For a long time (nearly 10 years according to my Facebook memories) I've been using the simple statements of "God loves you," and "Jesus died for you," as a base for my preaching, teaching, and (hopefully) living.
I think it's time for a change.
Stay with me here. I've already been discarded to the heretic heap by many with far more theological education than me and most of you, but close-mindedness seems to be a consistent trait found in deeply conservative thinking whether it be conservative religion or politics. If you are open to a little reasoning and discussion, perhaps you'll see why I think I need to change.
Throughout my evangelical life, the emphasis has always been on the end game -- getting to heaven, salvation, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Evangelicals talk about discipleship, but really only as far as it helps to teach the message of salvation through trusting in Jesus as Savior.
What would happen if I switched my foundational statements to: God loves you, and Jesus lived for you?
The evangelical preacher in me wants to correct myself by saying "Jesus lives for you," because of the whole resurrection thing and he is still alive, but I'm referring to his human life. I'm talking about the Philippians 2 thing where Jesus sets aside the divine nature to become human. He lived (and died) as a human.
What would happen if we changed our way of thinking to focus on the life that Jesus lived rather than on the death that Jesus died?
What if we set aside the idea that we are concerned with eternity for others and just take care of their need to be loved now?
What if we leave it to God to be concerned with their eternal state of being and we simply follow the example of Jesus and love them as he loves them?
What if the whole point of Jesus living as a human wasn't just so that he could die as a human?
What if he lived as a human so that we would know how God expects us to live as humans?
What if heaven isn't a destination to be striven for but a state of being in which we can exist right now?
When Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand... ," what if he meant that we can choose to live in heaven RIGHT NOW?
What if we stopped thinking about the death of Jesus as a way to get to heaven and we started thinking about following the life of Jesus as a way to be in heaven?
Hmmm...
These are the questions I ask myself.
John <><
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3 comments:
I preach a sermon about why Jesus came, according to His own words. I’ve found 8 reasons why Jesus says He came. One of them was to die for us. There are 7 others.
Gee..I haven’t discarded you to anything. I can’t say I always agree 100%, but I do read what you write. It is always thought provoking. I do think we can disagree on somethings and still be friends...even if I never see you guys!! Man, I have learned more about the love of Christ in the last ten years than in the previous 50+. Please keep giving us things to think about.
Re-reading what I wrote I can see the ambiguity.
Discarded to the heretical heap by those that have more theological education than us (as in me and most of you), not discarded by most of you.
Thanks for always sharing words of encouragement, Fran.
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