What If...

We thought in terms of Jesus being a human being.

A man, not a God.

What if we allowed him the ability to prove himself mortal, rather than insisting he be divine? I don't know about you, but I can't relate to the divine, but I can certainly relate to the mortal.

Imperfect, but enlightened. Flawed, but inspirational. Quick tempered, but still without sin. A champion of the poor who hung around prostitutes, lepers, outcasts, and the various gutter-dwellers of society.

I don't know about you, but the times I've been around the so-called scum of the earth, I haven't come out of the situation having made much of an impact except for having their bad habits rub off on me. It goes contrary to all the things my parents taught me: don't hang around bad influences lest you find them becoming your own.

How did he escape with his virtue intact and his criminal record unscathed? How did he manage to not end up with a drug addiction or a social disease?

How did he not end up contributing to an unwanted pregnancy or worse yet, bring a child into the world that would grow up without ever knowing his father?

How did not end up becoming a criminal himself?

He was a child prodigy turned radical who came to renounce the conventional roles a rabbi was supposed to lead. He was a man who didn't keep his mouth shut and paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth-- to hell with the consequences.

If he lived today, would we call him impulsive? Mentally ill? Hypomanic? Delusional? Too idealistic to be taken seriously? Out of touch with reality? A bottom feeder? A slummer?

Would we be one of the tongue-clucking masses saying that "This time he's gone too far?"

Would we have dispensed advice like "Jesus, for God's sake, just keep your mouth shut."

Would we have questioned why anyone would want to be around prostitutes, drug addicts, malcontents, and all the things we hope our children never become?

Would we have been part of the screaming masses who renounced his teachings and preferred he die a criminal's death on the cross?

Even if we supported him, would we dare speak out out of fear for our own lives and well-being?