That’s the invitation, an uncomfortable YET necessary invitation. The tendency to fit Jesus into neat categories has left the American church divided, disoriented and at times, disingenuous. Some elevate Jesus the Evangelical, passionately preaching personal salvation and individual repentance. To them, He is the Savior of the soul , but often disconnected from systems and structures of society. Others rally around Jesus the Revolutionary or Social Justice Advocate- the one who confronts oppression, flips tables, and calls out injustice. He is their Messiah for systemic change, yet His call for personal transformation and call to repentance often fades into the background.
Both sides have a point, but neither has the whole picture. Scripture reveals Jesus as fully Evangelical and fully Revolutionary. He called people to repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15) while also proclaiming release for the captives and freedom for the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). The dividing line between personal conversion and societal transformation didn’t exist in His ministry. He embraced the totality of human need-heart, soul, mind, and body.
But here’s the problem: many of us have made peace with a fragmented or dissected Jesus, because a whole Jesus demands something far greater from each of us. A whole Jesus forces us to reconcile personal faith with public responsibility, to embrace both grace and truth, and to live with the tension of a Gospel that calls us inward for healing and outward for mission. A fragmented or dissected Jesus is easier to manage. A whole Jesus changes everything. A whole Jesus will have us answering His call for repentance. A whole Jesus will have us humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face and turning from our wicked ways, while still caring for the marginalized.
The body of Christ or as I should say the bride of Christ often chooses the easier path, aligning itself with cultural or political identities that reinforce its preferred version of Jesus. Evangelical circles can neglect justice in their hyperfocus on personal morality. Justice-minded communities can forget the necessity of spiritual transformation and the need carry out the work of the Great Commission. Both forget that Jesus is the fullness of God, reconciling all things to Himself (Colossians 1:19-20). The Bible tells us that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man, so why are we dissecting Him for our personal revolution?
To unbox Jesus is to embrace discomfort. It’s to allow Him to confront our blind spots, disrupt our assumptions, and challenge our allegiances. It’s to see the Scriptures not as a collection of cherry picked verses that support our agendas, but as a cohesive story pointing to a Savior who transforms everything-individuals, communities, and the world.
The question isn’t, “Which Jesus do you follow?” The question is, “Will you follow the whole Jesus?”
For the last 2 years, the Holy Spirit kept pointing me to Evangelist Charles Finney. As I sit here today, it dawned on me that he was a man who unboxed Jesus. In the early 19th century, Charles Finney not only turned America upside down for Christ, but also exemplified what it looks like to embrace the whole Jesus. As a revivalist preacher and a radical Evangelist, he ignited the Second Great Awakening, passionately preaching personal salvation and calling people to repentance. His messages brought thousands to Christ, awakening hearts to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, Finney didn’t stop at individual conversion, because he knew the Gospel demanded more.
Charles Finney understood that following Jesus meant addressing the social sins of his time, not just the personal ones. He played a pivotal role in desegregating Oberlin College, making it one of the first institutions in America to admit Black students and women. For Evangelist Finney, the Jesus who saved individuals was the same Jesus who demanded justice and equality in our society. He didn’t separate the personal from the public or the spiritual from the social.
His ministry proves that unboxing Jesus isn’t a new idea, it’s a return to the Gospel’s original intention to transform lives, communities and nations. Why have we settled for half of Jesus? Why have we allowed ourselves to prioritize one aspect of His mission while neglecting the other? Charles Finney’s example shows us that revival and reformation are not opposing forces; they are inseparable. Personal conversion fuels societal transformation and societal transformation reflects the fruit of personal conversion.
When Jesus is unboxed, He breaks down barriers. He calls sinners to repentance while dismantling systems of injustice. He reconciles people to God and to one another. Finney understood this. His life and ministry remind us that the whole Jesus is far more powerful than any version we can fit into our boxes or silos. Following the whole Jesus doesn’t just change individuals, it changes us, it changes communities and it changes nations.