What do I believe? I have been giving this some thought over the past several months and after hearing points of views from various strands of the faith...I have decided to come clean on it. Sad to say, I am not supporting either conservative or extreme left-wing lines. I am somewhere in the middle.
I believe Jesus' basis for His teachings were laid out in the beatitudes. All of His teachings flow from that stradasphere. It's seems to lay down an index on the rest of the things taught by Him. I don't find places where Jesus goes against those 9 points in the gospels. I find tonnes of places where that index seems to be re-itterated again and again. Top that off, the teachings in the sermon on the mount seem to lay down every ethics afterwards and is ended with the parable about the foundation of these teachings (the rock and the sand). So in Matthew 5 through 7 you get an index, followed by some core teachings, and an ending. The rest of the teachings of Christ flow from these ideals (framed by the beatitudes) and end with saying 'these teachings are a paradigm'.
I give full support to the gospel writer's and the early community for saving these writings. I believe they do not contradict one another but preserve the teachings of Christ quite uniformly. I am not saying they are 'without errors' (these are humans we speak of) but that the message does not change book to book. The letters I place on a secondary level since they are just that, letters. They are written to certain communities and people about issues of the day. They are good for teachings but if they run contrary to the teachings of Christ then I have to choose Jesus' words as a priority. I am not sure if they run contrary but if they do then we have to claim Jesus first and the letters for what they are. Simple, I know.
The OT is the history of Israel and the story of how God worked through them in times past. We can go from Adam, to Abe-Isaas-Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the Exodus, the Kings, the Judges, King David, the Prophets, etc. It's all quite well an explanation of the times and how God saved a community but that all changed with Jesus. Now all people of all communities are accepted into the same line as the OT through Jesus. Jesus was the fulfillement of messianic prophecy (Matt 5:17-20) and to boot the 'Son of God'. This is backed up by the claims within the gospels . If he was not the Messiah (or the 'son of God') I may see a need to become a Jewish proselyte, as it is, that's not what the disciples claim about Jesus. Even Jesus claims people from all over will sit at the table of 'Abe-Isaac-Jacob' and see's a need for all people's to join this lineage, which is absolutely accepting through Himself. So the OT is grand with great teachings but as the disciples used it so do I, to prove Jesus was who He said He was, and on that I the gospels even rest.
I do not agree scritpural integrity can be kept by slicing up scripture to make an ideology, this is ludacris. If you take a scritpure from anywhere then it comes from within a context and that has to be respected. So if I take one scripture from Matthew, another from Revelations, and yet another from Hebrews this does not make a cohesive argument or maintain scriptural integrity. It is disrespectful to the original writers and can result in pure BS. If you wanna quote a passage from one book then do so but don't string together a bunch of scriptures from all over the bible and say the bible was 'meant to say this'. It doesn't work and more often than not 'misquotes' these writers. So if you interpret a passage in Hebrews it should line up with the idea in the rest of Hebrews (nothing more).
I base all my beliefs on Jesus' teachings, to say the least. If Jesus teaches to love one another and love God and those are the only 2 commandments at all you can be assured I agree. If Jesus teaches about the prodigal son and accepting that person who 'left' back into the family, you can bet I agree. If Jesus reams on the Pharisee's for their strict interpretation of the OT and how they enacted law on the people around them, then challenges their basis...yes I will agree. I will not only agree I will develop such a fervant love for the ideals as to follow them and not betray their sincerity. I don't see a single thing in Jesus' teachings that are to the detriment of humanity but only for the support of humanity. Anyone teaching that Jesus supports any ideal that destroys human betterment has (a) read the gospels in a warped doctrinal light, or (b) never took the time to actually read those gospels for themselves.
Lastly, the idea of salvation is based in the ideals you live by. Jesus died & resurrected for all and everyone is free to follow or live contrary to His teachings. The disciples make it clear that you can choose to 'believe' or 'not believe' these teachings. By believe I actually mean live them out, not just lip-service to the faith. It is not 'salvation by action' but 'salvation will not go without the action'. That is to say, as Christ acted in such manner to take Him to the cross for humanity then so should we act for those around us (in this we show we actually grasp the grace and love of God for everyone and WWJD). I term this 'total salvation' for lack of a better term. It means everything Jesus taught led Him to that cross, and that was based in love. So, God is love but so should we be.
I know most people will dis-agree with some of the premise I lay down but it is quite sound. Have I figured it out, no. Do I care? No. Who will ever have all the answers to life questions and dilemma's but I know what I can do. The Beatitudes. They say 9 simple things: care for the poor, mourn (have compassion), have a meek attitude (opposite of pride), thirst for truth/answers in tough situations, show mercy, strive for pure-ness in things I do (not for the building of ego), become a peace-maker, and act in righteousness (doing the right thing) in face of non-acceptance. Those ideals took Jesus to the cross and demonstrated a full love for people, who although were altogether deemed undeserving of it, still got it. Now what do you have to give?
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17 comments:
Great post!!
So..... What exactly do you believe?? I caught the full faith in satan part, but what else?? LOL
j/k
Franklin, now that's sense of humor.
Sounds good, bro!
I'm not sure I see the beatitudes as a "plan to be followed", but more of a description of the concept of "love". As if Jesus said, let me show you how great love is, and how it will shape your lives... let me show you what love "looks like".
I think trying to live life as an example of the teachings of Christ is a little like putting the cart before the horse. First comes love... falling in love... and living in love. The sermon on the mount showed us what it looks like to live in love.
But, that's just my opinion/observation.
Bruce I agree with your take on it also. I don't claim a 'plan' of any sort but an interpretive lens of how to view the teachings of Christ. In the end, God is love, lived love, and transferred love to others. Then that kind of love has to be reflected in us if we believe the teachings or believe in Christ, per se.
I guess I am not proposing a limiting doctrine where we get stuck with certain rules. I think the values/ethics are open to each situation we live in (on a personal level) and the teachings actually require we search for the answers, not get handed a dogma of beliefs.
I think that's how they were written (Matthew's beatitude as an index of the teachings), as an index, a teachings piece, and the parable (to show us 'hey here is the foundation'). I am not asking much of people but they seek in Christ's teachings the answers they need (not for me but for themselves). Also honesty with the scriptures.
Very well thought out and presented. You are the man!!!
Excellent credo. I love your statement about being assured of only 2 commands. I figure once we get that down, we can worry about other stuff. My root belief is similar. I believe God is love.
Society, check out my blog will ya!
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Excellent! I especially think that we must trust what the Gospels say about Jesus as authentic witnesses. Their portrayal of Jesus fits the overall picture so well, historically speaking, that it's hard to deny their rightful place in our faith life.
I see the Beatitudes as a compendium of what Israel was always meant to be and as a clarion call for Israel to return to their ancient faith unmarred by human tradition. The whole Sermon on the Mount serves as commentary on the Beatitudes, and Jesus lays it out quite thoroughly with the effect of silencing the crowd.
greetings from a fellow reginian. what are the odds?
I apprreciate your post. In particular, I like to see people be honest about the shortcomings of their understanding of the faith. How did a group who stems from bunch of wanders become so certain about everything? If we're going to be honest, we are all going to have questions and that isn't bad.
"Have I figured it out, no. Do I care? No. Who will ever have all the answers to life questions and dilemma's but I know what I can do."
SO very true...great post! Living a life of love and continuing to find out what I have to give and then giving it...that's what this faith journey's all about for me!
No one can have everything figured out, but the real test is "Are we forming opinion so that it soothes our own needs (rather what we don't want to change or would rather not give up)? This world really is not the ultimate answer, life is short and eternity, is just "never ending", we are here but for a moment, so the thing that humanity gets caught up in is rationalizing the things that we want to do rather than connecting and getting to know the hearbeat of God. Lots of things fall away when we really truly focus on Him. At the end of the day how many words are wasted, and how much are we really doing to share the heartbeat of God....
I thought I would leave a last remark, as I have made a new start...on Hi 5...good luck with all your discussions. Thanks for the comments on my old site that I took down
I think it's beautiful to try to follow the beatitudes. Not always as simple to follow as they look. But I don't think that you can go wrong by following the beatitudes and trying to be more like Christ was in his life as described in the Bible.
Interesting thoughts. I enjoy your writing as well!
Jesus said if your eye offends you pluck it out.
Jesus said if your hand offends you cut if off.
My ability to be like Christ and succeed is about the same level as my ability to be like Tiger Woods and succeed(in golf).
The gospels over and over again tell the jews what to do(you see this wasn't written for us gentiles), they all failed miserably, they all deserted Christ, he went to the cross fully and completely alone.
Something happened between Jesus teaching before the cross, and Jesus teaching(through Pauls writings) after the cross.I think it has something to do with God redeeming us all, we tried we failed He succeeded! All by the finished work of the cross.
This is the power of the gospel, this is what motivates me to care and love for others, because He first loved and cared for us
just my thoughts :)
Marco Albright
But even James (after the cross) in his letter places a huge focus on this same point...calls it true religion (meaning the actual point of it). Marco I would like to agree but then what of Jesus' example? The gospels reflect nothing and the teachings, which the disciples did record, means very little. Paul was great and all but I would consider his letters as letters, the gospels are records of what Jesus taught.
This is a very inciteful post with lots to ponder and think about. Thanks for writing it!
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