The Privilege of Being and Doing

In my mind there are a few philosophies that drive our current theology, which will be heavily critiqued in 200 years.

The first philosophy that comes to my mind is the way we are satisfied to simply "believe in Jesus", as opposed to "imitating the actions of Christ." I believe that most people who are locked into the propaganda of the current church philosophy are missing the point of Jesus' purpose for His body of believers.

Jesus' movement was called, "The Kingdom of Heaven." It could just as well be called "The Will Doers of God." The idea of "going to" church appears to be in opposition to Jesus action oriented movement of bringing disciples into the Kingdom for the purpose of doing God's will in the world, instead of telling people how they can have Jesus in their hearts and come to church on Sunday.

True disciples are active followers and imitators of Christ, not simply ceremony observers and participants.

To first century Jews like Jesus, the Hebrew phrase "mal-KUT sha MA-yim" or "The Kingdom of God (Heaven)" was a term which referred to the rule of God over a person who has chosen to submit his or herself to God and to live out God's Word and will in his or her life and in the world. In essence that person became a "living Word."

So much of the obedience of most Christians today is based on a "faith of belief," rather than a "faith of action." This is due to the misunderstanding that the Old Testament is a law of works, while the New Testament is a new teaching based on grace. No Jew has ever believed that he or she is saved by the "Law." In fact, "Law" is a terrible translation of the original Hebrew word Torah, which is a word that means instruction or way. Jews have always believed that they are saved by God's grace and are also privileged to live out the Torah in honor of God.

Ray Vander Laan puts it beautifully, when he says, "The Old Testament is much more like a roadmap giving us directions to where we need to be, rather than a list of driving rules that must not be broken."

In 200 years, I truly believe that Christians will look back and say, "I'm glad we no longer believe that we can simply "know" as believers in Jesus. We would truly be missing the honor and privilege of "being" and "doing" as imitators of Christ.

Forever learning,
Johnny