Anne Jackson, Staff Member at Cross Point Church and Author of Mad Church Disease, shares her heart on flowerdust. Check out her post below.
metaphorically speaking: the fine line
Posted on November 19th, 2008 @ 11:38 am
why is it we think that jesus always spoke in metaphors? sure, he used parables and stories to communicate frequently, but recently i’ve been telling myself, “maybe he really meant that.”
i’m at a point in my personal faith where i have more questions than answers. where i know the scriptures are divinely composed, yet i question the way i’ve been taught to interpret them over the last twenty years. in sunday school, they seldom teach you about historical cultural context or literary patterns of the hebrew language. scripture is timeless, but for the most part, we have taken the words and filtered them through a 21st century, westernized lens.
lots. of. questions.
atop of my questions are positioned relationships i have with those who don’t believe in god the way most of us do, if they believe at all. most of these insights have challenged me to think about the words of jesus…his obvious call…and what should be our obvious answer.
my friend kary oberbrunner has a book coming out in the next couple weeks or so called the fine line. since he is also a zondervan author, i begged and pleaded to get a copy early. they gave in. and it rocks.
here’s a nifty video about the book, and a sample chapter from the book.
one of my favorite parts of the book (granted, he uses proper capitalization) says,
“i’m not afraid to admit it: the sermon on the mount contains some startling commands. like matthew 5:40: ‘if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.’ or matthew 5:42: ‘give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’ or matthew 5:48: ‘be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.’
no wonder we look for ways to get ourselves off the hook of following these difficult sayings. we toss out rationalizations. ‘maybe they’re metaphors.’ ‘maybe they’re about some future time.’ ‘maybe they’re just suggestions.’
i think it’s christians who live like they’re ‘off the hook’ who cause people like mahatma gandhi to become critical of our religion. he saw a disconnection between the way jesus lived and the way christians live. because of this gandhi said, ‘if it weren’t for christians, i’d be a christian.’ gandhi didn’t disagree with jesus’ teachings. he went on record to say, ‘i like your christ, but i don’t like your christians.’ and those of us who know gandhi’s story understand the sobering reality that he embodied the ethics described by jesus on the mount better than most christians.”
it is here where i wrestle. why do people who understand, yet officially don’t associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do? why do those of us who say we believe fail to live like we are transformed by what we believe?
