Added: 08/19/2006 |
Dare A Christian Living Organization Follow Christ's Example?A Christian living organization may seem, by definition, to support its members as they journey in Christ's footsteps. However, Christ was not mainstream. Christ did not support the established, powerful religious authorities. Christ welcomed and befriended people society ostracized. Christ challenged respected teachings. Dare a Christian living organization do these things? Do individual Christian young men and women dare accept these challenges?
Looking around the meeting space of a modern Christian living organization, Jesus might also notice a stack of slickly printed voting guides, published with the intent of convincing Christian young men and women to help consolidate the worldly political power of a wealthy, established religious bureaucracy. Would Jesus turn over the tables filled with such brochures as He did the tables of the money-changers in the temple?
Those same tables might also hold other literature, lightweight pamphlets approved by religious elders. These generally purport to simplify the difficult, confusing principles of Christian faith. Yet, despite the consumer demand for such publications from more than one Christian living organization, Jesus already simplified His teachings much more powerfully than any pamphlet author could hope to do: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37), and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:39-40). Twenty-eight words is all it takes, in King James' English, to summarize Christ's teachings. Does a Christian living organization or publisher need to "reduce" this to several hundred words in order for its members to grasp the concepts? If not, is it possible that huge Christian publishing companies, global media ministries with tremendous followings and billion-dollar budgets, and other Christian big businesses actually have far more in common with other profit-driven big business than with any example actually set by Christ for His followers?
Further, many a Christian living organization wastes time in self-righteous judgment-for example, spending their energy to make sure that same-sex couples are prohibited from filing joint federal tax returns. What is Christ's answer to this effort? "1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-3). Jesus Christ taught that His followers should not judge one another, but should focus instead on their own personal spiritual development. In fact, if "Judge not" is not enough to dissuade Christian young men and women from fighting state recognition of same-sex marriages, Jesus Himself offered further clarifying insight into the proper role of a Christian living organization that wants to meddle in secular economic law: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21). Jesus spoke specifically, in this instance, about tax law-one of the primary concerns today of those who advocate secular gay marriage. Christ not only did not ask His followers to engage in political agitation in the hopes of Christianizing government policy, but He also specifically advised them to refrain from doing so. God has all the power He needs without winning a single election or telling a single couple they cannot share their Social Security benefits.
Christ did not advocate big-business ministry. Christ disapproved of self-righteous judgment of other people's behaviors. Christ taught that God's law does not require the support of human governments or human laws. It appears, then, that much of the work of mainstream Christianity is in fact contrary to what Christ would believe appropriate for a Christian living organization. Dare Christian young men and women follow Christ's example by challenging religious authority and practicing a welcoming religion of peace and love? If so, how does an individual Christian or a Christian living organization start this process?
No human writing can provide the answer, but Christ can, through prayer. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7).
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