Book Review: “Imaginary Jesus”

One of the most important ideas that we must grapple with, not just as Christians but as human beings, is our idea about God, our theology. Are you confident that your theology of God is correct? Is it biblical? Are you willing to trade it in for another theology of God?

When Matt Mikalatos is sitting in his favorite café, Jesus is sitting beside him. But when a gruff man named Pete comes in, everything changes. That’s not the real Jesus; it’s Matt’s version of Jesus, created by his own mind, custom-made to fit him and his needs. Oh, and he’s not the only imaginary Jesus out there.

Imaginary Jesus is Matt’s “not-so-true story” about how the Jesus he loves and serves is not the real Jesus. In fact, the real Jesus frightens him and confuses his ideas of who Jesus should be. But as much as he has trouble accepting the real Jesus, Matt realizes that he no longer wants to serve a false Jesus.

Pete – I’ll leave his identity a secret for you – is one of several persons who seek to help Matt discover the shortcomings of imaginary Jesuses and the truth of the real Jesus. Along the way they bump into many of our self-created Jesuses: Magic 8 Ball Jesus, Free Will Jesus, King James Jesus, and many more.

This book is a wild ride of what might be called fantasy, but is a struggle that we all face every day. We can all learn about our tendencies toward creating a Jesus instead of seeking to love and serve the real Jesus.

You can learn more at www.imaginaryjesus.com.