... OK, that title is debatable. And as always, I crave dissent, so hit me with your best shots. I’ve been reconsidering Jesus’ teachings in the past few days in light of the change in perspective I described in my last post. Not a thorough study, just my thoughts. It seems to me that there is one overriding theme that seems to fit about all of His direct teachings: they are crazy… completely upside-down and in oposition to “normal” ways people thought and acted. Read Jesus’ words again in light of a recognition that He is our master and that we should obey without hesitation.
James and John did, when He just sauntered by and casually told them to drop their work and leave their father to do their family work alone. Do you understand how crazy that was in their society? They did it without hesitation (I have always wondered what their father thought in that moment). He told a rich man to sell all he had and give it away. He told His disciples to take nothing with them - nothing - on an extended trip. He told a dead man to rise, He told people that a widow’s penny was the most significant gift. He commanded the masses to give no thought or worry for tomorrow, that calling your brother a fool is equivalent to murder, to follow without saying goodbye to your family - in fact, to hate your family, that He had come not to bring peace - but division, and a sword, that His kingdom is like a mustard seed (mustard was a weed that was a major nuisance in farmers’ fields and almost impossible to eradicate), that those who mourn are blessed, that we must become like little children to enter the kingdom, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to be saved, that those who seek to save their lives will lose them, to love our neighbors (defined as those we despise) as ourselves. Despite that, people were drawn to Him in droves - but when they were, He intentionally pushed them away with teachings He knew they would not understand - such as, you have no place with me unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood (separate yourself from our theology - they did not know of the concept of communion and in their culture and religion, eating human flesh was an absolute taboo). He was extremely effective at pushing people away, and was followed by only a very small group of devoted followers when He died.
I think this theme is the dominant theme in Jesus’ words. Words that, in fact, led to the “failure” of His mission - that is, failure if measured by the measures of success we use in our churches and personal lives today. Measures like peaceful lives, smooth relationship with society, conformity to socials norms and values, large, growing churches, financial success. In fact, if anyone has time to go through the gospels and count His statements, and mark them as “normal” or “crazy”, my guess is that “crazy” outnumbers “normal” by 2-1 if not more. As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of practical applications. My application for this is that our lives should look crazy to people around us in every setting. That is NOT what saves us. What saves us is His cleansing blood and a transformation of our hearts into right standing with God that only He can accomplish. But if we’ve been transformed, we should be transformed - i.e. truly different. We should obey - even if the instructions are crazy to everyone around us. Personally, I don’t think we’re obeying very well. We’re far too normal.
Posted by Jim at 08:01 PM. Filed under: Scripture • Jim's Existential Ramblings •
