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In a paradoxical way, it was the troubles and tragedy we encountered that somehow set me free to learn some simple truths my eyes had for so long been blind to. When Tragedy struck our family. Salvation is fine for a single, one time, event. But beyond that first event there is a walk, a path, and an entire career of growth. Not that there's anything wrong with shouting Hallelujahs. Babies are on a liquid diet at first, but as they grow, the transition must be made to solid food, and eventually to "strong meat" -- that is, growing into the fulness of Messiah himself. St. Paul enjoined not merely the event of salvation but the continuous process of sanctification in Jesus -- something I had lost sight of. God showed me that he uses many agents for His blessing. I have come to reject much of the narrowness and extremism, and to see that if Jesus at times praised a stubborn resistance to compromise, {at} other times he certainly seemed to praise negotiation, barter and compromise.
When such diverse philosophies as that of the ancient Greeks and historic Buddhism each urge an avoidance of extremes, why shouldn't we today listen? What if they are right that there is safety in "the middle path" of moderation? The proverbs of Solomon urge us to seek safety in a multitude of counsellors.
But beyond just being quick to hear, and willing to listen to words from a variety of sources, we must also use judgment and discretion. The ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. On my own, I discovered that the old "literalist" attitude toward the "Bible" (meaning our particular canon of 66 books thereof) actually contradicts what Jesus said in John chapter three. The Bible may be scripture, but it is also a series of classic documents of literature replete with metaphors and similes and a plethora of poetic allusions that give it grandeur and beauty. I also gradually came to see that whereas Paul put together a theological interpretation upon which later generations of ecclesiastics were able to formulate a complex theological orthodoxy, Jesus himself taught a far simpler gospel, largely devoid of theology, but with a heavy emphasis on ethics, outreach, and personal spirituality.
Moreover, the emphasis of Jesus himself was not on any "Plan of Salvation," but on doing his words. Though Jesus conceded there were people who were only impressed with his miracles, he nevertheless repeatedly stressed the greater importance of his words (teachings) than his works (miracles). But reading his words, particularly the Sermon on the Mount, I came almost to a point of despair as to whether such a profound ethics and spirituality were even possible, humanly speaking. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect." Now, however, he has led me to a point where peace is only possible as I trust in him. He (messiah) is the author and finisher of my faith. He (messiah) is the one who has begun a good work in me, and He (messiah) is the one who will finish it.
I did a study of the Greek word "perfect." The way I remember it, the word refers to TELEOS, completion, unfolding, becoming. Referring to a text of Aristotle's philosophy, I learned that the doctrine of perfection which Hellenistic Judea in Christ's time may well have known, was akin to the idea of becoming what you were meant to be. Be All that You Can Be (in God's terms). It contains in it the idea of perfection as a maturity in Christ, a leaving behind of those elements which are juvenile, immature, or incomplete.
And that, today, is my prayer and my goal -- to come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Son. I may not see the way, but I trust the One who leads me. As the song says, "I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future."
That trust means I do not have to depend on my own worked-up intensity. I don't have to affect a superiority. I can let go of rigidity and narrowness. I can turn lose of exclusiveness and intolerance. I can forget about the pseudo-righteousness that manifests hostility to outsiders (or wayward ones). I can look at ideology and doctrine, and revel in the breadth and multiplicity of forms, each with something to teach, but none (it appears to me) with any stranglehold on "Truth" itself. I can shy away from theological "litmus tests" of political correctness and acceptability.
And I can concentrate on This Day -- as Jesus said. Sufficient is the evil thereof. Ethics, compassion, outreach and caring. Simple right and wrong. Doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Wasn't that the message of Jesus? For me, just doing those things is plenty hard enough without spending time splitting hairs on abstruse questions of theological correctness.
Recommended reading --
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tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. [Ephesians 4:32] |
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The atheist Nietzsche declared - Christianity can be understood only in terms of the soil out of which it grew -- it is not a counter-movement to the Jewish instinct, it is its very consequence, one inference more in its awe-inspiring logic. In the formula of the Redeemer: |
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If Christians were Christians, there would be no anti-Semitism. Jesus was a Jew. There is nothing that the ordinary Christian so dislikes to remember as this awkward historical fact. But it happens, nonetheless, to be true.
John Haynes Holmes [1933] |
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Professor Joseph Klausner of Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel) declared: There is no moral concept in the gospels which cannot be traced to Moses and the Prophets. |
| Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him. |
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I accept the resurrection of Easter Sunday not as an invention of the community of disciples, but as a historical event. If the resurrection of Jesus from the dead on that Easter Sunday were a public event which had been made known…not only to the 530 Jewish witnesses but to the entire population, all Jews would have become followers of Jesus.
Pinchas Lapide (Orthodox Jewish scholar) |
