Can You Die Better?

I struggle as a pastor to teach the people under my care about the true Jesus. There are so many different Jesus'in our world. Our society makes him into whomever they need at the moment I think. I really see this right now during the presidential election. Don't get me wrong, I vote. And I believe we can make a difference. But I also believe that we try to make Jesus vote...and that's wrong. I see it in the everyday lives of Christians. We WORK so hard to prove ourselves worthy of eternal life, the cross. We try to align ourselves with the right organizations, the right churches, the right think tanks, the right universities, the right schools for our children the right neighborhoods. There is nothing wrong with this so much...but we try to make Jesus choose the "right" areas and places to be as well. And If it goes against what we believe is right, then we back away from THAT Jesus. We categorize churches and make sure we know if they are liberal or conservative, left or right, in or out, pre-tribulation or post-tribulation etc, etc. At some level this ok, but we try to make Jesus do the same. We assess people's lives..."fruit inspect" when our own fruit is far from fresh. We watch people and decide about them. We assume and presume. That's human...that's our sin nature. But we try to make Jesus do the same. And...he can't, he won't. And it is a fight between shapes...we take him off a cross and put him in a cube. The true Jesus is in everything, every thought camp and every piece of rotting fruit. He is there breathing life, offering hope...bringing the dead back to breath. But we think we can do it better. We'd never admit it. We may not even know ourselves well enough. But we look at the cross...and think we can do it better. But I am struggling with a thought that I cannot shake. Can I bleed, can I fall on the dirt path, can I take a blow to my nose, can I allow spit to remain in my eyes, can I die...better than Jesus?