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