Jesus the Beggar

Sometimes we forget that there were celebrities during Jesus' day and that he was not one of them.

You might say, "But wasn't he well-known throughout Jerusalem and Galilee?" Well, sure.  That's not exactly what I'm saying...

Look at what American Christian culture has done to create religious superstars.  Elevating pastors as a "pop-culture" christian celeb is (absolutely) dangerous, (perhaps) anti-gospel, and (surely) harmful (just look at the easy targets, Mark Driscoll and/or Rob Bell).
This phenomenon is fascinating because it is as if we are doing the exact same thing people of Jesus' day hoped to do with him.  They wanted to thrust him into the limelight, take charge, use his influence for fame, fortune, and overthrowing the secular state (you think it's extreme, but look at your motive for voting republican).

The good news is Jesus didn't write a new controversial book, build a big church building, or start a new non-profit ministry.  He did things that no Christian today would elevate or support.  As Shane Claiborne says in The Irresistible Revolution, the miracle of the gospel is not that Jesus healed people (because they all eventually died later) it's that he touched the people that no one else would touch.  He sat with people no one else would sit with.

The most Christ-like things we do will end up being the things we receive no applause for, no award for, and will probably go unnoticed.