You are walking through a crowded shopping town centre and you are stopped by a person distributing curious looking tracts in a comic book format. You see that the tract has a religious theme, a Christian theme to it. You tell them you too are a Christian and that it is good to see another Christian preaching God's Word, and you seek to encourage them by saying something like: "Praise God, for what you are doing!" The person asks you if what you have just said is "a cliche". You sense a distance developing and ask them what Church or denomination they are part of. The person says they are simply a Christian and asks you if you are obeying Christ's commands? You explain that you do your best to follow Christ and obey Him, but the person butts in and asks you: "Then have you given away all your possessions?!" You explain that you haven't and they tell you that you are not really obeying the teachings of Jesus. During the rest of the course of the conversation it is implied that you and your Church are hypocrites and Pharisees. You walk away feeling bewildered by the whole experience! You have just met The Jesus Christians.

The above dialogue is a combination of a number of actual encounters that I had with this group myself in 1993. They were often seen in the local town centre distributing their tracts, which are in a comic book format. Since this time I have managed to collect a good selection of their literature, and have also exchanged a few letters (Correspondence).

Although the group currently calls themselves "The Jesus Christians" they used to simply go by the name "Christians" or "The Christians". They have also been called "Followers of the Lamb" and the "Rappville Christians". They are led by Dave McKay, an Australian who has had a varied involvement with Christianity and the infamous The Children of God (now known as The Family). The group no longer has involvement with the Children of God, and although it rejects their teachings on promiscuity, it admits that their are certain other aspects that are similar. These are their teachings about "living by faith, about endtime prophecy, and about living communally" (Jesus Christians FAQ). Additionally, the style of the comic books that the group distributes are similar to those distributed by the Children of God. The group is only very small in numbers with only 26 active members at this present time, although they have had over 100 people who have joined them over the years (Getting the Facts Right). But even though the group is very small they have made a big impact on the world. They are out and about distributing their literature wherever crowds are prevalent around the world.

Most people first heard of the Jesus Christians on July 14, 2000, when the Daily Express charged them with kidnapping a 16 year old boy, Bobby Kelly, from Romford High Street, Essex. Bobby had met one of the group members outside a Marks & Spencer store and became intrigued with their comic books. Soon after, Bobby announced to his parents that he wanted to join the group and began moving his possessions out of his home. After disappearing for two weeks Bobby was eventually found, unharmed at a campsite, and was made a ward of court.

Even more recently, the Jesus Christians featured in a Channel 4 documentary - Witness (25/01/03), which focused on their belief that those in the group who have healthy body organs to spare should give them up for others. On the Witness programme Dave McKay explains that he was inspired towards the idea of organ donations by a fictional movie that was showing on an aeroplane flight he was travelling on. The movie shows a young man's willingness to donate his kidney to a sick relative. From this time on, the idea of the Jesus Christians giving up their kidneys to strangers has become a prominent feature.

Although the process of individuals donating an organ to someone is certainly an act of great sacrifice, it is worrying that a group has taken this concept on board as it could be implied that those in the group are expected to go through with such a thing to continue to feel part of their community. The question also needs to be asked: If the group is willing to give up their kidneys at the suggestion of their leader, where else could this lead? If it is organ donations today what will it be in the future? The group defends their practice of organ donations and comments on the Witness programme on their web site: (Kidney Comments).

The group is very critical of other Christians and churches. Much of their comic book literature ridicules other Christians as "Hypocrites" "Churchies" and "Religious people". However, they often appear to be very defensive when anybody questions their beliefs in return. I have not been the only one to observe this. The Apologetics Index website states:

"While the group militates - often in extreme ways - against established churches, denominations, and Christians who do not share the group's theology, ''Jesus Christians'' itself appears to have somewhat of a persecution complex." (Apologetics Index: Jesus Christians)

On a positive note, when one examines their literature, it must be admitted that it does have some helpful rebukes and challenges for all Christians. Their commitment to seek to follow Jesus' teachings is also commendable. Their literature also rightfully points out some of the false practices that have crept into some churches, such as the "prosperity movement", or "the health and wealth gospel" (see for eg. Fair Dinkum). Unfortunately though, the impression is given that most, if not all, churches subscribe to this false teaching when this is certainly not the case.

Before looking at some of the beliefs and practices of the group in a bit more depth, it is worth briefly outlining the following:

• The Jesus Christians place a big emphasis on Christ's commandments and words (Faith in Whom?).

• They believe that the Bible (they use the KJV) has some "errors" in it (The Word of God).

• They seem to down play being baptised in water (Water Baptism).

• So as not to waste food the group have been known to raid bins from such places as the back of supermarkets, etc. (Bin Raiders).

• The group has an apocalyptic and end times emphasis (Armageddon).

• The group is open to God speaking to them through dreams. Time is spent discussing members dreams and seeking to interpret them. (Dreams).

I think that the principle of what Jesus is saying here is that we should not have a love of material things. This is certainly reflected in the case of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus. The reason he couldn't enter into eternal life was because he was more interested in his wealth than in God. To be a Christian we need to put God first and foremost. The rich young ruler was not willing to do this, as are many people today unwilling to do so. If we were to take the command to "forsake all" literally, in every detail, true Christians could only be identified as those who don't wear any clothes! It is being bound up with the love of possessions, that God is against, not our having them.

Christians can have wealth in the world as long as they put it into perspective and get their priorities right - do not have a love of money. God is to be placed first in all things. There is a saying: "Do you have money, or does money have you?" Even in the first century there were wealthy Christians who did not love their wealth but gave freely of what they had. Joseph of Arimathea is an example of this (Matt. 27:57-60; Luke 23:50-51; John 19:38). Wealthy Christians who follow in the footsteps of Joseph of Arimathea are invaluable to Christian work as they provide much needed finance and resources to help many Christian ministries, charities, and missions to function.

Born Again
The group appear to have an issue with the concept of being born-again. Born again people are often mocked and referred to as "born-againers" (A Mess of Myths). A friend of mine met the group in a local shopping centre and told me that when he asked them if they were born-again, one of the group replied: "Born-again? That's just something that Billy Graham has made up!" The Mess of Myths booklet states:

"...born againers believe a Christian is one who has said a little prayer, asking 'Jesus' to come into their 'heart', and saying they are sorry for their sins. This ritual is often referred to as 'accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour', or 'saying the sinners prayer'. The fact that there is no support for the myth anywhere in the teachings of Jesus doesn't daunt the born againers." (A Mess of Myths).

Likewise, another source states:

"Born-againers have...taken a valid biblical phrase and stuck it on their very unbiblical product. When did any disciple of Jesus in the Bible ever say a little prayer "asking Jesus into his or her heart"? And when did anyone ever teach such a shallow ritual in the Bible?" (Born Again )

Although the Bible doesn't have an exact formula or prayer for asking Jesus into one's life, this does not mean that the content for the practice is not in the Bible. Indeed, the Bible very rarely outlines doctrines in a systematic fashion. The doctrine of the Trinity is another example of this. Although the doctrine is certainly in the Bible, it is not set out in a systematic fashion. When Christians ask Jesus into their lives by saying a prayer they are simply bringing together a number of biblical principles. These are:

• "You must be born again" - a clear command of Jesus (John 3:3-7).

• Repent (Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19; 17:30).

• Have faith/belief in Christ (John 3:16; 6:47; 1 John 5:13).

• Receive Jesus (John 1:12; Col. 2:6; Rev. 3:20).

• Christ in your heart (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:17; 1 Pet. 3:15).

"We have often ridiculed this approach [i.e. asking Jesus into your life/heart through prayer]. However, we have recently given serious consideration to the possibility that we have not fairly considered its positive aspects. We did a survey amongst our own members and discovered that a high percentage of us said a little prayer asking Jesus into our hearts at some time in our spiritual development, and that most of us found the experience helpful. We are not against people praying prayers to accept Christ as their Saviour, or to ask Christ to "come into" (or better still, "to take over") their lives. Simplifying salvation into such a formula makes it easier to train others to "lead" people in making such a decision or commitment. It also gives the new Christian a way to turn good intentions into an objective action , which can serve as a starting point to a whole new life. " (Some of our Best Friends are Heretics)

The apparent change of heart towards being born again is also seen when one compares the addition of the command in later versions of the groups publication Jesus' Commands: The Top 40 with how it appeared in 1993 (Jesus Christians on "Jesus' Commands: The Top 40").

Christology and Doctrine of God
The group attempts to keep a simple Christology and doctrine of God. Along with other traditional Evangelicals, they accept that Jesus is both man and God, and feel that the doctrine of the Trinity is a good way of explaining the Godhead. However, the group also seems to have a sort of 'take it or leave it' attitude to the doctrine and explain that they do not think that it is "imperative that our members subscribe to the traditional explanation (i.e. the "Trinity" teaching)" (We Believe in Jesus Christ). They also state the following about the Trinity doctrine:

"Orthodox teaching on the Trinity is at best boring, and at worst an excuse for bigotry." (Father and Son, Two for One ).

Other Religions
There seems to be a suggestion that people in other religions can be saved even though they remain in that religion. The Hindu leader Ghandi is often represented in a positive light in a lot of their literature. Some quotes by the group on this include:

"And real faith in God will unite all sincere people in the world, REGARDLESS of their religious affiliation." (Faith and Sincerity).

"If salvation is really by faith and not by religious ritual or affiliation, then we think that even a Samaritan (or a Hindu or Muslim) who has faith in God will be saved by the blood of Christ, on the basis of their faith in God." (Eternal Salvation).

Masturbation
The group teaches that masturbation is o.k., and that the sexual thoughts that accompany the practice are o.k. too. The reasoning is that it is better to think about such things rather than actually do it. It is even taught that as Christ was fully human He may have had "wet dreams" and therefore, possibly sex thoughts to accompany the dreams! (W***ing: The Last Taboo).

Language
The group also seems to be quite free in the area of using language that would be viewed as swearing by many. My wife and I experienced this ourselves personally when we met them in 1993. This is also reflected in some of the literature (see for example, Mountains and Molehills, Chapter: "Learning to Lead"), We Believe in Jesus Christ (last paragraph), and correspondence that I have had (Correspondence).

Shock Value
Related to the above issue, I feel that the group is very much into `shock value', to outrage Christians who attend churches and to be deliberately provocative, in an attempt to attract the attention of the public. This is very much reflected in the literature that is handed out. But the group have also staged such publicity stunts as giving away money, burning money, defacing (or "re-facing" as they call it) public billboards, and the latest attention high profile activity has been that of its members donating their organs.

Useful External Links:

Jesus Christians Websites:

The Jesus Christians Homepage:
http://www.cust.idl.net.au/fold/

Jesus Christians' New Studies Page
http://cust.idl.com.au/fold/New_studies/Newstudies_frames.html

The Jesus Christians literature and comic books online:
http://cust.idl.com.au/fold/Tracts.html
http://members.v3space.com/christianmp3/
http://christiancomix.virtualave.net/

Critical Articles:

Jesus Christians: aka: Followers of the Lamb:
http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/j13.html

The Jesus Christians (News articles on the Rick Ross site):
http://www.rickross.com/groups/jesuschristians.html

The Jesus Christians Offshoot of the COG?:
http://www.exfamily.org/art/cults/jesus_christians.shtml

The Guardian, Saturday April 6, 2002, Blood sacrifice (part one and two):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4386862,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,678318,00.html