Jesus–The Most Interesting Person

Dallas Willard has argued that Jesus was the most intelligent person who ever lived. In an article entitled “Who is Your Teacher,” Willard surmises:

Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what Christian’s take him to be in other respects and not be the best informed and most intelligent person of all: the smartest person who ever lived, bringing us the best information on the most important subjects.

What if we used the same logic about Jesus’ personality. Can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord, if he were not captivating? If he were divine, would he be dull? Or boring?

I’m betting that Jesus was also the most interesting person who ever lived. Sadly, many of us who follow him are not that interesting–perhaps because we are so little like him or perhaps because we’ve allowed the enemy to make us boring.

I’m working on being more interesting–not that I would receive attention but that my attractiveness as a person might reflect the one I follow — the one “who was without a doubt the most interesting person who ever lived.” What if others said of us as Christ-followers: “those people are so captivating; they must have been with Jesus.”

How interesting are you? How interesting is your movement?

I recently ran across Scott Ginsberg’s 30 Ways to Become the Most Interesting Person You Know. I’m intrigued by his suggestions. I began to wondered what would happen if Christ-followers were not only “holy” but also “interesting.” What if it were more often said of a Christ-follower by the people he or she met — “wow, that was some righteous dude (or babe).” (Jay, you’re a dork!! See point 5a below.)

Here’s a smattering of Ginsberg’s suggestions with some of my reflections:

1. Avoid the Always/Notice the Never. Find out what people (Christians, CCC staff) who do what you do ALWAYS do, then do the opposite. Similarly, find out what people who do what you do NEVER do, then do the opposite. What are you currently doing that’s unpredictable?

Ask yourself, what is it that the secular world assumes about Christians–either falsely or by way of the current behavior of evangelicals? (see UnChristian for some suggestions.) What if we did the opposite?

What if, like Jesus, the “religiously boring” noticed that we broke taboos and “ate with and received tax collectors and sinners,” “touched the leper,” “healed the woman whose bleeding made her unclean,” and “chased the paid mourners away from Jarius’ daughter?”

2. Make the mundane memorable. Ginsberg asks: “What do your voicemail, email signature, business card, website and blog —your ministry methods — have in common? ANSWER: They’re all boring. Keep in mind: Nobody notices normal. Nobody buys boring. And nobody pays for average.”

What if we made our message “memorable”? What would set apart our methods and make them more captivating? It is a sin to bore people–especially since Jesus is the most attractive, compelling, beautiful, engaging person who ever lived.

3. Don’t be one-dimensional. Ginsberg writes that “he once had a boss whose sole interest, purpose and passion in life was sports. That’s it. The guy couldn’t carry conversation like a normal person unless the topic related to sports. Or, if the conversation was not about sports, he’d go out of his way to make sure it slowly became that way. He was most uninteresting, one-dimensional guy Ginsberg ever worked with.” He was one-dimensional.

To be interesting we must embrace an openness for activities and experiences outside of our scope of interests. If we don’t, we mar our ability to relate to others in a healthy way. We are Bor-ring. How many dimensions do you have?

As ministers of the greatest news ever announced, we need to embrace the fullness of the gospel’s impact. As Ronnie Stevens once said, “God did not give us to gospel to explain the world, he gave us world to explain the gospel.” In other words, everything declares his story; all creation speaks. Everything matters. We ought to expand the scope of our interests and set foot (and mind and heart) into the river of God’s wonders. Or dare to just dive right in.

4. Learn the principles of amazing storytelling. Stories are powerful. Stories are better than statistics or quotes. Stories are what readers and audiences remember and connect with most. Ultimately, stories are the best way to communicate a message. Think of how many stories Jesus told. Have you learned to tell stories? Why not?

5. Be childlike, but not childish. Ginsberg borrowed this one from the New Testament. Jesus affirmed over and over that we must receive the kingdom as a child. Certainly Jesus was addressing the notion of “simple trust” in the child, but I can’t help but wonder if Jesus was also intrigued with the power of play.

As Ginsberg writes: One person’s playful spirit brings out the same in another. So, by acting childlike, you subconsciously give other people PERMISSION to the same. It’s contagious. It’s approachable. It’s memorable. And everyone can relate to it.

How are you giving people permission to be playful around you?

5a. Unleash your inner dork. (Not sure I’m comfortable abt applying this directly to Jesus…but still?) I got this principle from an article by Jonathan Morrow, How to Be Interesting. Morrow suggests that “we stop trying to sound like an all-knowing teacher and unleash the “inner dork” inside of us — the part of us that’s so enamored with our topic that everyone else thinks it’s funny….but they pay attention anyway.” I have friends who are “dorkish” about food and hunting and Jesus. I can’t help but laugh inside, while wanting all the while to have more friends like them. (I may be a little dorkish about books and Gettysburg.)

6. Be more challenging. Ask questions like: Is that always the case? So what? What stops you? What would happen if you didn’t? What’s your proof?

Break people’s patterns.

Make them stop, think and say, “Wow…”

How challenging are you?

7. Be radically honest. It’s unexpected and unforgettable. We so often avoid reality in the name of niceness. Warren Bennis warns: “Conspiracies of silence are enormously damaging and all but universal.” We can learn to speak the truth in love. Speak the truth, in love and discover that Reality is your friend.

8. Become a Question Master. Ginsberg argues that “It’s not just about asking a bunch of questions; it’s about valuing a questioning attitude.” Since I read this, I’m following Ginsberg’s advice: every time I hear or read a question that makes me react in ANY way, I’m trying to write it down. I’ll probably post it to mycommonplace.com (assigning a new category of questions).

Why not begin your own question list? Keep adding to your running list of questions. Categorize them. Sort them alphabetically to make it easier on your eyes. Whatever you do–just collect them. Try them out.

How many questions do you have on your list?

9. Books. Speaking of books, Ginsberg suggests we make a list called, “Top Ten Most Interesting Books I’ve Read.” (I’m working on this one.) Next to each one, write three attributes, actions or states of being that make those books so interesting. When you’re done, look for patterns. Extract the key ideas and then ask yourself how you can practice that in your own life.

What did you read today?

10. Consciously choose how you experience the world. In his mind-blowing book, Playful Perception, Herbert Leff suggests, “Expand your repertoire of useful awareness plans and you will improve the flavor and value of your inner experiences. Increase the choice about the quality of your experience.”

Ginsberg put together a list of 43 awareness plans to make your daily life more interesting. I was at first overwhelmed by the list, but as I read closely I’m finding lots of ways to be more attentive to life. Here are some of his awareness plans:

• NOTICE things you normally wouldn’t. Because noticing is basic to all victory in creativity.
• PRETEND you always have a camera. Your perception of color, shadow and poignancy will heighten.
• BECOME unabashedly enthusiastic about your ideas, whatever they are. Because enthusiasm literally means, “to be filled with God.”

Read thru his list and make some mindful choices for experiencing the world.

11. Create Points of Dissonance. Vagueness stimulates curiosity. And curiosity is a natural motivator of human engagement. So, there’s a certain dissonance when people observe an unexpected or unexplained behavior. Especially when it’s inconsistent with their environment. (Like seeing some guy wearing a nametag at the gym, for example.)

The challenge is to craft an idea, a message, or a look that when people are first exposed to it, they can’t help but respond with, “Huh?” or “Ok, so, I just HAVE to ask…” Those words are money in the bank. Remember: The most effective way to attract people’s attention is to B-R-E-A-K their patterns. Copyblogger has a killer post about being interesting as it relates to this topic.

What patterns are YOU breaking?

12. Explore the word “interesting.” It literally means: Engaging or exciting and holding the attention or curiosity. Arousing a feeling of interest. A state of curiosity or concern about or attention to something. Involvement with or participation in something. An excess or bonus beyond what is expected or due. Something, such as a quality, subject, or activity that evokes this mental state.

OK, so, now that you know that, go do that. Go BE that.

On a scale from 1-10, how interesting would you say you are? How interesting would others say you are?

13. Read the rest of Ginsberg’s list. Discuss it with your disciples. If Jesus was truly the most interesting person who ever lived and if it’s true that disciples become like their teachers, then it makes sense that we would become increasingly more interesting people as we follow Jesus.

Here’s an exercise: take the list to a staff meeting and ask:

• how interesting are we as individuals and as a team?
• How interesting is our movement?
• How can we make it more interesting using this list?

(One caution from C.S. Lewis. This exercise is not intended to be used to evaluate others on their “degree of interesting”. It’s for self-evaluation. Lewis cautions us with this truth:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.–The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis)