Annoyed + Theology = Me Today
Why am I so annoyed by everything this morning? Maybe it's because I'm surrounded by idiots. Oops did I say that out loud? Okay, maybe I'm not surrounded by idiots, but there are a few. And it seems like a few idiots make everyone else seem equally idiot-prone. Before you know it, you feel claustrophobic... like they're somehow going to suck your brain down the drain with them and you can't get away fast enough!!! I'll stick my earplugs in to stymie their attempts.
Okay. Earplugs in.
That rant was completely un-Jesus-like and I'm embarrassed by it. But since it's the real me I'm not going to erase it.
On to bigger and better things... I'm continuing to read The Secret Message of Jesus and I have to say that I haven't felt so inspired and empowered by a message in quite some time. If ever. Being the type of person who likes answers, I've been painfully devoid of them for a while now. But this book has helped me see things in a new light... a new perspective that makes sense to me. I always thought that Jesus was supposed to make sense and that somehow I just wasn't getting it. In reality, it wasn't me that wasn't getting it. It was the people who were teaching me what to believe.
There's no way to do justice to the content of the book here (you should read the whole thing), but I'll tell you the secret: Jesus' message wasn't salvation. It was that the kingdom of God is RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. Not after you die. Not sometime way in the future after all the wars have been fought and all the terrible things in the Book of Revelation have come to pass. THIS IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. And the reason we are here is to show it to people. We are "secret agents" for the Kingdom and our jobs are: service, love, justice, mercy, humility and hope. By showing people these characteristics of God, we show them the Kingdom. Not the make-believe pie-in-the-sky would-be kingdom... but the one that already exists on earth right now as we speak.
No wonder the whole message of salvation has seemed odd to me. What hope does it give to someone to tell them that if they come to know Jesus, things on earth won't change for them but when they die they'll go heaven? Um.... why not just say, "There's no hope this side of death, so pray this prayer and then go step in front of a bus and you'll enter the Kingdom of God." ?? No thanks. I'd rather know the Jesus who says, "Know me. Do what I've shown you - live the way I lived. And people all around you will see God and know real hope right now." I like it!
So, theologians and Bible scholars.... tell me why this message is contrary to our "born-again-get-saved" attitude? And is it bad?
Okay. Earplugs in.
That rant was completely un-Jesus-like and I'm embarrassed by it. But since it's the real me I'm not going to erase it.
On to bigger and better things... I'm continuing to read The Secret Message of Jesus and I have to say that I haven't felt so inspired and empowered by a message in quite some time. If ever. Being the type of person who likes answers, I've been painfully devoid of them for a while now. But this book has helped me see things in a new light... a new perspective that makes sense to me. I always thought that Jesus was supposed to make sense and that somehow I just wasn't getting it. In reality, it wasn't me that wasn't getting it. It was the people who were teaching me what to believe.
There's no way to do justice to the content of the book here (you should read the whole thing), but I'll tell you the secret: Jesus' message wasn't salvation. It was that the kingdom of God is RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. Not after you die. Not sometime way in the future after all the wars have been fought and all the terrible things in the Book of Revelation have come to pass. THIS IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. And the reason we are here is to show it to people. We are "secret agents" for the Kingdom and our jobs are: service, love, justice, mercy, humility and hope. By showing people these characteristics of God, we show them the Kingdom. Not the make-believe pie-in-the-sky would-be kingdom... but the one that already exists on earth right now as we speak.
No wonder the whole message of salvation has seemed odd to me. What hope does it give to someone to tell them that if they come to know Jesus, things on earth won't change for them but when they die they'll go heaven? Um.... why not just say, "There's no hope this side of death, so pray this prayer and then go step in front of a bus and you'll enter the Kingdom of God." ?? No thanks. I'd rather know the Jesus who says, "Know me. Do what I've shown you - live the way I lived. And people all around you will see God and know real hope right now." I like it!
So, theologians and Bible scholars.... tell me why this message is contrary to our "born-again-get-saved" attitude? And is it bad?