Are we really following Jesus? Do we really know what was in His mind through all the layers of history? Do we .know who Jesus was in that time? Questions with no real answers. Yet how can we know much about the real Jesus after all this time? And would Jesus accept the religion that has grown up in His name? What would He say about all of us? Would He accept the religion and worship that has grown up around His name?
I am not trying to be a rebel or a heretic here, these are just questions that have occurred to me recently. What I am doing is seeking a deeper understanding of and relationship with God and the man we know as Jesus. What did He really know and think about Himself? I wonder what He would think of our priests and preachers and our tendency to be follow those people who preach division instead of unity. What would He think of all our religions? And would He even approve of what we do in His name? It strikes me that there is too little love in some of the denominations of what we call Christianity. Are we really following Jesus if we do not love all people? And what does the personality we call God have to say about the way we treat others in our world? I find myself wondering about such things.
Where do we go from here? Can anyone find the answers to these and other questions people have about religion and Christianity? I wait and wonder if our questions will ever be answered. And yet these questions need an answer. The problem is, where do we find those answers? Can any answers even be found? It has been too many years since Jesus lived, so any answers will be suspect.
Yet we live in faith, trusting that what we have been told over the years is the truth. Faith is the only thing we have to rely on. What else is there when we can't question the source, Jesus? We can never be sure if we rely on our own thoughts, even if we say the idea is an answer to a prayer. There have been too many cults set up because someone said they had the answers are to everything. Too many people believe what the person says without thinking it over and doing a lot of research. So where do we go from here? How do we find the answers to our questions? If we really want to follow Jesus, how do we get to know the man and what He believed? Are we ready for the answers to our questions?
Are we following Jesus when we don't stop to help those we meet along the way? What about not helping those who are different? Do we know what Jesus wants of each of us? Do we even follow the right path? Does love rule our lives or are we selective about who we love? Could any of us leave everything behind if that was our call? Everything means family, friends and material goods. Would we even hear that kind of call or would we think it a false call? Following Jesus does cost, especially if the people we know and trust believe a different way and tell us we are crazy and will go to hell because we have come to believe different than they do.
Come and learn with me who this Jesus is. Let us study what we have and see if we can find the truth about Him. For example did Jesus intend to start another religion? Or did He just intend to reform the religion He knew? By the time Jesus was born, there was much wrong with Judaism, and the religious leaders of that time didn't seem to be going the way their own books taught. Or at least that's what I read in our part of the Bible.
Something else that has occurred to me, what if we are all worshipping the same God in different ways, ways that go with our culture? After all, the basic principles of each of the major religions are very similar. We are not as different from each other as we might think. God is the creator of all, why can't God be revealed to different people in different ways? And if this is true, we shouldn't be fighting each other. Instead, we should be gathering together, learning who each person is and how to live together in peace and love.
