SIMPLE QUESTIONS

I have a dumb question. In the Gospel according to John he states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And he then states, “all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men.” Do we confuse, maybe better, do we combine the scriptures and the person (Jesus) as one or are they separate? If they are two separate things, isn’t the equating of the two bordering on or at least dangerously close to making scripture an idol? Isn’t that what Jesus charged the religious leaders of day with? They knew the scriptures, but were blind to the light that they spoke of.

Is the purpose of the traditional scriptures (the Bible) to point us toward the need of a personal relationship with Jesus? If this is true, why do we want to make the Bible a literal history book…a rigid road map to the narrow path to God? As a Baptist I use to refer to us a people of the “Book”, and took great pride in that designation. Now I wonder if that allowed me to exclude others from being my equal. That is a humbling thought, that my faith was a prideful thing that could be considered sinful.

Samuel told Saul that it was better to “obey than to sacrifice…”, and for that to hold true for us today shouldn’t we obey what Jesus admonishes in Mark, “and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment, And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself…”?

James gives us a working definition of religion in his epistle. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”. Action words, things to do, behaviors that make a person a follower of Christ. But actions aren’t what makes us believers, they simply give evidence that we are.

To be a follower of Christ is simple, complex, frustrating, peaceful relationship with the person of Jesus the Christ. It’s more than checking off boxes or memorizing scriptures; it’s taking personal responsibility to maintain that personal relationship with a person, not a denomination or ideology. And that can be as different as each of us.

There are fundamentals that I hold very strongly to. That God is the creator, That life is in Christ, that He restores my standing with God, that my natural condition is at enmity with God, that Jesus is both man and God. I do believe that the Bible illuminates the mind of God and does point one to Christ.