Impact of Christ on the Modern World - Essay Sample

Introduction

Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest who wrote the book "The Universal Christ." In his book, he states that understanding Christ can change Christians' perspectives and lead to better Christian lives. He says that "A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else" (Rohr 1). However, for a Christian to reach such maturity, they ought to distinguish between Jesus and Christ. Rohr states that Christians misunderstood Jesus's purpose in the world; Jesus was the messenger who was sent to deliver God's message, but instead, people began worshipping the messenger. Rohr emphasizes that Christians should learn to see Christ in everyone and everything to avoid rejecting others (Mcclymond 1).

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Rohr's Message About Jesus Christ

In his book, Rohr states that the role of Christ is different from Jesus's. Jesus's role is narrowed down to a messenger and is earthbound. On the other hand, Christ is divine, supernatural, and cosmic. Rohr teaches Christians that Jesus came to prepare Christians to receive Christ; while Christ is God, Jesus was just a representative of God at that time. Rohr also refers to Jesus as "Wonderful symbiosis of divinity and humanity" (Mcclymond 1). Therefore, Christians should not spend so much time trying to worship the messenger, but instead, we should embrace what he prepared us, that is, Christ. He proves this by saying Jesus asked people to follow him and not a single time did he tell them to worship him.

Rohr continues to state that Jesus was simply an enlightened man. Thus, he did not save us. Instead, Jesus enlightens us, and from knowing the right and the wrong, we choose whether we want salvation or not. He claims that if the resurrection was recorded on camera, a beam of light reflecting all directions would be recorded and not an earthly man. That means that Jesus, the man, had vanished for Christ to take over. Christ is, therefore, the light that came and shown in our lives and helped us see to the fullness (Rohr 2). Therefore, Christians embrace Christ by seeing Him in everything and everyone.

Conclusion

Rohr's perspective about Jesus Christ is different from mine. I have been brought up in a Christian home. All my life, I have learned that Jesus Christ was the son of God, and he died on the cross so that Christians can find redemption. Unlike Rohr, I believe that Jesus sacrificed his divine nature, became a human being so that he could fit in and teach people the ways of God. After he was done teaching, he made the most significant sacrifice by dying for us. He then rose to heaven because he had completed his mission. I believe that Jesus's story has a significant impact on Christian lives in that we should try to live the holy life Jesus lived. He was human, capable of submitting to earthly pleasures, but it not. Instead, he lived a godly life, which every one of us should emulate.Conclusively, even if Rohr's views are different from mine, he helps me understand that Christianity is not all about abstaining from ungodly behaviors. Rather, Christians should also seek to appreciate others because they cannot claim to love God and hate the man.

Works Cited

Mcclymond, Michael. Everything is Christ and other muddled messages from Richard Rohr. 2019. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/universal-christ-richard-rohr/

Rohr, Richard. Seeing Christ everywhere. Center for Action and Contemplation. 2019.
https://cac.org/seeing-christ-everywhere-2019-02-13/.