Monday, October 24, 2005

The person of Jesus

This evening I am sitting in a coffee shop on the north side of town nestled in a strip mall. I have a unlimited, untimed wireless internet subscription here, so once a week or so I come on by, get a snack and a carmel mountain latte, read, surf the web, and listen to music I have loaded into my real player program.

(Right now listening to California Love w/ 2PAC and Dr Dre)

There is something about reading Eugene Peterson and sipping on a cup of coffee that gets me thinking.

Here is my thought for the day. The only meaningful difference between Christianity and other world religions and philosophies is the person of Jesus and the reality of the Holy Spirit. You can find about any religion that shares ideas in common with Jesus. Just about any other world religion incorperates Jesus' ideas into what they believe. Just about any athiest can incorperate the ethics of Jesus into their lifestyle without believing in him. With the exception of the strict Biblical standard on human sexuality most do that I know.

The difference is the person of Jesus. The difference is that Jesus actually lived, died, and rose again. The difference is that I can have a relationship with God incarnate through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This weekend our denomination was vigorously debating the place of homosexuals in the church. How should we relate to homosexual persons as a denomination and as congregations. And what has become apparent to me is how easily we move away from relationship into abstractions. The people on the more liberal, socially aware side of the debate see this in many ways as a battle for some rights in the abstract. That everyone has a right to do whatever they want.

The conservative side of the issue sees this as battle for the Bible. How can we say we stand for God and his word if we do not fight against this false teaching?

Sometimes people use their relationships and stories as manipulative tools in the debate, but rarely do I hear people say those words that were so popular a couple of years ago, "What would Jesus Do?" It never comes back to our relationship with Jesus in these discussions. It comes back to some abstract ideas like theology, doctrine, ethics, and Christianity (Christian was not the original name followers of Jesus gave to themselves.). Somehow we have missed the center of our faith to defend the boundaries of our philosophical systems.

The president said in a debate that Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Philosopher? It took me off guard. The words I think of when I think of Jesus are more relational. Master. Teacher. Friend.

Jesus was and is a person. Being a follower of Jesus is about a living relationship of service to a specific person. Lets return to that, and a lot of the more peripheral things will take care of themselves.

4 comments:

feels good b n FREE said...

It is likely that many people won't comment on this topic...why?
because in general the person of Jesus is problematic in society. Jesus is accepted as a sort of mythological characteror at best as a prophet. Jesus is not viewed as Savior except by a remnant. However this is how the Bible said it would be.
It is true that people would sincerely look to Jesus and read the word to get to know Him they'd find truth and salvation. Additionally, they would find the example and the yard stick...the life of Christ alone could put an end to a lot of debating and hot button issues that go on.
Jesus was loving, Jesus wasn't all about the religious facade or harrah, Jesus was compassionate, forgiving, He was a man of prayer, He resisted the temptation of the enemy, He took the ministry seriously, and allowed no foolishness in the house of the Lord. Jesus ate with people who the religious thought were dispicable...He was a revolutionary. It was the LOVE of Jesus Christ that drew men and it was that same love that took Him to Calvary for each of us...black, white, jew, gentile,church folk, and gutter folk....What a wonderful man, what a wonderful savior. He has the name which is above every name...and at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that HE is LORD!

great post

Travis Greene said...

None of Jesus' ideas were knew. Most of what he said just echoed or summed up ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures. What was radical about him was that he claimed those ideas had their fulfillment in him.

Turn the other cheek because he will enable you to. Forgive one another because that's what Jesus does. The Kingdom of God is among you, and Jesus is bringing it.

Brotha Buck said...

I've often wondered why there is no mention of Jesus' views on homosexuality. Now, I can't claim to know my bible like you all, so I may be wrong. Theres no mention of them, but surly there were at least as many homosexuals as leopars and tax collectors. Right?

Friar Tuck said...

Maybe I will post on this...but you are correct. Although Paul does make mention. Why does Jesus not?

Here is my thought....I think that Jesus did not have a lot of homosexuality to deal with in his context. While Paul did. Israel was still stoning people for not being virgins before they were married. And participating in anything Greek was frowned upon by Jews. And circumcision was frowned upon by much of the rest of the ancient world. Anywhoo.

However, understanding homosexuality as an "orientation" is a fairly recent development. Ancient people generally were more bisexual, with older men sleeping with younger men and teenage boys.

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