Sometimes a burst of questions comes into my mind. They usually come and go before I have time to even put them on a Post-It for further study. This time I was at my keyboard. Here is what I have been thinking of this afternoon.
In the past I have been a member of different Christian denominations who say we must go out and save the rest of the world by telling them about Jesus.
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But I’m not a Jesus freak as the world has come to know many of us. At least not any longer. If you want to go about your life without any in deep knowledge of Him that is your business. You will certainly have many opportunities to know Him if that is your desire. Unless you ask me I will not try to push you in that direction. I am a guy who has chosen to make the teachings of Jesus the central theme of my life. If you choose otherwise I won’t bug you. But if you ask I will certainly tell you why I have the joy that I have in my life. I will not try to intimidate you into believing by threatening God’s eternal damnation. That is between you and God. I have been exposed to various methods that supposedly bring people to Christ. I have come to believe as the Bible says that is the business of the Holy Spirit.
- Are there other paths to heaven besides belonging to a present day Christian organization? At this point in my life I am not willing to say that there aren’t. Jesus said to get to the Father you must go through him. But to me that does not necessarily mean that you must fall in lock step with any current groups who call themselves Christians.
- Is it possible to be Spiritual without being religious? If being religious means going to church every Sunday (or Saturday) then I don’t know? But I believe I have found my path to the Lord. It is studying the red letters found in the Bible. All of the Bible contains some degree of inspiration from God. All of its many human authors believed they were speaking for Him. But if I really want to know from a firsthand account what God is all about then I must concentrate on those words that came directly from His lips. All the other words found in the Bible at best just reinforce those words. Jesus’ ministry lasted three years. He had enough time to personally tell us what God is all about. I believe he did just that. Study the red letters if you want to know the real messages of God.
- I know the words of Jesus known as the Great Commission tell us to go out and make disciples but he did not give us a laundry list of just how to do that? I think he chose to leave the details up to each of us individually. I chose a way that is best for me. That is to listen to the last half of that message which is to obey all that he has commanded. That part of the Great Commission seems to have been lost in much of today’s world. In order to know what he has commanded we need to study his words on a daily if not minute by minute basis and to make every attempt to obey them. We will lead people to Christ by our examples, not by our words. And no, I don’t obey his commands perfectly; that is just not possible for us human beings but that does not excuse us from even trying. Giving up even the attempt is a total cop out.
