Faithful To What Is

Christians embrace a shallower version of Jesus.

There is a world out there with all manner of ideas about Jesus. Frankly I don't see anything in the gospels that demands our belief; no coersion. It is given and then we can enter. Even someone who approaches God from unbelief is simply responding to the reality of Christ in the world, no matter what manner of faith he settles on.

To the humanist, Jesus' teaching allows for his faith, his opinion. But the truth of it demands action. Maybe Christians have come to faith through the influence of a disciple of Christ, but they can never remain in faith because of them. We can look at the words of any follower and find truth. But nothing can give me relationship to Christ other than Jesus himself. I choose relating. I am thankful for the opportunity. I want within myself to know Christ, even as I would want to know my husband or my children. Many do not make more of him than the gospels claim. That may be all that we need. Does God demand us to agree? Do you not believe there is a god who could make a demand? But now we come to the level of philosophical thinking that Jesus' teaching seems to take for granted. Christianity is bigger than what I ever thought it was. I can barely keep up with the Sermon on the Mount. Anything a humanist may say about Christ is no more generous than what the most traditional supplicant would say. Jesus Christ is the point and all eyes are on him.