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
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