{"id":5081,"date":"2024-03-21T03:13:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T11:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=5081"},"modified":"2024-03-02T18:39:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T02:39:20","slug":"preaching-jesus-on-other-planets-and-earth-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2024\/03\/preaching-jesus-on-other-planets-and-earth-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching Jesus on Other Planets (And Earth, Too)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What would Christianity look like on a different planet? How can we determine which truths are earthbound, and which are universal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Image generated by author on Open.AI<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n**
* Imagine you\u2019re a Christian missionary on a planet closer to its sun, where a thin atmosphere does not block harmful solar radiation.<\/strong> People have adapted to the harsh environment by burrowing into the planet\u2019s crust, where it is cool and dark.\u00a0Like bats, they have developed keen ears and dull eyesight. Inhabitants take trips to the surface at night when poisonous sunburn does not threaten. They grow crops underground, from geothermal energy rather than sunlight. This is the world on which you arrive as a missionary.<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* When the Light of the World Leaves Them in Darkness<\/h2>\n
* Then, with triumph, you proclaim, \u201cThe people walking in darkness have seen a great light. <\/strong>On those walking in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned!\u201d\u00a0 You tell them of a savior who said, \u201cI am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.\u201d\u00a0 You quote the prophet who said, \u201cThough I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.\u201d<\/p>\n
* And you can\u2019t understand why nobody listens to you. <\/strong>It makes no sense that they reject your message, because you\u2019ve been faithful to the scripture. You\u2019ve told them exactly what they need to hear\u2014after all, these people literally are walking in a land of darkness, and you\u2019ve brought the light of salvation to them. What could be the problem?<\/p>\n
* <\/h2>\nJesus, Lord of Cold and Darkness<\/h2>\n
* The problem is that you\u2019re offering Jesus as the solution to the wrong dilemma. <\/strong>Maybe, just maybe, on this planet, instead of being the Light of the World, Jesus is Lord of Cold and Darkness.<\/p>\n
* On Earth, such a title would only be suitable for an arch-villain, like C.S. Lewis\u2019 White Witch, Jadis, or the Night King from\u00a0Game of Thrones<\/em>.<\/strong> On earth, sunlight is universally good, associated with abundant crops, warm beaches, and summer love. But on this new planet, where people associate light with toxic radiation and broiling heat, it comes across as wrong when you tell them that Jesus is the light. Here, they\u2019d understand better if Jesus were Lord of Cold and Darkness.<\/p>\n
* <\/h2>\nAdapting Your Message<\/h2>\n*
** If you decided to adapt your message, you could still remain faithful to scripture. <\/strong>You could emphasize Bible passages like, \u201cThe Lord is the shade upon my right hand,\u201d or \u201cHe descended to the lower, earthly regions,\u201d or \u201cAs Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale\u2019s belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.\u201d\u00a0 You might change the metaphors you use. Instead of describing lostness as wandering in darkness, you would describe sin as analogous to struggling through blinding daylight, with the sun\u2019s scorching heat on your back. Jesus, then, as Lord of Cold and Darkness, would offer shelter, shade, and relief from sin\u2019s searing heat.\u00a0You would be sharing God\u2019s love with people by offering them a dark savior who rescues them from the light.<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** Increasing Scrutiny<\/h2>\n
** Eventually, once you adapt your message and present Jesus as Lord of Cold and Darkness, you will begin to gain a following.<\/strong>\u00a0People will understand that God loves them and wants to meet their needs and rescue them from harm.\u00a0But pretty soon, you will come under increasing scrutiny by the missionary board that sent you to this new planet.\u00a0They will claim you have abandoned the truth of scripture. They will observe that there are far more verses depicting God as light than there are saying that God will shelter you beneath the shadow of a divine wing.<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* Faithful to the Light<\/h2>\n
* Soon, more missionaries will arrive, not only to win converts but to oppose your efforts.<\/strong> They will accuse you of twisting scripture by calling good evil, and evil good.\u00a0Darkness, they say, is universally bad, while light is always good.\u00a0Light represents divine truth and favor, while darkness depicts rebellion, sin, and confusion.\u00a0These missionaries will call themselves Light-Bearers. They will hold meetings in brilliantly illuminated halls where converts will squint and strain to see, all the while calling it good.\u00a0These missionaries will build cathedrals in the open air, where adherents will attend worship and return home with blisters from their scorching sun.\u00a0Then they will display their welts with pride, displaying them as a sign of their faithfulness to the light.<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* Not Everything Biblical is True<\/h2>\n
* Meanwhile, your people will gather in grottoes and caves, where they find refuge not only from the damaging sun but also from the persecution of the Light-bearers. These oppositional missionaries will proclaim that their teachings are \u201cbiblically correct,\u201d while saying your teachings are \u201cunbiblical.\u201d\u00a0But you will counter their arguments by noting that not everything biblical is true. <\/strong>Additionally, you will note that on this world, being biblically correct is less important than communicating truth in a culturally relevant way. And so, the debate will continue.<\/p>\n
* And so it goes today, on this world.<\/strong> One group catches the culture but may step outside of \u201corthodoxy\u201d to do so. Another insists on faithfulness to biblical literalism while becoming less relevant to everyday society. The more each faction insists it is right, the more it digs in its heels, and the more its potential audience slips through its fingers.<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* God is Greater Than Metaphor<\/h2>\n
* Because the truth is that Jesus is not the Light. Neither is Jesus the Lord of Cold and Darkness. The Bible describes <\/em>Jesus\u00a0as light, as a metaphor<\/em>. \u201cThe Lord is the shade on your right hand\u201d is a metaphor.\u00a0It\u2019s only when we embrace the mystery of God and admit that God is greater than metaphor, that we will begin to approach the full reality of who God is. <\/strong><\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n
* Seek Universal Truth<\/h2>\n
* Religion insists that our group has the correct way, and the other group has it all wrong<\/strong>.\u00a0Humility and spirituality say that God is present in both light and darkness, in your faith group and in mine.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s time we stop fighting over symbols, metaphors, and methods. Let\u2019s seek instead that which is universally true, not on this world only. Since God does not change, then we must realize that it\u2019s only our perspectives that shift. We must realize that there are, in fact, ways that we can all know the truth, without fighting over light and shadows.<\/p>\n
* \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
* *******************What would Christianity look like on a different planet? How can we determine which truths are earthbound, and which are universal? Imagine you\u2019re a Christian missionary on a planet closer to its sun, where a thin atmosphere does not block harmful solar radiation. People have adapted to the harsh environment by burrowing into the planet\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":5084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,8],"tags":[3638,3626,3632,2196,3629,3635],"class_list":["post-5081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-challenging-the-church","category-theology","tag-adapting-your-message","tag-christianity-on-other-planets","tag-missionaries-to-other-planets","tag-preaching","tag-preaching-to-aliens","tag-universal-truth"],"yoast_head":"\nPreaching Jesus on Other Planets (And Earth, Too)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What would Christianity look like on a different planet? 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