’s diverse working, that affirms His love for all humanity through His participation in human life and His desire for everyone to experience Him personally. In declaring Jesus Only, we affirm that ultimately the work of God in our lives flows through Jesus and it is in Jesus that God is found most fully and most truly. This is the message that drives our movement as Alliance churches and offers us the possibility of a vibrant spiritual experience that we can offer to the world

¹A.B. Simpson. “Jesus Only” published in Hymns of the Christian Life c.1908