JESUS FACTOR: WHAT WILL IT TAKE

 




WHAT WILL IT TAKE

Many phrases as “What goes around comes around; Do onto others as you would have done to you, and It’s all Water under the bridge” are automatically being turned into popular contemporary clichés. Even age-old words of wisdom full of common sense!  “An eye for an eye only makes the world blind; What you did not for them you did not for me” and the most presently, relative and simplest statement, “Love thy neighbor” has been made irrelevant.

The former set seems to be socially correct and acceptable fill-ins or dismissive conversational boomerangs to avoid contemplation or reflection. The latter set seems to be experiencing a similar fate with a few debatable twists added on. First, for many turning to God use the cliché “He will provide.” But that only tends to dismiss personal responsibility and initiative. Second, it treats God as a “genie in the bottle” to rub and expect immediate gratification and absolution from actions with later feelings of conviction, guilt, and shame.  Finally, and perhaps most damaging; people seeking a place able to accommodate personal preferences, the need to belong and find temporary good feelings are missing the point. Such pursuits have been consistently turning the pulpit into a source for entertainment, prosperity preaching and Mega churches. But here’s the cliché of clichés: “Beware False Prophets” that are no more than “Wolves in sheep clothing.” And here is the irony of the matter: It seems like many of them are too busy to go out to get the lost sheep, are getting caught in scandal, and yet out of the annals of time that voice from the wilderness says, “Forgive them for they know not what they do” while staying committed to the desire that “None be lost.”

Surely up to this point, many at least recognize and accept the above statements as valid and capable of transforming current trends leading to death and destruction: Gaza, Ukraine, Africa, Venezuela, Cuba, and our own U.S.A. where on dollar bills and courtroom walls the “In God We Trust” is inscribed. Yet, add Jesus Christ to the equation and everything gets tossed as a man spewing hypocritic religious propaganda. But calling a spade a spade, let’s remember a moment that still applies today.

A rich man attracted to the Jesus message, sincerely asked what he must do to inherit the professed promise. Upon hearing Jesus’s response, he initially claimed he had done all required. Then Jesus said give up all you have acquired and follow me. Watching the man sadly walk away, Jesus broadcasted two statements: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a privileged man” because “You can’t simultaneously love money and God. A God whose guidance was erroneously replaced by eventual selfish kings bent on gain through conquest, still offers everlasting love and mercy. So, before trying to accuse God and Jesus of having a blinding toothpick in their eyes, take the log out of your own! Before expecting present kings to fix the mess we’re in, reconsider: This Jesus, so easily overlooked and dismissed as just another religious fanatic said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing!” Just look at the track record of kings that have come professing change and gone with little accomplished. And note, Jesus had nothing to do with religious dogmas or the many other dividing lines we cling to. So, let the ongoing cards of dark fear and despair fall where they may and accept: It’s all on us! Jesus simply said, “Follow Me to the True way to live because the Kingdom of peace, love and happiness is upon us and continues to be in our hands.”

It’s amazing! For something so simple but threatening, this Jesus, and the many that have tried to follow, pass and keep the torch alive were and continue to be indiscriminately killed. Put that in your pipe and smoke whatever to ponder: What will it take to change? Perhaps the greatest promise worth sacrificing for is God’s! He said, “If my people would prayerfully humble themselves to turn from their wicked ways and seek me, then I would hear, forgive and heal their land.”


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