Jesus as Teacher
I layered up this morning and walked to Starbucks.
(It's unusually cold in Vancouver. At least, what passes for cold here in the Lower Mainland. I know, I know... the rest of the country is laughing at us. It's just that west coasters don't know how to deal with the cold. As I left the condo this morning I let in the mail carrier, who was wearing shorts.)
Cold or not, the sun was shining and I took the "long way", through an icy and deserted Cates Park. Spectacular!
So, I'm sitting here reading through a big stack of articles. I've maxed out my laptop's hard drive (at a miserly 20 G), so I've decided to print a bunch of stuff out that I've been saving. Yes, paper. Call me old fashioned. The material I want to keep I'm sorting into files by topic and theme, and these files will be the basis for future thinking and writing.
In my pile I've found a couple of posts that I had printed for future consideration.
The first is Generosity and Keith Green Kareoke from the TallSkinnyKiwi. The issue of generosity - charity - justice is something I've been chewing on for a while, so this post caught my eye. I'm definitely going to check out these MAUSS people when I get home.
On the same page I've printed And Another Thing from Doug Pagitt's blog. (Both posts are dated November 14, so that must have been the day I was prowling around...) As I read through this post again I find myself reacting strongly to it. Oddly enough, I think I'm in agreement with just about everything Doug has to say in it... except what seems to be his premise.
"...Jesus is better thought of as a prophet than a teacher or rabbi. Jesus was not telling people how they ought to be, he was telling how things are."
Yes. And no!
One of my pet peeves is the fact that we have rejected Jesus as teacher. As Dallas Willard puts it, we're "vampire Christians" - we use Jesus for a bit of His blood but none of His leadership.
Beyond prophet or even teacher, we need to see Jesus for who He was - the visible image of the invisible God. God in a Bod, as we've taken to calling Him in our community. So this was not just some prophet or loosely defined member of the trinitarian God-club, this was God incarnate speaking. I figure when He talks we should pay attention.
Here's what I think... and I'm open to your comments, criticisms, etc.
I believe that Jesus was telling us how to live. This is the Lost Message of Jesus in my mind. This is the Gospel! (As opposed to the "unGospel" - the "Jesus died for your sins, so say this prayer, accept him as your personal saviour, go to heaven as opposed to hell when you die, and, um... stay out of trouble until then" version that Christendom has adopted.)
I believe that the Law had brought us as, as the people of God, as far as it was going to, so God walked among us for a while to teach us how to kick it up a notch. I believe He was showing us how to build the Kingdom; how to allow the Spirit - the "continuator" of Jesus' work, to borrow a term from Todd Hunter, I think - to transform us into the kinds of people who would naturally want to live according to Christ's teachings. And in doing so, we assist in the ongoing building of the Kingdom, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
(It's that talk of "doing" that upsets the "it's by faith, not works" crowd. All I can say is we become people who live this way, and do these things, not because we must to earn God's favour, but because our hearts have been transformed to the point where we can do nothing else.)
As long as I'm hanging it all out here, let me finish my Kingdom thought: I believe Christ came to smash "religion" and teach us how to live and help build his Kingdom. (So what did we do? We made a religion out of Him!) And having given us the instructions, I believe He is waiting for us to get on with it, so He can come and finish the job.
So, while we sit down here waiting for Him to come back, He's sitting up there (I know, just go with me... on I'm a roll) waiting for us to give Him a reason. I wonder who will blink first?
I need more coffee.
Great stuff Mike. Good to chew over prior thoughts for new inspiration. Isn't that exactly what we do when we read scripture?? I mentioned to you that I ordered and received a # of George MacDonald's writings, some via Alibris, the 19th century writer Tony Campolo mentiones frequently in Campolo's latest "shocker" (what a great book) called "Speaking My Mind". Hope all your readers get it-it is explosive. Back to MacDonald - I am proud to say Macdonald was as Scot: Just as today's "Christian" church gave hell to fresh minds as Yancey, Campolo, Willis, McLaren, W.Roberts, Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd for having the audacity of knocking down the walls and thinking through what the Master's life and words actually implied, MacDonald, born in 1824 near Aberdeen, Scotland, as a 29 yr old minister was defrocked by the Scottish church and fired becasue of his fresh thinking. 'Way ahead of his time. Like C.S. Lewis he took writing novels. I get so sick of believers who have all the answers: their book is closed with no more QUESTIONS! I laughed when I read in MacDonald's book "Creation in Christ" pages 252-3. "What boy would not prefer the glories of a kite in the wind to an everlasting prayer-meeting?" Why in God's name-literally-have we made the faith so dreary? Boring?? Boxed-in? Why are so many of the world's most exciting and original-thinkers outside of the "church"? 2000 years of dust and doctrine? So keep digging, buddy. There is gold in them thar hills!
Posted by: Dave | January 14, 2005 at 05:21 PM
thx Mike ( and Dave ).
Posted by: Don Crawford | January 14, 2005 at 08:01 PM
So many words and so many voices...maybe that's why I've been favouring drawing more these days. Strong black no suger coffee is a constant though. thrive!, O
Posted by: O | January 14, 2005 at 08:03 PM
Mike,
I totally agree. In fact, when I realized how I neglected Jesus as Teacher, it was a huge revelation. Up till then, I only experienced Him as an awesome Savior. This obviously flows into an interesting discussion on discipleship and how we're splitting evangelism and discipleship ... Oh I might need some coffee too!
Posted by: Tom Smith | January 15, 2005 at 08:46 AM
Well, Tom, O and anyone else out there... here's a standing invitation: You get here and I'll buy!
Posted by: Mike | January 15, 2005 at 09:04 AM
So, while we sit down here waiting for Him to come back, He's sitting up there (I know, just go with me... on I'm a roll) waiting for us to give Him a reason. I wonder who will blink first? ---
You couldn't have said it better.
I bet he blinks first, and scares the living daylights out of all of us.
Posted by: Liesa | January 15, 2005 at 06:28 PM
good stuff!
especially this:
I believe that Jesus was telling us how to live. This is the Lost Message of Jesus in my mind. This is the Gospel! (As opposed to the "unGospel" - the "Jesus died for your sins, so say this prayer, accept him as your personal saviour, go to heaven as opposed to hell when you die, and, um... stay out of trouble until then" version that Christendom has adopted.)
Jesus was telling us how to live. Somehow we mangled the message on the way. It's time to turn it round
Posted by: Lorna | January 16, 2005 at 11:28 AM
I don't think, Mike, that we've let go of Jesus as teacher at all. But it may appear to be so because we were probably afraid of losing Him as Saviour, and THAT is so much more important! His stripes and wounds will be on view in heaven and all His teaching will be bound up in "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ and He will reign forever". I see the cross as a culmination of all His teaching!
Posted by: David | January 16, 2005 at 01:09 PM
"Came to smash religion"...???...ok...why are we then told that the church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth, or why does Jesus pray for the unity of his church?
Or are you meaning "religion" in some way different to me?
Interested in your thoughts.
Posted by: Luke | January 16, 2005 at 07:40 PM
Hey Luke - thanks for the comment.
I mean he came to smash the dry, legalistic, lifeless religion of the Pharisees. And I think in a lot of ways we have replicated that religious system that, well, pissed him off.
And who says that our church is the same one that Jesus prayed for? One of my many pet peeves is this claim that "well, the church is a mess, but it's the Bride of Christ, so I guess we're stuck with it." I'm not buying it. Maybe the only similarity is the name.
You and I talking about this stuff. Maybe that's church.
Posted by: Mike | January 16, 2005 at 07:58 PM
Hey Mike. I've been toying with the idea that Jesus was 'a politician'. Politics meaning 'the affairs of the people'. There's good reason to believe that when Jesus spoke 'kingdom' he was using politically charged terminology. What he was doing was 'inspiring society' and so in that sense I'm with you on 'smashing religion'. It's hard to see how much that most Western Christians do can inspire society. In fact, I think that I've been spending way too much time with disgruntled Christians so much so that I'm not worthy of joining a movement geared up to inspire society!
Have a good week.
Posted by: si | January 17, 2005 at 01:54 AM
When Jesus spoke "kingdom" he WAS using politically charged language. But it has nothing to do with smashing religion. God reigns in this kingdom, and everyone can be a part of it.
The Romans took it as a threat. The emporer was in charge, not God. So they killed him.
Posted by: David | January 30, 2005 at 05:26 AM