Doing Jesus.
“It seems that Christians have been worshipping Jesus’ journey instead of doing his journey. The first seems religious, the second seems human.” Richard Rohr
What makes one a Christian?
Depending on who you ask, you'll get various answers. Some would say Baptism as a sacrament, makes one a Christian; it is a work of God's grace. Some would say belief and then have a set of doctrines to follow.
Over the past several years I am been asking myself how Jesus would answer that question. I am begining to believe that doing his journey is what he desires.
It seems that doing his journey it being committed to a person-- Jesus. The other seems to be more about religious belief and doctrine. How does our faith impact, not our individual lives but also the lives of those around us? His message was much, much more broad than an individual, personal salvation.
Many spend a great deal of time talking about why Jesus died but perhaps a more relevant question is, why did Jesus live? What did Jesus live for? It seems to me the very thing that he lived for was the reason that some tried to kill him. At some point we are to walk in his shoes or at least in his footprints.
What do you think?
9 Comments:
I agree. I am in the process of reading Erwin MacManus' "The Barbarian Way" and it talks about just that. We have to follow Jesus on his journey wherever it takes us.
It's so great when I read something in a book and the next day people are talking about nearly the same exact thing! It's like God is say "Zach, this is important pay attention!"
Faith, as paul says in Romans, that jesus is the son of God and he was raised from the dead.
another reference that has always stood out as others would point to early believers and say "followers of the Way."
we may be completly against one anothers doctrines...but these 2 things are from where the deal is. Faith and following.
Yes--something about loving Him purely for who He is aside from all that He does for us. I'm going to be posting about this on my blog soon...
Rick,
I so appreciate what you say about opting for Christianity instead of following Jesus. I think the religion has picked up a lot of baggage in 2,000 years.
Personally, I think Jesus was killed early in his mission and there is a lot more he would have done if he could have lived. Like get married and have children. As a result, clear and detailed instruction on the whole mom and dad, family, married sexuality, parenting, etc. part of life is simply missing from the New Testament. That's a pretty big gap.
I edit the UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum where Julie Bogart writes her excellent column. It's a great one this week:
http://www.ReligionAndSpiritualityForum.com.
I have really enjoyed reading your blog. Your writing has a lot of meat on its bones. BTW, I share your sushi addiction. My wife is Japanese and she makes the best.
rgds,
Larry
What makes one a Christian? You know, after 40 years of pastoring, I'm not sure I can fully answer that, BUT I do know one when I see him/her.
Rick: Just as your blog anticipates, there are as many different reactions here as there are in the Christian population in general.
Quite apart from denominational and cultural background, I think people's answers to those questions also reflect their personality types. Action-oriented people define everything by their actions. Feeling-oriented people would define a Christian by the depth of intimacy. A Rational would define a Christian by the parameters of their belief system and the things they don't believe. An Artisan would define faith in Christ by what changes that faith brings about in their lives.
In essence, the Christian walk contains elements of all these things. That is why Jesus himself was so hard to pin down when they asked him what He expected them to believe and to do.
Yes!
People follow the way of a man instead of the Way that the man sought to follow. They content themselves with reading and preaching from the reviews instead of themselves eating at the table!
Synchronicity here too, Zach.
Hey Rick,
a friend of ours is celebrating his 39th birthday on Saturday, March 11! Please stop by and wish Jeff of “So I Go” a Happy Birthday and remind him what a wonderful writer/blog friend he is.
http://soigonow.blogspot.com/
Very well said, Rick. It's really so simple, isn't it?
To follow Christ, do what he did. To be one with God, start "being" the God-consciousness.
Life is simple. We make it so hard.
It seems to me the lie of all religion is an erroneous (though not false) humility. We say "praise be to Jesus (or Buddha, Lao Tzu, Krishna, et. al) for doing what I cannot," and in so doing, we brainwash ourselves from trying to attain the realization and love they did and urge us to.
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