Christmas Forest or Christmas Trees

This time of year, Christmas trees (which we love and should love) are everywhere. They can lift our spirits, recalibrate our thoughts and have enamored countless generations of children in anticipation and joy. Add a carol or two, a few angels on high with some lowly shepherds and the combination is fantastic! 

 

For those who wish to look a little deeper into the events inspiring this much-loved holiday, heaven's interface with earth becomes increasingly apparent. Magi and a star from the East; angelic visits, dreams and songs; instructions and miracles for unlikely people who become the lead characters in a story that never grows old. Wow!

 

Still, there's more to the story and the celebration.  From ancient times and sacred texts predictions and descriptions of these events abound.  Studied by scholars and proclaimed by clerics for centuries, the amazing convergence of history, scriptures, culture and hope all congeal. To even a casual observer, a plan so brilliant and well-ordered emerges arresting one's imaginative and analytical powers.  Joy to the world … God actually has, and is working, a plan! 

 

It's still a common expression in our day … you can't see the forest for the trees. Nothing could be more applicable in this season of celebration. The Christmas plan, like the Christmas tree, is inspiring and alluring. It is captivating. However, the plan is not the focus heaven is inviting the world to see.  Heaven's point is not the plan nor its components.  Heaven's only point is a person.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Christmas Forest; everything else is just Christmas trees.  

In or Out?

S - "Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people: The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son. The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused. … Then he said to the servants, 'It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don’t deserve to come.'" According to Matthew 22:1-3, 8 TJB 

 

O - Jesus is sent by God to clarify his person and his purposes. According to Jesus (who is the expert), the dynamics of this story are what God’s kingdom is like. The guests don’t get excluded from the wedding banquet because they missed their opportunity. There’s no misunderstanding, accidental lapse or unintended miscue.  They decide to refuse the invitation and exclude themselves. 

 

A - Religion inspires people to live in the fear of missing God’s person and purpose; that somehow, we’ll miss by mere distraction or by a misunderstood dynamic with unintended consequences.  Numerous religious teachings encourage this thinking and the tragic paranoias it produces. Again and again Jesus lives, demonstrates and teaches that God and his kingdom are not like that. We can in fact be excluded but not by mistake or misunderstanding. If I’m excluded it will never be by an unintended miss but only by an intentional choice.  Jesus’ invitation remains in force day by day: "follow me". Since I’m with him, choosing to follow him each day, I can’t miss and won’t be excluded. 

 

P - God Almighty,

Thank you for sending Jesus to the world (now 7.7 billion people).  Thank you for inviting us to meet and follow a person not join a religion, commit to a principle or work a plan. Thank you for the great dignity of choice … am very glad to be choosing day by day.

Intentionally following Jesus, 

Steve 

About the American Dream …

The American Dream inspired, captivated and propelled our Nation's Founders and Citizens to a way of thinking which was unheard of in their day: we the people … created equal … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights … life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The right to vote based on citizenship rather than financial holdings, religious freedom, a free press and the right to assemble all flow from this Dream.  To this very day it is unequalled and unparalleled in our world.  

 

The Dream came to imperfect people in an imperfect world.  A look back confirms that it was engaged by three basic types of individuals. Revolutionaries, patriots and those looking only to advance themselves.  The distinction is not necessarily apparent in one's speech but becomes very clear in one's living. Consider the following: While George Washington was leading the revolutionary army, a patriot named Martha Washington was living out her life in essential and sacrificial support. Paul Revere and his female counterpart in Connecticut, Sybil Ludington, sounded alarms at critical points in the conflict.  John Adams had the revolutionary task of obtaining a loan from the Dutch while the patriot Abigail Adams gave herself tirelessly to activities which kept them all alive. Esther DeBerdt Reed established “The Ladies of Philadelphia” raising an enormous amount of money to fund American troops. When Benedict Arnold wasn't being advanced as quickly under Washington as he thought he deserved he had no trouble going to the British to advance himself and his military career.  

 

Along with the Dream, these three types are with us to this very day. In this election year the phrase "the American Dream" is being touted.  The issue is that what many refer to as the Dream isn't the Dream at all. The beginning of the American Experiment came when 56 individuals started with the Dream and, as a result, pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honors to each other under the protection of Providence.  The change of thinking and living that followed is providing the world (not just Americans) with so many opportunities and blessings to this very day.  But the opportunities and blessings are not the dream, they are the result of those who embraced it.  The Dream cannot be embraced for me.  It calls me to decide my own response.  My thinking and my living will be the final arbiters as to which of the three types I become.  

The American Dream - a Change in Thinking

 

During the last few decades of the 18th century on the eastern seaboard of the North American continent 56 men had changed their thinking.  While the world had embraced the divine right of kings they were thinking "we the people". When the world had accepted the "reality" of two races, two classes of people, royalty and commoner, they were thinking "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights"… all the way to "liberty and justice for all." 

 

This change of thinking was so deep in them that these 56 individuals pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honors to each other under the protection of Providence.  This Dream informed, inspired, directed their lives and the actions they would take.  The result of this Dream was what most people at the time considered to be impossible; the beginning of the American Experiment. 

 

The American Dream is not owning your own home, establishing your own company, choosing your career path, religious beliefs or your mate for life. These are all the results of the Dream. It is the Dream which inspired and conceived the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It led to the three branches of government America is known for; these institutions did not and cannot produce the Dream. 

 

The Dream is to dictate the actions and functions of its proponents not the other way around.   Once anyone starts qualifying the dream by refusing or manipulating its universal application to all -- the Dream dies in that person or institution. To embrace and keep the Dream alive requires a life continuously inspired and directed by liberty and justice for all. The Dream requires an ongoing change of thinking and living for all who would inherit, enjoy and preserve its beauty, freedoms, power and light. 

 

In these currently not so United States, there is no group, party, occupation, ethnicity or person exempt from the need to change their thinking and living according to this Dream.  Injustice, greed, bigotry, lust for power, intoxication of rights and refusal of responsibilities to the Dream have polarized our nation from one end to the other.  The remedy is not in a political process or ideology but in a personal, individual, revitalization and transformation of thinking and living.  While those on each side of an issue are waiting for and demanding that the other side shift their position the Dream calls us all to a change of thinking and living: we the people … created equal … endowed by their Creator … liberty and justice for all. 

Agreement and Asking for Anything

 

S - "Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing." Philippians 2:1-4 (NLT)

O - Much is said about agreement when seeking God's help and answers to our prayers/needs.  This focus comes to us directly from the mouth of Jesus who said (Matthew 18:19-20 NLT): "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them." A miscue often happens at this point which Philippians 2 helps us overcome and avoid.  The agreement is not so much about a goal desired or an accomplishment completed.  The agreement is not merely about what we want but more about how we live.  According to the Scripture, the attributes of agreement include (require):

1.     Loving each other.

2.     Working together (interdependent never independent).

3.     Refusing to be selfish even about "good causes".

4.     Not living to make a good impression on others.

5.     Humility by considering others better (more important) than yourself.

6.     A genuine interest and involvement in others and what they are doing.

I think this is the agreement Jesus is referencing and this is the agreement that welcomes heaven to earth--deepening encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and sympathetic hearts … O yes, and awesome answers to anything.

 

A - There is not much in this list of attributes which seems to be working even when churches, ministries and believers "agree".  We tend to tolerate each other at best, invite in only those who have stuff we want, insist on maintaining control, put ourselves forward to make a good impression, look down on all who don't think we're really "hitting the ball" and only pretend to listen and care so that others will listen to us as we make our pitch.  This is how we're groomed by our culture (secular and religious) and this is exactly what Jesus wants to crucify in me. He doesn't want me to network he wants me to love.  If I do not love I am nothing (not even one thing). It's interesting that Jesus never told the disciples to work harder.  He did tell them to love more.  I'm going to work/live Jesus' list via Paul rather than the list via culture.  I'll keep my heart and life open to any who will agree.  

 

P - Lord who is Awesome,

I praise you for this day and this assignment concerning agreement.  Thank you for always letting us ask anything because nothing is impossible, too difficult or too wonderful for you.  Thank you for insisting that your children live like your children.  Lord, I'm sorry for merely networking when I clearly should have loved.  I'm sorry for accepting the deception concerning agreement and the pressure my culture exudes to perform above all else.  You will outperform any and all, but you will do so your way.  Lord, engage me, enable me, to work with you rather than for you so that agreement will be the way I live with those you have given me. Lord, lead on.

Steve

Jesusists* and the Scriptures - Part Three of Three

Jesus of Nazareth is sent to earth to clarify the person and purposes of God. His singular instruction, invitation and call is expressed in just two words “follow me” … and herein lies the concern. The difference between following and claiming to follow is nowhere more apparent than in the purpose, place and use of the Scriptures. Religion taught me that if I prayed and read the Scriptures every day I’d be kept safe and spiritually attuned.  Then, as I read in the Scriptures, I found that among those who read and prayed every day were the ones who hated Jesus and demanded his death. So, what are to make of this sad historic reality and our own interface with Scripture?  What can we find in the thinking, teaching and conclusions of Jesus?

 

Did Jesus think the Scriptures are inspired by God?  Even a cursory look at the record of his life renders an unwavering affirmative. With the Scriptures inspired by God, did he think that all Scriptures are of equal weight or importance?  Like the conclusion to the first question, the answer is equally clear. He did not. This is where the separating begins with those who will actually follow Jesus and those who choose another course. Jesus did believe the Scriptures to be inspired but he did not believe that they are all of equal significance. 

 

When asked “What is the greatest (the superlative) commandment?” He didn’t respond by saying there are so many good ones it’s hard to say.  His answer was immediate and direct.  He identified the superlative command and the one second to it.  Then, went on to say that all Scriptures depend or hang on these two. He also told the religious experts and elites of his day they had neglected the more important or weightier matters of the Scriptures. 

 

Think about it this way.  Everything my wife says to me is 100 percent inspired by her.  So, when she requests that I take out the garbage it is completely, fully inspired by her and I should even do it.  However, when she tells me that she loves me the inspiration is the same as the previous communication but the significance of what is being said is astronomically different.  There are many houses in my city where the garbage kept going out but the love stopped. 

It was never Jesus' practice to “flatline” the Scriptures, making them all the same. Consistently through the four accounts a theme regarding the relationship Jesus has to Scriptures (and everything else on earth) is presented. In the person of Jesus something greater is here.  Something greater than Solomon, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, David, the Sabbath, the Temple, the prophets and the Twelve is here. In fact, in the presence of Moses (the law) and Elijah (the prophets) God, referring to Jesus, tells Peter, James and John: “This is my dearly loved son with whom I am well pleased.  Listen to him.” He did not say listen to them but listen to him. Jesus is the author and perfecter/finisher of faith, the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega. All Scripture is profitable and useful … but all Scriptures do not share the same significance. His followers are not supposed to synthesize or flatline the Scriptures because he didn't.  

 

Those who are actually following accept that the intended use of the Scriptures is to always begin and end with Jesus because something greater is here (his person, presence and words - the four accounts). Religion wants people to believe all Scriptures are the same so they will believe its opinions.  Heaven wants people to meet Jesus and follow him; then the Scriptures can have their proper place in a person’s life.  Jesus invites us to himself, not to historic and scriptural glimpses inspiring us to "make up in our heads" what he must be like.  We get to know him, not just know about him. Accepting his universal invitation to follow does not mean that those who do will become more and more like the Scriptures.  They will become more and more like him. 

 

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusists* and the Scriptures - Part Two of Three

The sixteenth President of the United Stated remains one of the greatest leaders our world has known.  Abraham Lincoln is not just studied and admired by Americans but by the world over.  To this very day, 155 years later, scholars, politicians, educators and history buffs study his life, politics and writings.  We even have some who are rightfully called “Lincoln Experts”.  They can inform us of little-known occurrences and favorite facts about his life.  We could ask them question after question about his words, history and letters.  However, if we ask them all: Do you know Abraham Lincoln? The answer is always the same. No. For all their wealth of information the simple fact remains that they’ve never met him. President Lincoln died on April 15, 1865 from an assassin’s bullet.  All the people who knew him have also passed on.  In fact, all the people who knew the people, who knew the people, who knew him are gone.  As inspiring and insightful as the information is, there is no one on earth who actually knows him.

This relational dynamic brings us to a critical distinction between the Scriptures as intended and their misuse by those claiming to follow Jesus. The Scriptures were not authored as a replacement for the person of Jesus.  They were not given to us so that we would assemble a range of facts, stories and quotes to assimilate our own “composite” of him in our heads; an informed mental fantasy through which we would create our own version of what he must be like. 

Religion is satisfied for people to believe its presentation of the facts about Jesus.  It creates adherents, devotees and enthusiasts.  It develops gatherings, rituals, programs and organizational structure based on the information it presents. It calls people to believe in Jesus the way 330 million Americans (and countless others) believe in Abraham Lincoln. Heaven has no such desire. The Scriptures were not given by God in the hope that people would commit to live according to the information presented. They were given, according to Jesus, to inspire an open-hearted response to a person not an ideology, religion or world view.

In Jesus’ teachings he consistently concludes his talks and stories regarding the final day with the same metric of assessment. It is not a theological, religious or performance metric.  Those actually following him aren’t surprised by this since they have accepted the truth that the “bottom line” of God’s Kingdom is not theological but relational.  Near the end of his famous “Sermon on the Mount” he says: “Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do will get in. On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We spoke in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” But I will tell them, “I never knew you! Get out of my sight, you workers of evil!”

God’s irrepressible love for the world sent in and through Jesus of Nazareth is not merely a concept to consider or a principle to model. His love is not a promise to claim but an ongoing experience to have. God is exposing people to the presence of a person and that person invites all to follow him; a person to be known not just known about.

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusists* and the Scriptures - Part One of Three

Jesus of Nazareth is sent to earth to clarify the person and purposes of God. His singular instruction, invitation and call is expressed in just two words “follow me” … and herein lies the concern.  We are admitting the distinction between actually following Jesus and only claiming to follow. The difference is clarified with the simple idea that if we’re following him then his thinking, teaching and answers to questions should be ours. If ours are different, then aren’t we obligated to admit we’re not really following him? All this is summed up in the term Jesusist*. 

 

The difference between following and claiming to follow is nowhere more apparent than in the purpose, place and use of the Scriptures. Religion and philosophies hold their own opinions and instructions but so does Jesus (as recorded in the very Scriptures 2.3 billion Christians and many others claim as their own).   Over the centuries multiple uses of the Scriptures have been engaged by a wide range of individuals, organizations and religions and so it continues to this very day. However, Jesus offers only one purpose for which they were given. 

 

The primary purpose of Scriptures is not to offer promises, principles, truths and history upon which to build one’s world view. Scriptures’ purpose is to inspire a singularly focused response: A personal, relational interaction with the person of Jesus who is life. He said: “You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures testify of me, but you refuse to come to me for life.” To fail at this purpose by those claiming to follow him is to fail completely. 

 

Those who are following also admit that the Scriptures do not reveal Jesus or his Father. They testify to them. Jesus and his Father can only be revealed in the Spirit. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Please note that he did not say that those who read and agree with Scripture know him or his Father.  Knowing about someone and actually knowing them are not the same. A Jesusist* accepts the reality that the words and actions of Jesus in the scriptural accounts are not equivalents to his person.  

One final observation as we consider the purpose and place of the Scriptures. We find that in the physical absence of Jesus on earth, theological/spiritual formation teaches that our primary help is the Scriptures and that the Holy Spirit supports them. But Jesus teaches the exact opposite. According to him, the advantage given to his followers in his physical absence on earth is not the Scripture but the Helper, the Holy Spirit. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” This distinction is huge. Think of it as looking through binoculars. One can look through either end and still see something.  However, if we use them as intended it is quite amazing what one can see.  Jesus turns the binoculars around, giving us the correct end to look into and to the awesome things one can see.  

The Scriptures are a great gift to all people.  However, they are not the greatest gift.  The Scriptures are crystal clear on this point. Jesus is the greatest gift. He himself is the Good News to the world; the message God sent to us all. We are not possessors of eternal life or of ongoing personal relationship with God because of what Jesus said or even what one thinks he said.  We have eternal life and intimate relationship because of him, the person who is the good news; who is life; who is to be known and not just known about.   

 

 

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusist* - Conclusion

The first installment acknowledged the distinction between actually following Jesus and only claiming to follow. The difference was clarified and then illustrated by identifying six questions Jesus answered directly with the simple idea that if we’re following him his answers should be our answers. If our answers differ, then it seems that we’re obligated to admit we’re not really following him. All this was summed up in the term Jesusist* (please refer to the first installment for a full discussion).

The last question was: According to Jesus what is the purpose of money? Money was the only item Jesus singled out in the human response to God which holds the greatest liability. No one can serve God and money, he said, just like no one can serve two masters.  One is held to while the other refused.  One is loved while the other is hated. The status and response of the Religious Experts of his day is also recorded.  They loved money and they scoffed at him and his words.  The occasion for their open contempt in what Jesus said included his answer to our sixth question. “Use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home.” 

There it is – make friends not make more money.  Make friends not try to buy some.  Make friends not give to religious organizations or activities.  Make friends not “investments”.  The purpose of money is making friends which is directly tied by Jesus to one’s welcome into eternity. It is with this purpose in view he went on to say if we can be trusted with little we can be trusted with more.  If we’re not trustworthy with little we won’t be trustworthy with more.  Jesus knows that if I won’t buy your coffee with the ten dollars in my pocket I’ll never buy your lunch with the hundred dollars in my pocket.    

The scoff of the religious, the sneer of the financially informed, is also directly spoken to by Jesus.  His piercing conclusion is essential for all who will actually follow him.  He said to those who think they know better about money and its purpose than he does: “You are always justifying yourselves in front of others, but God knows your heart. The things that most people think are significant are despicable as far as God is concerned.”

To wrap up these thoughts, when God’s love for the world (now 7.7 billion) would be clarified and experienced in its fullest expression he did not send a book.  God sent a person so that we would know that we are loved and wanted at our worst.  Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Good News to the entire world.  Jesus himself is the message. He is the point and the exact representation of all of God’s love, purpose and person; and he is to be known (personally, individually, actually), not just known about. 

Religion exposes people to information in the hope that they will commit to live according to the concepts presented. It is satisfied for people to believe its presentation of certain “facts” or “truths” about Jesus.  It creates adherents, devotees and enthusiasts.  It develops gatherings, rituals, programs and organizational structure based on the information it presents. Heaven exposes people to the presence of a person and he invites all to follow him and he will do the "making" of our lives and living. The point in following is not to be more and more “scriptural” but more and more like him. 

A Jesusist* accepts the reality that the words and actions of Jesus in the scriptural accounts are not equivalents to his person.  As noted in the fourth installment of these writings, their purpose is to testify of him; so that all would come to him for life.  Jesus had encounters with countless numbers of people.  In all of his dealings with Romans, Samaritans, Greeks and Jews he never asked anyone to change their religion nor to convert to one. In fact, he never asked one person if they wanted to go to heaven? His singular instruction, invitation and call is expressed in just two words “follow me.” 

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusist* - Continued Part 4

The Kingdom of God is relationships.  Relationships are not a byproduct of the Kingdom, they are the Kingdom. Those who are actually following Jesus, rather than claiming to follow him, not only accept this reality – they experience it and live it out day by day.  The bottom line of Christianity is theological.  The bottom line of God’s Kingdom, according to Jesus, is relational. Jesus’ discussions on prayer, giving, forgiveness, judgment, eternal life and the like all example and confirm relationships as most important. 

This simple and straightforward reality is also confirmed in Jesus’ answer to questions four and five posed in the first of these writings.  According to Jesus, what is the purpose of the Scriptures; and what is the only marker which confirms someone who is his follower? The answers of Jesus and the answers of religion to these questions are not the same.

If one googles the purpose of Scripture a ton of information is offered from a wide range of Christian sources. Unfortunately, what one doesn’t find from those resources is Jesus’ answer. His answer is direct and crystal clear.  It was given while he was talking with the Scripture experts of his day. He said: “You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures testify of me, but you refuse to come to me for life.” The primary purpose of Scriptures is not to offer promises, principles, truths and history upon which to build one’s world view. Scriptures’ purpose is to inspire only one response.  A personal, relational interaction with the person of Jesus who is life. Over the centuries multiple uses of the Scriptures have been engaged by a wide range of individuals, organizations and religions and so it continues to this very day. However, Jesus offers only one purpose for which they were given.  To fail at this purpose by those claiming to follow him is to fail completely. 

As to the question of validation for those who are actually following him, his words leave no room for debate. This universal identifier is given in terms of a command: “I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my followers.” Everyone, the world, will know his followers by how they love.  It is exclusively a relational marker; no theological examine needed or required. Theology, historic information and ecclesiastical rubrics not included or allowed.    

The focus of a Jesusist* (please refer to part one) is Jesus and his person, instructions, teachings and conclusions.  His ideas become yours, his answers to questions become your answers.  A Jesusist* orders their thoughts, opinions, living and loving according to him.  What would it be like if just those who claim to follow him (2.3 billion) actually did?  

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusist* - Continued Part 3

Jesus comes to earth to clarify the person and purposes of God.  He said: “Everyone who believes in me also believes in the one who sent me. And everyone who sees me sees the one who sent me.” 

One of the great tragedies in current religious thought is what it has done to distort the reality of belief.  The dynamic, definitions and affirmations in religious thought all revolve around one’s theological considerations. Belief is admitting or agreeing with certain historic and theological conclusions.  However, the original term, in all of its forms, is a relational term not a theological one.  It means to rely on or have confidence in; and in this case the reliance and confidence is in a person not a principle, fact, concept or promise. The work of God, according to Jesus, is to believe in (to rely on and have confidence in) the one God sent.   

The emphasis and focus of religion are on informational accuracy.  While informational accuracy is not a bad thing it, according to Jesus, is not the most important thing.  Earth is riveted on informational accuracy while God and his kingdom are all about relational authenticity. This brings us to the third question posed in the first of these writings.  According to Jesus, what is the definition of eternal life?  His answer is like reading a dictionary.  He said to his Father: “This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.”  Eternal life, in the thinking, living and praying of Jesus is a relationship not a theological conclusion. There is nothing in his definition about Lordship, confession of sins, the authority of Scripture, water baptism, tithing and the like. Eternal life is not knowing about God or Jesus, it is in knowing them in an ongoing, authentic relationship. 

The Scriptures record a common experience in the life and times of Jesus which highlight the monumental difference between accurate information and authentic relationship.  Almost everywhere Jesus went there were individuals who knew the exact information about his identity.  It’s striking to note that these individuals were not his own followers nor were they the experts in Scripture.  It was the demons and the people they inhabited.  They would cry out about the facts of his identity -- always accurately. However, they were not in an authentic relationship.  His response to those who had accurate information but not an authentic relationship was always the same. He would tell them to be quiet and stop talking – even though they were saying true things about him.  

There is an eternity of difference between knowing about someone and in actually knowing them. Simply put: you know if you know someone AND you know if you don’t. You know if you only know about someone and have never really met them. Religion wants people to “believe” in Jesus the way 330 million Americans believe in George Washington, the nation’s first president.  We know about George but no one today actually knows him.  The beauty of Jesus and his Father is that they are to be known and not just known about.  This is a function of spirit, as he explains numerous times in the four accounts. According to Jesus, it is a function of spirit but no less real than a physical encounter. He put it this way: “My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who truly knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to reveal the Father to others, so they can know him too … blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 *not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusist* - Continued Part 2

When Jesus came to earth did he think he would change the world or was he just killing time until we killed him?  How one thinks about and answers this question is critical.

Not long ago the opportunity to talk at a four-year Bible College presented itself.  There were a couple hundred students plus faculty and staff all gathered in the main auditorium.  To begin the time together I asked if this was a Christian College? The reply was a strong affirmative from all across the room.  Then I asked what is a Christian? The answer was almost in unison from the entire group.  A follower of Jesus was the answer.  With such a strong and conclusive response, I proceeded to ask the first five of the six questions posed in part one of this writing. Answers were called out to each of the questions. At the end of this inquiry an identical result occurred each time. Not one, including faculty and staff, had been able to give Jesus’ answers to the questions.  They had lots of answers but none of them were Jesus’ answers. Shouldn’t this bring great concern to a group of people claiming to follow him?  

The first question (According to Jesus how do we know our sins are forgiven?) is one Jesus answered nine different times in seven different settings.  His answer was always the same. If we forgive we will be forgiven.  Conversely, if we don’t forgive we will not be forgiven.  This means that anyone can know immediately if they are forgiven or not forgiven.  No religious, historical, or theological information, training or practice is required.  A simple (not always easy) measure for each person (now 7.7 billion) to assess their own status regarding forgiveness.  Tragically, this answer is not the answer or practice of Christianity. 

We are told that approximately one third of the world identifies as Christian.  That’s somewhere north of two billion people; people who claim to follow Jesus.  If two billion people started forgiving all others the way they’ve been forgiven would our world change?  How long would it take? Perhaps 36 hours because all the phone lines would jam. Think of this.  No further activity, organization, sending, building, training, fund raising, praying or preaching required … and the world changes! 

The second question (According to Jesus how does one avoid God’s judgment?) is another question Jesus answered consistently and specifically.  Do not judge others and God will not judge you.  Do not be hard on others and God will not be hard on you.  Once again this is not the answer Christianity offers its adherents and it is not its practice.  Yet, if two billion plus people all stopped judging others would our world change? How long would it take?  OMG … it just changed a second time without any further activities. The civil war in South Sudan is over. The Middle East is at peace.  The Congress of the United States is functioning again.  And the list of beautiful changes would go on and on.  

So, what should we do?  What does Jesus tell those who are following to do?  To remove the beam from your own eye. Am I forgiving all others?  Am I refusing to judge others?  This is the only beginning for anyone who will actually follow him.  And "follow me" is the only invitation, calling Jesus has ever issued to a human being.  

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

Jesusist*

The term "Jesusist"* came into my thinking from an unlikely story and an unlikely person.  The events took place in Nepal when a Maoist Communist revolutionary had an encounter with Jesus of Nazareth. It was not a term he used but his story led to it and the reality it implies. 

His encounter with Jesus changed the course of his life's trajectory. It didn't deny how he used to live and think; it transformed it.  In conversation with a mutual friend the former Maoist explained the difference between a Christian and a Follower of Jesus by clarifying the difference between a Communist and a Maoist.

A Communist is a person committed to the ideals of Communism. They draw from all sources regarding the principles and ideas of this political ideology (Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, etc.) with the commonly held concepts such as public ownership of all properties, the absence of social classes and the creation of a communist society.  Committed to such ideals they order their thinking, living and political activities. A Maoist, on the other hand, is committed to Mao and his ideas such as his central principle of permanent revolution and that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. In short, Mao's thinking becomes your thinking.  His answers to questions become your answers. You order your thinking and life’s activities exclusively to his ideas.

A Christian is actually committed to the concepts and ideals of Christianity. Eternal life, forgiveness of sins, the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, etc. They welcome ideas from a wide range of Christian sources both written and spoken. He went on to note that while Christians claim to be followers of Jesus, in practice it is often not the case.  His conclusion? Our Nepali friend had decided to respond to his encounter by following Jesus. Jesus’ thinking would become his thinking.  Jesus’ answers to questions would become his answers. His thinking and living are now being transformed from a Maoist to a “Jesusist”*.

Am I really following Jesus?  Here’s a simple assessment.  Answer the following.

According to Jesus:

1.     How do we know our sins are forgiven?

2.     How does one avoid God’s judgment?

3.     What is the definition of eternal life?

4.     What is the purpose of the Scriptures?

5.     What is the only marker which confirms someone who is his follower?

6.     What is the purpose of money? 

  

If we’re following Jesus shouldn’t his answers be our answers?  If our answers aren’t the same as his, shouldn’t those actually following him change their answers? Practically, if we’re giving answers different than his, shouldn’t we have the integrity to stop telling others that we’re following him?

*not the Urban Dictionary Term

True or False?

S - "Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. You can tell what they are by their fruit. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. You can tell who the false prophets are by their fruit." Matthew 7 TS

O - In the mind and teaching of Jesus a false prophet is not determined by what they say but by how they live. Religion wants the determination to be about information and scripture.  God's Kingdom is about relationships and living.  Earth's emphasis is on informational accuracy and Heaven's focus is on relational authenticity.  The false prophets of Jesus' day were not living on the edge of society but right in the middle of it.  They were the religious experts and elites; those who engaged the scriptures and the temple.  It turned out that those who read the scriptures and prayed every day, those who tithed and faithfully attended services, were the ones who resisted and ultimately killed Jesus.  "You can tell who the false prophets are by their fruit."

A - The fruit of a life that is true is one where love for God and love for all others is increasing; the fruit of forgiving all, of judging none and of personal, ongoing devotion to the person of Jesus.  It will not be the fruit of flawless living (i.e. never sinning or being mistaken) but of blameless living (i.e. always turning into Jesus and admitting one's failures). The false are willing to believe Jesus about heaven but not about earth.  The true live out loud his instruction on both.  The false use scripture to justify their lives while the true engage it to rectify their lives.    

P - You who are the way, the truth and the life,

I accept the truth that the most pressing problem is the beam in my own eye rather than the sawdust in another's. I admit that the difference between a true follower and false prophet will not be determined by one's theology but by one's living.  So, you lead and I'll follow.  Right religion will never produce or protect … but relational authenticity with you will always do both.  Thank you for loving and wanting the whole world.  

Relying on you,

Steve