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Over the past few years I been giving this some thought and was recently asked this question. I thought I’d let Jesus speak for himself:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

This is not all he said, and his actions as well point to why he came. What else do you see Jesus doing and saying that points to why he came?

(For focus reasons, limit your comments to only what Jesus said or did in the gospels)

What’s missing?

Here are excerpts from two of our earliest creeds, the Apostles and the Nicene, in order. Read them and see if you can tell what is missing:

“…Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead….”

“…For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again…”

What’s missing? Did you see it, or more importantly, not see it? I wish it were limited only to these ancient creeds of the early church. Think about most of our modern worship songs. What do they typically share in common? Love, Jesus’ death (or blood, or sacrifice), His birth (come Christmas), His resurrection (come Easter), and our future reunion with him. See what’s missing? What about our modern sermons? If all the Bibles were to disappear and someone unfamiliar with the Christian faith were to only read our creeds, sing our songs, listen to our sermons, would they be convinced that Jesus even lived? Or healed? Or taught? Or would they think that he was born, immediately crucified as a baby and returned to life a few days later as a triumphant infant? Did Jesus leave the glories of heaven to simply live a sinless life, die, and resurrect?

Ironically, there seems to be an unhealthy neglect of Jesus’ life and teachings; ironic since we are supposed to be his FOLLOWERS and DISCIPLES. When Jesus sent his disciples out, he told them to do what they saw him do and teach what they heard him teach. Jesus said that whoever hears his teachings and does what he says is like a wise man that builds his house on a rock, able to withstand the storms of life. Yet we tend to bypass his life, jumping immediately to his death.

Then when we do look at his teachings, we categorize them as “high ideals” that we could never measure up to or obey. Or we say that they were only to point out how sinful we are and how far short we fall of God’s standard. Yet Jesus’ intentions that his teachings are to be followed and obeyed are painfully obvious to even the most casual reader of the gospels. He calls people to FOLLOW him, not just idolize, revere, or worship him; to become his disciples, doing what he says and does. Regarding his ministry and life, Jesus said that his followers would do even greater things than he did. “Surely he couldn’t have meant that,” so we spiritualize (or salvationize) his words and actions to get us off the hook of being his disciples.

Why is this? Why do we neglect (or just as bad, idealize) his life and focus mostly on his death? Is it because if we took his life and words seriously (as Jesus himself seemed to do) the cost of following them would be too high? Is this tendency a mirror reflecting our selfish individualism focusing on what we get from the cross…personal salvation from hell and entrance into heaven…while neglecting the sacrificial, life-dying way of Jesus? What would happen if we reclaimed the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount as a way of living and following the one whose name we claim? What would it look like if we didn’t neglect his life or death, but saw them both as a single thread showing how God wants to transform this world by his Kingdom coming to Earth? What if we seriously answered his call to “follow me” and led the charge for others to do the same? Can you image a world in which everyone who claimed the name of Jesus lived the way of Jesus?

It seems as if we have unknowingly killed Jesus again. I believe he is asking us to help him resurrect himself to a marginalized world that desperately needs to hear his words and see his life lived out once more on this dusty, earthly soil he formed us with.Will people be able to tell that Jesus lived/s? I am hopeful. It begins with me…

I had a very disturbing dream last night. Not frightening, disturbing. Disturbing in the sense that the personal ramifications of the dream could be great.

I dreamt I went through each of the Gospels of Jesus and saw a common theme regarding good deeds and spiritual faith. The shift this created was paradigmatic. I then turned to one of my fiends and posed them the very question that disturbed me: “If one person has ALL, or a lot of, CHRISTIAN FAITH (i.e. correct Christian/Biblical doctrine, proper church involvement, etc.), but NO DEEDS (as defined by the Jesus and the Bible), and another person had NO, or little, CHRISTIAN FAITH but ALL DEEDS; which of these would be ushered into heaven, by Jesus? Which one, according to Jesus and the gospels? Which one, according to the current church theology adopted from the Reformation?” The look on his face was one of bewilderment. “Well, according to Jesus and the Gospels, the second person. According to us, the first.”

In other words, my friend was saying this:We believe a person can “come to faith” in Jesus, then never lift a finger to bring God’s goodness and grace to Earth and Jesus will usher them into heaven by the skin of their teeth (all be it without any heavenly treasure or jewels). But someone who has never “come to faith”, but devoted and sacrifices his life to bring God’s goodness and grace (after all, isn’t all goodness and grace is God’s?) to a hurting and unjust world will be condemned to Hell by Jesus. In essence, a person who identifies with the “name” of Jesus but does not follow the “way” (deeds, example, teachings) of Jesus is saved. A saved person can be a person who is ALL faith and NO deeds….or all TALK and no WALK. For, after all, it is by faith you are saved and not by works. But it is impossible for someone with ALL deeds and NO faith (as we define it) to be saved. The “prayer of faith” and proper belief is all that matters when it comes to entrance in heaven…so we believe. But Jesus seemed to teach and live differently.

But as you listen to Jesus and read the gospels looking for this theme, you see a completely different picture. In fact, the picture seems reversed. I am still in process with this issue and will be for some time, but a few unresolved questions popped to my mind as a result to this dream (after all, I just had the dream last night).

Have we, to a fault, idolized the “theology of faith” that was born out of the Reformation over the life and teachings of Jesus?

Do we interpret the life and teachings of Jesus through the words of Paul, John, Peter and the like, rather than interpreting Paul, John, and Peter through Jesus’s words and example?

Have we created a church culture based on “cheap grace” and/or election, where faith is all that matters?

Have we created a bar-code faith, where, come judgment, all humanity is put on a conveyer belt and God scans our brains looking for the “bar-code of faith”, those who have it are in, those who do not are out––regardless of their life lived?

Do we dismiss Jesus’ obvious teachings about obedience, deeds, and justice being paramount criteria for entrance into the Kingdom because they do not mesh with OUR theology?

Is the cost of discipleship too high or uncomfortable that we have created a system where “correct” faith and belief trump discipleship and justice?

I cannot get over this.A “faith” that does nothing literally DOES NOTHING.But a “non-faith” that does something literally DOES SOMETHING.So based on Jesus’ parables, teachings and the Gospels, which does Jesus seem to indicate God values more?

Revisit the Gospels with me and lets dialogue together…

NOTE: This is an excerpt from a journal written two years ago…YOU is referring to God/Jesus, except in the last few paragraphs.  It is basically one continuous, unedited, strain of  thought.

You said that you spoke and did what you saw and heard from your father in heaven saying and doing. So you came and spoke very harsh words to the church (for lack of a better word) using their language of hell against them, yet spoke words of grace, healing, and redemption to the very people they were condemning to hell. You gave blessings to the least of people, and spoke curses to those who had you nailed (no pun) down…to those who held the power of “right doctrine”. You said that there would be people who confessed with their mouth that you are “Lord, Lord” yet you would tell them to depart from you because their works, their deeds did very little, if nothing to bring your kingdom to earth (feed, cloth, visit, etc…these are your words, not the liberal’s) and that there would be people who were shocked at your judgment on them as they shake their heads saying who are you and when did we do your kingdom work, yet you would welcome them?

You told a story of a son who said the right words yet did no works (verbal confession without correct lifestyle) and another son who said all the wrong words yet did what you asked (no confession of faith, in fact, anti-confession with correct lifestyle) and you asked, which one did as his father asked? You mentioned time and time again the connection between fruit and fire. That if you do not bear fruit (right living) you will be cast away to be burned (again, interpreted as hell though it does not mention hell and might be speaking of just a life going up in smoke…there is nothing left in the end), yet we teach belief and fire, or words and fire, that if you do not believe the right thing or confess the right thing, you will be cast away to be burned (taught as eternal [eternal, never ending] suffering that of which no one, not even the worst earthly evil, would be capable of doing…even the cruelest of human inflicted suffering has an end to it). You heal, mend, forgive, grace, reconcile all who are willing and some who are not.If death’s door does bring an end to your forgiveness and mercy (meaning it is only valid to correct believe and confession before you die) then did you truly overcome death? Wouldn’t death still have a stinger? Wouldn’t death in fact have more power than even you and your mercy (which we sing about having no end)? “Sorry, I would offer you mercy because I can see your heart, your tears, your repentance, your sorrow, but bummer, you died, nothing I can do, I am powerless at this point…so off you go lad into an eternal suffering that even Hitler could not have brought you. But by the way, I love you like no other…in fact, I AM love.” Don’t you even tell us that it is your mercy that triumphs over judgment and that it is your mercy that leads to repentance? Isn’t your aim to bring reconciliation? Yet death still is taught as the final word? If judgment (interpreted as who goes to heaven and hell) was the final word to those who believed the wrong doctrine, then wouldn’t your message while on earth be a bit different? Why all the talk about right living, fruit, actions? Why all the embracement and forgiveness of “sinners”…those who haven’t a clue about right thinking (at least as far as we are concerned)? Or are you so cruel as to teach and live one thing and then in the end, flip it on its head and change what you came teaching what the father taught and did? It seems that is the message to the world that we give. God loves you, he accepts you, Jesus is awesome he hanged with sinners, forgave sinners, embraced sinners, yet don’t you dare die because that will be the end of his love, forgiveness, embrace.

Belief vs. Action. So if someone never hears about the mathematical gospel (your sins must be cancelled out by Jesus’ sacrifice, which can only happen when you believe in Him and give him your life) and yet devotes their entire life to feeding the poor, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, loving the orphan, housing the widow, speaking for those with no power or voice, saving the suffering during ethnic cleansing (you get the picture) and dies, Jesus is going to send them to eternal damnation and suffering? What’s good about that news? On the flip side, if someone hears about the gospel as professed by the majority of Christendom and believes, confesses, and gives “lordship of their life” to Jesus, they go to church, sing wonderful songs, study the Bible, memorize it, teach it, tithe, yet ignore the poor, the naked, the sick, the orphan, the widow, the powerless, the suffering…don’t lift a finger to help them (to bring God’s Kingdom to earth) and even sometimes, be part of the cause, that Jesus is going to build a mansion, bless them, open the pearly gates for eternal bliss, laughter and communion with himself simply because of their believe and lip service? Again, I ask, what is good about that news? An even more frightening question, which better describes me?As I re-read the gospels, and interpret the epistles through Jesus words and actions, not visa-versa, it paints a much different gospel. In one sense a narrower gospel, because it DOES require action, not just believe or words, yet at the same time a broader and more inclusive gospel that seems to extend much further beyond the protected realm of modern Christendom. Try this, reread the gospels and whenever Jesus mentions religious people (Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, etc.) take the benefit of the doubt and read it humbly as if it is referring to current religious people (you and me included). Whenever he mentions sinners, read it as if it is referring to whom we/you would consider sinners (for this practice, exclude yourself from this list, though theologically we believe we are sinners, just sinners who believe the right thing). What do you see? What changes?