The Jesus you didn’t know existed (because he doesn’t!)

We took an afternoon trip to Borders today and I briefly passed through the Religion section on my way to Computers and then on to the Business section.  A couple books in Religion caught my eye and this was one of them: Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra.

One of the first things I noticed (as intended by the publisher) was a blurb on the front cover by Eckhart Tolle (I have no idea who he is) that reads:

A gripping tale of one man’s archetypal journey through confusion, doubt, and despair to self-annihilation and the realization of his true identity as the ‘light of the world.’

If you stop and ponder that for a moment or two, and assuming you’ve read at least one of the four Gospels in the New Testament, that should strike you as mildly disturbing.  “Journey through confusion, doubt, and despair?”  I will grant that Jesus grew in his understanding and comprehension of who he was, fueled largely by much time reading Scripture and in prayer, but still, he was and is God in human form.

Undercover apologetics at the local Borders bookstore

 I have a confession to make.  I have been known to rearrange books at the local Borders store.  Not a lot of books, mind you.  Just a few here and there, and in a gospel-strategic manner. 

For example, a couple weeks ago when our family made a trip to Rapid City we stopped in at Borders for some book browsing.  Amy and the girls hang out in the kids section and go through a lot of books.  I tend to stay in the Religion section to get a feel for current trends, preview any books I may be thinking about, and make myself available for any God-appointed discussions that may happen.  One of those discussions in particular stands out in my memory, but that will be the subject for a future post.