When I was at home a few weeks ago, I had the chance to catch up on a book that I was reading. The best part was that it completely coincided with a discussion that I had with someone while I was at home. This person tried arguing doctrine with me, and I came to found out that he had very little ground to work with. He had spent his entire life disliking Christians WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING CHRIST!
So what I want to discuss today is WHAT EXACTLY JESUS TAUGHT and then ask WHAT LAW ARE WE BREAKING AS CHRISTIANS?
To do this, I am going to give you a quick run down of the Sermon on the Mount paraphrased, outside of the Beatitudes. So, here we go!
Mt 5:13- Live a life of good deeds in the community and bless others.
14-16- Keep Gods ways and be a guide to others.
17-20- Be better than the hypocrites and do not make their mistakes.
21-22- Don't just avoid killing, but think about the anger in your heart that stokes that desire.
23-26- Make amends with those that you have hurt.
27-28- Love your spouse purely, not just considering adultery, but flee from that which entertains the thought of impurity.
29-30- Avoid destructive situations (this is hebraic exaggeration, much like how we exaggerate, so don't poke out your eye!)
31-32- Don't bail on your marriage for any reason, yes there are good reasons, but it was common back then to divorce easily and Jesus is establishing repercussions here.
33-37- Be a person of your word.
38-42- Don't be vengeful, it will destroy you. Instead, do good because it gives life.
43-48- Do good to everyone, not just those who do good to you.
6:1-4- Do charitable things not for attention, but to bless the person.
5-8- Don't be hypocritical and be spiritual only in public, but also in private.
9-15- Pray to revere God, ask for his will, ask for your needs, ask for forgiveness, forgive others, ask for safety from evil and temptation.
16-18- Forgive others of what they have done to you. Other wise it will hurt you physically and hurt you before God.
19-21- Don't be materialistic.
22-24- Focus on what is good in life, and keep your eyes on that rather than dwelling on negativity.
25-34- Do not be anxious over what you can not control.
7:1-5- Do not judge others, and look at yourself before you think of casting judgment.
6- Do not waste your time or good on people who will try to hurt you
7-11- Seek God to provide for your needs and desires in life.
12- The Golden Rule, treat others as you would like to be treated.
13-14- Though the narrow path requires discipline, stay on it because it is the path of life
15-20- Be careful of false teachers, and you can identify them by their fruit.
21-23- Live life authentically, and be real with God.
24-28- Put your trust in what is solid, not in what shifts easily. In this case, it is the teachings of Jesus.
So now that I am done with this, what lesson above violates any law? This is the core of Jesus' teaching in the book of Matthew. The reason that I chose this is because it is a good indicator of what Jesus believed and taught, and it is consistent through out the Gospels. He taught pragmatically and at the level of his audience.
I know that a lot of people who argue with me about Christianity always go for the hypocrisy issue. Hypocrisy is a human trait, not a religious one. Jesus specifically speaks out against that, as noted above. I am writing today to show that most people criticize Christianity because of Christians and that often times they do not understand what is written in the Bible. I am not trying to convert anyone or make anyone feel bad, I just want to write this because I want people to understand Christianity the way I do. The message above is why I am a Christian, because I love Christ and I love what he stood for.
So my question today is, what law do the lessons above break? I think we would be hard pressed to find one.
