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You Don't Get Your Own Personal Jesus
Jesus cannot be dismissed as one in a long line of religious gurus peddling peace, fulfillment, and a better version of yourself. You Don’t Get Your Own Personal Jesus , excerpted from J.D. Greear’s book Not God Enough , captures the liberating truth that God is exactly who he says he is. You may prefer a God who is small, safe, and domesticated, a God who thinks like you think and likes what you like. You may prefer a God you can manage, predict, and control. But what if this small version of God is holding you back from genuine, confident, world-transforming faith? God is not just a slightly better, slightly smarter version of you. He is infinite and glorious, and an encounter with him won’t just change the way you think about your faith. It will change your entire life.
64 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2018
18 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Greear
69 books224 followersJ.D. Greear, Ph.D., did his degree work in Christian and Islamic theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He is Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. The Summit’s vision is to plant 1,000 churches in by the year 2040. Currently, they have planted 11 and have several church planting teams stationed around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 8, 2019
If you’re a child of the 80s, like myself, the phrase “your own personal Jesus” is heard channeled through the distinctive voice of Martin Gore of Depeche Mode whose massive 1989 hit democratizes the first century Jewish Messiah. Gore tells us to “reach out and touch faith” through whatever experience we can create that makes us feel as though someone hears our prayers and cares.
Martin Gore’s vision of a personalized Jesus is truer today, thirty years after his song hit the charts, than it has ever been. JD Greear wants to lovingly but firmly let us know that You Don’t Get Your Own Personal Jesus in his thin volume by the same name. “Sometimes I hear people talk about ‘my God’ or ‘my Jesus’ as if he were their possession,” Greear reflects. But strangely absent of our personalized visions of Jesus are Jesus’ own claims that he is Lord.
It makes sense that we think we can remake Jesus in our own image. Why shouldn’t we? Our social media feeds cater to our desires, my Amazon webpage is distinctive to me, your Netflix suggestions reflect your tastes. Why shouldn’t we be able to craft a Jesus who suits what we would like in a Savior? Greear reflects, “Those of us who have grown up in a consumeristic Western culture envision an Americanized Jesus who is one part genie, one part fan club, one part financial advisor, one part American patriot, and several parts therapist. Our ‘God’ makes us more narcissistic an materialistic, not less.” In Voltaire’s words, “God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.”
The problem is, of course, that God makes claims about himself. “When God appeared to Moses, he declared, ‘I am who I am.’ ‘I am who I am’ is not ‘I am whoever you want me to be.’” When we do not allow God to be who he is, we are committing idolatry. “Do we approach God listening for his ‘I am,’ or do we quickly declare to him, ‘You should be…’”
One way to determine whether you are worshiping the true God is by how uncomfortable God makes you. Theologian Karl Barth once said, “If God doesn’t make us mad, we’re not worshiping him, but ourselves.”
Greear says that when confronted with the reality of our false worship and the offer of living water from the true Savior, we have four options: 1) blame the idol; 2) blame yourself; 3) blame the world; 4) realize that you were created for another world. In CS Lewis’s words, “if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
The one true Savior, Jesus Christ is seeking us and calling us to himself. Greear closes with a promise about the active work of our living Savior: “It’s a lot more pleasant when God doesn’t have to ‘knock your grip loose,’ but he will if he has to. He’s trying to get you to see that no other foundation can support you. No other presence can clothe you. No other water can satisfy you.
For more, see www.thebeehive.live.
Martin Gore’s vision of a personalized Jesus is truer today, thirty years after his song hit the charts, than it has ever been. JD Greear wants to lovingly but firmly let us know that You Don’t Get Your Own Personal Jesus in his thin volume by the same name. “Sometimes I hear people talk about ‘my God’ or ‘my Jesus’ as if he were their possession,” Greear reflects. But strangely absent of our personalized visions of Jesus are Jesus’ own claims that he is Lord.
It makes sense that we think we can remake Jesus in our own image. Why shouldn’t we? Our social media feeds cater to our desires, my Amazon webpage is distinctive to me, your Netflix suggestions reflect your tastes. Why shouldn’t we be able to craft a Jesus who suits what we would like in a Savior? Greear reflects, “Those of us who have grown up in a consumeristic Western culture envision an Americanized Jesus who is one part genie, one part fan club, one part financial advisor, one part American patriot, and several parts therapist. Our ‘God’ makes us more narcissistic an materialistic, not less.” In Voltaire’s words, “God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.”
The problem is, of course, that God makes claims about himself. “When God appeared to Moses, he declared, ‘I am who I am.’ ‘I am who I am’ is not ‘I am whoever you want me to be.’” When we do not allow God to be who he is, we are committing idolatry. “Do we approach God listening for his ‘I am,’ or do we quickly declare to him, ‘You should be…’”
One way to determine whether you are worshiping the true God is by how uncomfortable God makes you. Theologian Karl Barth once said, “If God doesn’t make us mad, we’re not worshiping him, but ourselves.”
Greear says that when confronted with the reality of our false worship and the offer of living water from the true Savior, we have four options: 1) blame the idol; 2) blame yourself; 3) blame the world; 4) realize that you were created for another world. In CS Lewis’s words, “if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
The one true Savior, Jesus Christ is seeking us and calling us to himself. Greear closes with a promise about the active work of our living Savior: “It’s a lot more pleasant when God doesn’t have to ‘knock your grip loose,’ but he will if he has to. He’s trying to get you to see that no other foundation can support you. No other presence can clothe you. No other water can satisfy you.
For more, see www.thebeehive.live.
February 27, 2025
Super short read reminding us who God is to ALL. My favorite illustration was the salad bar...love a good food reference. **God isn't a salad bar for me to pick and choose what I want from Him.** Ouch. As always, JD's words are challenging, timely, and biblical.
June 21, 2025
“Do we think that our idea of God is better than who he actually is? Have we forgotten who we are talking about?”
Short, simple and to the point. I think this efficiently addresses the lies our culture throws at us that cause people to create their own idea of God into conforming to what they want Him to be. He is God and we are not. He says “I am who I am” not “I am whoever you want me to be.”
Short, simple and to the point. I think this efficiently addresses the lies our culture throws at us that cause people to create their own idea of God into conforming to what they want Him to be. He is God and we are not. He says “I am who I am” not “I am whoever you want me to be.”
August 17, 2023
Quick read, but a great reminder. God is who he is, not who we want him to be. The sin in our hearts muddles the view we have of him, and creates for us new idols seemingly every day. The good news is that he yearns for us despite our sin. He is the peace, the security, the joy, the fullness we search for. He is the water that satisfys our thirst eternally. And by letting go of all we cling to, we can experience life more fully, both now and for eternity.
January 2, 2020
Greear presents an incredible juxtaposition between our craving for God, but only on our own terms. We want our own personal Jesus that affirms our beliefs and hates only what we hate.
Yet often, God makes us mad. He convicts us. As sinners, we often have tendencies that lean toward the antithesis of a holy, perfect God. There is friction there.
But, we also crave security, acceptance, love... to find that thing missing. God is ready to receive us in open arms.
Greear ends his book with a question we should all consider: “what do you do when you realize the God you crave is also the God you sometimes hate?”
Yet often, God makes us mad. He convicts us. As sinners, we often have tendencies that lean toward the antithesis of a holy, perfect God. There is friction there.
But, we also crave security, acceptance, love... to find that thing missing. God is ready to receive us in open arms.
Greear ends his book with a question we should all consider: “what do you do when you realize the God you crave is also the God you sometimes hate?”
February 27, 2019
A helpful introduction to his book Not God Enough. I’d hand this off to non-Christians if it concluded more naturally and had a clearer presentation of the gospel.
December 20, 2022
I received this little book as a pastor's breakfast Freebie from the publisher at Arrowhead Parable.
Note it is an excerpt from Greear's book Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems
Good, short devotional essay.
I was a little surprised that he didn't tackle the ambiguity present in the title for the evangelical believer: That the definition of a genuine believer is one's personal testimony or experience with Jesus, but that that cannot be just whatever you project that it should be. He hit the latter but not as much the former.
A few good metaphors to defend the fact that God cannot, if He is to be taken seriously, be made to our will. He must be some certain things to be Him self.
Note it is an excerpt from Greear's book Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems
Good, short devotional essay.
I was a little surprised that he didn't tackle the ambiguity present in the title for the evangelical believer: That the definition of a genuine believer is one's personal testimony or experience with Jesus, but that that cannot be just whatever you project that it should be. He hit the latter but not as much the former.
A few good metaphors to defend the fact that God cannot, if He is to be taken seriously, be made to our will. He must be some certain things to be Him self.
April 12, 2020
Great quick read! It has the beginning of his other book Not God Enough. Great quick read, I think this would be ideal for anyone who has gone through C101 but is struggling with the concept of Lordship.
June 18, 2018
What's here is great. It's just too short. I would love to see it developed into a full-sized book.
May 22, 2019
Quick and easy to read. One of those books you want to give away for your friends to read.
Read
February 19, 2021This was so awesome, I laughed and it got me thinking and made me learn a few things.
December 28, 2023
This was a super quick read, but a good one!
March 18, 2024
A short but fantastic read. We don’t have to carry a god of our own making; our God carries us.
April 15, 2025
This is a short little book that packs a big punch!
October 11, 2019
I loved this book
September 25, 2024
Okay, reading this one felt a little like cheating on my book goal. That's because it's two chapters lifted right out of the middle of "Not God Enough," an excellent book by J.D. Greear that I'm in the middle of listening to on Audible. I bought this one for Kindle not realizing it was essentially the same material.
The truth is, these are GREAT chapters, so I'm going to take credit for reading it both ways. Still, I can only award four starts because as a stand alone, this lacks a solid conclusion. It ends at the wrong place, and leaves the reader (perhaps intentionally) feeling like there's supposed to be more. And there is. Again, the whole book is wonderful, and highly recommended. I just wish this excerpt (because that's what it is) had a more satisfying end in itself.
The truth is, these are GREAT chapters, so I'm going to take credit for reading it both ways. Still, I can only award four starts because as a stand alone, this lacks a solid conclusion. It ends at the wrong place, and leaves the reader (perhaps intentionally) feeling like there's supposed to be more. And there is. Again, the whole book is wonderful, and highly recommended. I just wish this excerpt (because that's what it is) had a more satisfying end in itself.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews