In our BELLS system, the fourth habit we wish to cultivate in our effort to be more missional, and therefore more Christ-like, people is to Learn Jesus.
Our first, best source in this is of course the Bible, beginning with the Gospels but include all of scripture. For the more advanced reader I would recommend looking at some of the heretical Gospels, not because they teach about who Jesus is but about what, if we are left to our own devices, he is Not.
The following list is pared down from the one presented in Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People by Michael Frost, which has been one of my primary texts in this study. I have read some of these, or am familiar with the content from other material by the same author, however I am not fully conversant with all of them. Some of these you will find quite challenging to your ideas about Jesus, but all of the writers are Christians, well educated, and dedicated to ministry. They are presented in no particular order.
Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew
N.T. Wright The Challenge of Jesus
Rob Bell Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
Conrad Gempf Mealtime Habits of the Messiah
Tom Taylor. Paradoxy: Coming to Grips with the Contradictions of Jesus
Kenneth Bailey. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes
Here are a few films about Jesus worth looking at
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Godspell (1973) – one of my favorites
Jesus of Montreal (1989)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) – If you don’t realize this is about Jesus you might not know who he is. I cry at that one part with the Table every time, no matter how I am viewing the story.
Like with the other habits, I am asking you to be deliberate in your efforts to Learn Jesus. Take some time each week to devote yourself to Learning Jesus. Not the Sunday school lesson, not the devotional reading, but to really focus on who Jesus is and how that shapes your life and world.