Going Old School

I've decided to going back to the old school way of reading my bible.
I dug out the faux leather covered book and am reading through the Gospels old school.

In a recent conversation, someone expressed that it is impossible to read the gospels, follow Jesus's example, and not become more liberal.
Hmmm...

I decided that maybe I needed to reread the Gospels and really pay attention to what Jesus was teaching, both in word and in his life. I am learning to see Jesus as two distinct persons: Jesus the human being, and Christ the eternal one. Sometimes I get this weird scenario in my head that is like an episode of Undercover Boss where God (the CEO) disguises himself and joins us (the workers) to see how we truly feel about him, life in general, and our co-workers. At the end of the episode some people will get big rewards and others get special remedial training or worse -- fired! (See what I did there?)

Rereading the book while trying to forget what you have been incorrectly taught is difficult. To be honest, studying to find the original meaning of Jesus's teaching to a 2000 year old foreign culture is kind of a pain in the ass (pardon the irreverence). I'm not sure that I can find a way to put it into words as I go through it and discover new revelations or develop new thoughts on how to apply his teachings to my life. It's so weird how reading the bible as a daily devotion can be quite peaceful and comforting, but reading it as a study can be so frustrating, a bit confusing, and yet exciting. I guess it's a matter of perspective. It's still weird.

I'll work on sharing some of what I'm thinking. I'm cautious about that because my thoughts and opinions are just that -- my thoughts and opinions. Not only are they subject to change as new information is learned, they also come from an uneducated seeker of knowledge and are quite possibly way off the mark. They should be taken as food for thought, not as...well, -- gospel.

Here are some questions I ask myself as I read:
     Why did Jesus come?
     Did he come to die?
     Or to teach us how to live?
     Maybe both?
Obviously, the Christ person didn't come to know us better, but what if he came so that we could know God better? What do we learn about God through the life (and death) of Jesus?
     Was Jesus's death on the cross necessary for our salvation or is there an important lesson about the character and love of God?
     What if everything I already know about God is wrong?

I have to admit that I have become increasingly wary of lessons from organized (think denominational) religion. Pretty much every man-made organization has an agenda that it is willing to use people to attain. The spiritual abuse and cult-like control over members has made me very skeptical about churches. My religion is now more personal than congregational. I think that's the way it is supposed to be.

John