Dear Friend,
There is something about me that you should know: I desperately want people to like me. Unhealthily so. This is probably because it is rare for me to run into someone who I don't honestly love. Almost everyone I meet feels almost instantly like an old friend. And for some reason, I also forgive and forget easily - so I can't ever stay mad at anyone. It is just the way I am wired.
Now that would be all fine and good. Except... since asking Jesus if I could become his follower (he always says yes), I find myself wanting to know him authentically coupled with a great desire to teach others about him.
One might think wanting to be liked and wanting to teach others about Jesus would go hand in hand, but it sometimes make people really mad when you repeat Jesus' teachings. And even madder when you tell them to live them out. His teaching are hard and difficult and often insulting.
So I have found that those two characteristics - wanting people to like me and teaching people about the real Jesus - can be crazy making. Jesus is love - but not the mushy kind. Its tougher love than one might imagine. So when I sit down to write my blog every morning and read the next scripture for the day, if it is one of those scriptures when Jesus has been harsh, I find myself spending a lot of time trying to find an angle to soften Jesus. Not because I want to protect Jesus, but because I want to protect me! Not good!
And if you've followed this blog, "Ignoring Jesus" which asked the question every day: "How are we ignoring Jesus' teachings?" You can imagine how hard it was for me to take that angle each day. It was so negative pointing out how most of us aren't cutting it. The angle had bothered me for a long time, so I finally decided to put this old blog to bed and to flip the question upside down and ask "How can we embrace Jesus and his teachings?"
So here goes... please join me on my new blog site Embracing Jesus. And walk with me through Jesus' life chronologically looking at what he taught and who he was. Let me be the cheerleader who inspires you to embrace Jesus' teachings. Jesus' teachings will still be hard and insulting at times, but this new blog will encourage us to fall at Jesus' feet and embrace him!
April
Monday, January 3, 2011
Family Values not Based on Genetics
Jesus teaches a new kind of family unit for his community.
Mark 3:31 - 4:1 31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
The religious culture of our day has taught that genetic family ties are what make our country strong. But that isn't exactly what Jesus taught. In Jesus' definition, family consisted of those who work together to do God's will. In other words, family is made up of those bonded together to follow Jesus.
Jesus tell us that when we choose to follow him, he becomes our brother. And all of his followers become our mothers, sisters, and brothers. Interesting that he leaves out fathers. Matthew 23:9 explains why - his followers only have one father - God.
Here is just another way that Jesus is turning the accepted social order upside down. Not only is he teaching that his followers are to have an even deeper relationship with each other than they do with genetically related family members (of course, in the best case, our genetic family is also Jesus' family), but he is teaching that it is this new kind of family that will be the foundation of his community - not the genetic one. In fact, he says the genetic family will often divide because of him (Matthew 10:34-37).
The old patriarchal social order (where the father controls his offspring and wife) is different from how Jesus has calls us to live in his community. Instead he has called all of his followers into a life of mutual submission where they join together to support each other in doing God's will.
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that family values shouldn't be based on genetic ties?
Mark 3:31 - 4:1 31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
The religious culture of our day has taught that genetic family ties are what make our country strong. But that isn't exactly what Jesus taught. In Jesus' definition, family consisted of those who work together to do God's will. In other words, family is made up of those bonded together to follow Jesus.
Jesus tell us that when we choose to follow him, he becomes our brother. And all of his followers become our mothers, sisters, and brothers. Interesting that he leaves out fathers. Matthew 23:9 explains why - his followers only have one father - God.
Here is just another way that Jesus is turning the accepted social order upside down. Not only is he teaching that his followers are to have an even deeper relationship with each other than they do with genetically related family members (of course, in the best case, our genetic family is also Jesus' family), but he is teaching that it is this new kind of family that will be the foundation of his community - not the genetic one. In fact, he says the genetic family will often divide because of him (Matthew 10:34-37).
The old patriarchal social order (where the father controls his offspring and wife) is different from how Jesus has calls us to live in his community. Instead he has called all of his followers into a life of mutual submission where they join together to support each other in doing God's will.
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that family values shouldn't be based on genetic ties?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A sin that is unforgivable.
Jesus teaches that there is a sin that is unforgivable.
Mark 3:22-30 the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "Jesus has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28 "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- 30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
An unforgivable sin? This story really doesn't match with progressive Christian thought. We want to say that Jesus never stops pursuing anyone... that forgiveness is available to all of us all of the time. That the Holy Spirit continues to work on us even after death until we "get on board" with Jesus. But, sadly, this story sure doesn't seem to back that up.
The religious leaders of the day didn't like Jesus. He was rocking their world... he was tearing down their rules and rituals in favor of compassion and love. He was turning their family systems and lines of authority upside down. And the real problem was that the general public was starting to like Jesus more than they liked the religious leaders. So to scare the people, the religious leaders started spreading a rumor that Jesus' was empowered - not by the Holy Spirit - but by Satan.
Jesus says this is an unforgivable sin: "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin". I don't supposed it helped any that their motivation was to preserve their power base by scaring people away from Jesus and back towards the religion and lifestyle they were promoting.
As a teenager these verses really worried me. Perhaps they still do. How many times have I looked at something the Holy Spirit is doing and because of my own selfish desires and ignorance not recognized it as the Holy Spirit's work? And then because it didn't benefit me, I called it evil instead of recognizing it as God's work?
For instance, I once heard a group of people call Christian praise music evil because it had a rhythm they thought was too hip for church. I wanted to say, "Are you sure you want to call that evil? Is it not possible the Holy Spirit is at work in that music?" Their motivations for calling it evil seemed to be to keep their musical preferences intact on Sunday morning. Not terribly far from what these religious people in Jesus' time were doing.
I heard another group say that one could not be Christian if they identified with a certain political party. Is it not possible that the Holy Spirit is at work in people of all political persuasions? Were they blaspheming the Holy Spirit when they called people in the opposite political party evil? Their motivations for calling the other person evil was to push a political views that promoted their lifestyle. Not terribly far from what these religious people in Jesus' time were doing.
Another group called women ministers evil; another those who spoke in tongues; another those who baptize infants; another those who don't. Do we have a habit of arrogantly and ignorantly calling things evil that might just be the work of the Holy Spirit?
Or perhaps it is completely different because none of these groups were calling out Jesus himself as being empowered by Satan. But they might have both been calling the work of the Holy Spirit evil - and for selfish purposes. Maybe the difference is that the groups in my example were doing it unintentionally out of ignorance - where as, the religious people in the story did it with full knowledge of what they were doing? I don't know. Either way, to call the work of God evil is a very serious offense.
How often do we indirectly call the work of the Holy Spirit evil? And when does it become the same thing as saying that Jesus has an unclean spirit?
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that there is an unforgivable sin? I'd sure like to ignore it.
Mark 3:22-30 the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "Jesus has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28 "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- 30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
An unforgivable sin? This story really doesn't match with progressive Christian thought. We want to say that Jesus never stops pursuing anyone... that forgiveness is available to all of us all of the time. That the Holy Spirit continues to work on us even after death until we "get on board" with Jesus. But, sadly, this story sure doesn't seem to back that up.
The religious leaders of the day didn't like Jesus. He was rocking their world... he was tearing down their rules and rituals in favor of compassion and love. He was turning their family systems and lines of authority upside down. And the real problem was that the general public was starting to like Jesus more than they liked the religious leaders. So to scare the people, the religious leaders started spreading a rumor that Jesus' was empowered - not by the Holy Spirit - but by Satan.
Jesus says this is an unforgivable sin: "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin". I don't supposed it helped any that their motivation was to preserve their power base by scaring people away from Jesus and back towards the religion and lifestyle they were promoting.
As a teenager these verses really worried me. Perhaps they still do. How many times have I looked at something the Holy Spirit is doing and because of my own selfish desires and ignorance not recognized it as the Holy Spirit's work? And then because it didn't benefit me, I called it evil instead of recognizing it as God's work?
For instance, I once heard a group of people call Christian praise music evil because it had a rhythm they thought was too hip for church. I wanted to say, "Are you sure you want to call that evil? Is it not possible the Holy Spirit is at work in that music?" Their motivations for calling it evil seemed to be to keep their musical preferences intact on Sunday morning. Not terribly far from what these religious people in Jesus' time were doing.
I heard another group say that one could not be Christian if they identified with a certain political party. Is it not possible that the Holy Spirit is at work in people of all political persuasions? Were they blaspheming the Holy Spirit when they called people in the opposite political party evil? Their motivations for calling the other person evil was to push a political views that promoted their lifestyle. Not terribly far from what these religious people in Jesus' time were doing.
Another group called women ministers evil; another those who spoke in tongues; another those who baptize infants; another those who don't. Do we have a habit of arrogantly and ignorantly calling things evil that might just be the work of the Holy Spirit?
Or perhaps it is completely different because none of these groups were calling out Jesus himself as being empowered by Satan. But they might have both been calling the work of the Holy Spirit evil - and for selfish purposes. Maybe the difference is that the groups in my example were doing it unintentionally out of ignorance - where as, the religious people in the story did it with full knowledge of what they were doing? I don't know. Either way, to call the work of God evil is a very serious offense.
How often do we indirectly call the work of the Holy Spirit evil? And when does it become the same thing as saying that Jesus has an unclean spirit?
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that there is an unforgivable sin? I'd sure like to ignore it.
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