How could we have got it so wrong? In the newly released docco, For The Love of God, we are told that many people have, in Jesus’ name, persecuted and killed others. How can that be possible, that followers of the one who, “… was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7, NIV) did the very opposite? How did the church lose its way?
One of the main ideas of For The Love of God, is that the teachings of Jesus is like a piece of music. The composition is perfect and without flaw. The church though has at times played this music well, but not always. Sometimes the execution has been particularly atrocious. It is a sobering thought that not all who follow Jesus, are actually, well, following Jesus. Where is the consistency, after all, in claiming to follow the teachings of Jesus to forgive one’s enemies, while committing murder at the same time?
Sometimes, it must be said, we don’t follow because we don’t know. We probably don’t spend as much time as we should studying the life of Jesus in the Gospels. What did he actually say? What did he actually do? What does he actually stand for? If Jesus were alive today, what would he say really about refugees, or violence against women, or the World Cup even? Would he be as loved (or hated) today for his views as he was 2000 years ago?
Most people would agree that while Jesus did speak of hell, and judgement, and the wrath of God, the main message of Jesus was grace. When religious leaders started muttering about how he fraternised with “sinners” (Luke 15), Jesus told them three stories about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. God, it appears is a lot less of the angry man with a big stick waiting to thrash you when you fail, and more of a loving father waiting to welcome the lost son home.
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21 June 2018