I recently wrote a blog titled ‘Five Reasons Lord Sugar Would Fire Jesus’. In summary, the five reasons are:
1. Jesus was a bad project manager
He allowed anyone to join, and the incentive scheme was topsy-turvy. (The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.)
2. Jesus lost control of his team
He was sold out by his treasurer, denied by his best friend and everyone fled when he needed them most.
3. Jesus was terrible at marketing
When Jesus performed miracles, he often told people not to tell anyone; quite the opposite of a modern PR strategy.
4. Jesus didn’t make a profit
Despite numerous opportunities for financial gain, Jesus never took them. Meeting his tax commitments once involved finding money in a fish’s mouth.
5. Jesus failed his task
At least, he failed the task his followers were expecting of him: to take on the Romans by force and win Israel back. We know that Jesus had a different modus operandi, and of course there was a twist waiting at the end of the story.
This was meant to be a humorous article, gently satirising why the kingdom values of Jesus aren’t always in step with the results-driven world of business (you can read it in full here). Not everyone saw it that way, however. In the comments section, some Christians seemed to mistake the piece for a genuine criticism of Jesus’ leadership style, or took exception to the idea that our saviour wouldn’t have won the reality TV show.
As Christians, we are sometimes prone to attribute superhero qualities to Jesus that stop us recognising his humanity. Yes, he was fully divine, but he was also fully human. If anything should remind us of that, it is the nativity story, when God chose to be born into poverty and scandal. This is skilfully exposed this month in David Instone-Brewer’s feature.
There’s festive fun of a more traditional variety as Lucinda van der Hart meets TV chef Tom Herbert to bake seasonal Sticky Sticks (we’ve included the recipe), as well as learning about his faith and commitment to overseas mission.
As 2014 draws to a close we’ve also chosen to look back 60 years to when Billy Graham’s first evangelistic mission shook the UK. If you were there (or know someone who was), why not write in and tell us about it?
Thank you for choosing to read the magazine this year and – from all of us at Premier Christianity – have a happy Christmas.
