Follow Jesus Christ

One evening, as a soft rain pattered against the café windows, two elderly men struck up a chance conversation while sharing a wooden table by the glass. It was the end of a long workweek, and both looked weary, each nursing a steaming cup of coffee. At first, it was nothing more than polite small talk about the weather and fatigue. But little by little, the words dug deeper, as if the rain outside was washing away the surface chatter and uncovering something genuine beneath. Common values rose to the surface one by one, as if they had known each other for years. In that unexpected meeting, under the rhythm of the rain, a rare sense of understanding took root — as though the weariness had melted away and been replaced with trust and the quiet joy of fellowship.

Modern Christianity often presents salvation as faith in “articles of faith” — whether theological, popular, or cultural. Yet Jesus’ own teaching points to salvation through the knowledge of God’s personality, the fruit of a lifelong, candid conversation with Him: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You…”

A new approach that could turn Christianity upside down is the conscious formation of an image of Jesus Christ’s personality within the human mind. This image cannot and should not be precise. The details are not what matter — the process is. What matters is to begin, and to keep deepening the awareness of, and conversation with, this Heavenly Person within. Over time, the Image awakens and begins to live on its own, guiding the person from within. Yet unlike self-hypnosis or ideological brainwashing, this Image is the true reflection of God’s personality, uniquely refracted through each individual, and still the very same God. This Image is profoundly human, brings only goodness, and is animated not by human invention but by God Himself. The inner image of Christ — His personal “copy” in one’s mind — and the ongoing dialogue with Him becomes, quite literally, a doorway to God.

A skeptic might object: “But couldn’t someone just invent their own image of Jesus?” The answer is: try it. The moment the mind turns sincerely toward Jesus, it comes under His influence. Hidden and mighty mechanisms are set in motion that no human can fully explain.

The idea of an “Aryan Christ” is one of the most striking examples of how people have tried to twist Jesus’ personality for the sake of ideology — and of what comes from such distortion. In the 1920s–30s in Germany, the Nazis and their sympathizers sought to “purify” Christianity from its Jewish roots. The Jewish Jesus, with His message of love and mercy, stood in the way of their ideal of the “strong race.” Some theologians and philosophers began rewriting the Gospels. Their flagship movement, the “German Christians,” at one point gathered hundreds of thousands of followers. They claimed Jesus was not a Jew but an “Aryan,” that the Old Testament should be discarded as “too Jewish,” and that Christianity should be recast as “heroic,” nationalistic, and subordinate to the Reich. Entire editions of the Gospels were rewritten, stripped of Jewish context.

Their opponents, the Confessing Church led by Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others, stood firm in declaring that Jesus was indeed Jewish in the flesh. By the late 1930s, the ranks of the “Aryan Christ” thinned: people began to see that Nazi Christianity led only to the destruction of faith itself. After Germany’s defeat and national catastrophe, the concept was utterly discredited.

The image of Jesus’ personality is a holy treasure in the spiritual world. Whoever approaches it with a pure heart immediately comes under the sway of immense spiritual forces. To even begin the search for the living Jesus requires both faith and a genuine longing for Him. Drawing closer to His spiritual Image naturally leads to shared values. Out of that communion grows mutual trust. It is not unlike that conversation over coffee: if trust fails to appear, if only resistance and negative emotions arise, then the connection simply has not taken root.

One major problem today is that many Christians are not truly acquainted with the living image of Jesus or His personal teaching, and thus can hardly form any clear picture of Him in their minds. What the Church teaches is roughly: 30% the apostles’ teaching, 30% the theological heritage of the Ecumenical Councils, 30% denominational traditions, and perhaps 10% Jesus Himself. The Church commemorates His birth, death, and resurrection. The Church remembers the lofty — and quietly considered “impossible” — Sermon on the Mount. And that is about all.

But in truth, the teaching of the Church should be 100% the teaching of Jesus. Not scattered fragments, but the living practice of His words, His deeds, His spirit. After all, it was He who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Not councils, not traditions, not theological systems. As long as the Church keeps Jesus confined to holidays and symbols, it loses Him in daily life. And yet daily life is precisely the place where the Sermon on the Mount must become flesh. The Church must not hide the Gospel behind dogmas and customs, but open to people the living Christ Himself. The teaching of Jesus is not an appendix to Christian doctrine — it is its beating heart.