I think we have all been making a bad assumption - that everyone who claims to follow Jesus is following the same Jesus. The evidence doesn't bear that out. When I say I follow Jesus, I point to the Beatitudes, Matthew 28, the pursuit of shalom, and those type of things. But I have learned that is not what all Christians believe Jesus is about. For those who buy into the Rapture theology, they see a violent God who is pissed off and coming back kicking ass. And he's going to give front row seats to his supporters to watch the death and destruction play out. Those are two very different Jesuses. I think this is symbolic of the broader challenges we face in America - we all use the same language (English), but I am no longer convinced that we all share the same definitions of words that we are all using.

Take for example - Freedom. To some this word is connected with responsibility. To others it is unfettered right to do whatever one wants. Those are two very notions that are not in agreement with each other.

What I have figured out is this seems to be the logical conclusion or next step in the long slog we have been marching towards - individualism. We shouldn't be surprised when there are not shared definitions of terms any longer when we have put the individual and their desires on the pedestal as the most important.