I follow Jesus. A real person, past and present, who claimed he was God in way clearly understandable to his Jewish audience. He then invited people to leave behind their personal ambitions, and at times their wealth, in order to listen to what he said about life and reality and God, and to tell others what he said.
So here I am 2000 or so years later. I believe him.
Why?
I did grow up in a Christian home, which means one of two things. 1) I just inherited my parents views (or at least some of them) which are constructs and superstitious malarky or 2) I learned something true from my parents, and others, that I have accepted as truth and have embraced.
Either way I have tried to form my life around those views, those things which I believe are true, and have looked at the world with the assumption that the words in the Bible are God's word to us, and that Jesus is who he says he is, God incarnate... many implications follow.
It has been several years since I have decided for myself, to follow Jesus, to believe him, to submit my life to him. What have been the results?
Following Jesus isn't about me (at least it's not supposed to be), it's about him, but if the Bible is true, and Jesus is really God, then the things he said should also be true right?
"I have come that you may have life, and life to the full..."
-Over the past few years I have lived in various states of wealth, friendship, comfort, and emotion. During that time, I can easily mark parts of my life where I was trying (and still often try) to get something I want: sex, money, people's attention, recognition.... During those times, whether short lived or an extended amount of time, even if I got what I wanted, it felt like the morning after one emotional beer too many, I had reached my goal, but it had failed to deliver lasting result, it had let me down.
-I went to Ireland a couple of years ago, it was fun, but at the same time miserable. I liked a girl who didn't like me back, though she was a very kind and good friend. It was fairly petty, I was pouting about the whole deal. In the context of life it was small and insignificant, but in the moment huge. We went to this Island in Scotland, I sat down on an empty beach and talked to God, then just sat and listened, thinking about the things he says in the Bible, thinking about who he asks me to be. All of the sudden my problem didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that I shared life with Him. I felt like I was who I was supposed to be. Nothing in my circumstance changed, and I didn't learn to meditate and ignore my circumstance, I just sat there at rest, at peace even within them. I felt alive, I could feel every drop of water that hit my feet as the tide came up. This is just one of many times, in larger and smaller situations that have proved to me over and over again that the only lasting peace and life I have ever experienced have come in Jesus.
"Empty Religion Kills..." (my paraphrase.)
Jesus told the religious leaders of the day that they were like white washed tombs with dead men's bones inside. He pointed out that the whole system of worship was set up so that they would be led to relationship with God. If you do any kind of genuine study of the first 3/4 of the Bible (which many Christians largely ignore with the exception of Psalms, Proverbs, and 15 year old boys who giggle at the sexual references of Song of Solomon) you'll see that from the beginning it was about God having relationship with mankind.
-Growing up, and even now, I find structured religion (even Christian) largely frustrating, it feels heavy and stifling. Not because I want to go out and get smashed and Christians tell me not to, it is more because I would rather sit down and talk about life and God, and what he says rather than sit through another Bible study where no one says anything. I don't find a messy church, or messy people as an argument against the validity of what Jesus said, because Jesus (nor scripture) didn't lay out the church structure we have today, people did. I don't think God cares as much about the structure, for or against, so much as he cares about the beating hearts inside of it.
When I do religious things that are formalities, or organized events where I move through some religious motions (emphasis on my nonchalant nature) it drains me, it feels pointless and stupid.
People attending a church and saying it "didn't do anything for them" are backing up what Jesus said, if you are into religion, it's going to leave you empty and yield nothing but sporadic emotional responses to good music or some self inspiring message. When I gather with other followers of Jesus I want to hear, talk about, and honor Jesus, not here about an inspirational message from Tony Robbins. I don't like religion, I absolutely love relationship with Jesus.
These things are evidences of an assumption. And I'm sure that anyone could say things like, "Well you are just experiencing normal human reactions to religious experiences. Or maybe your set of assumptions have worked for you to help you cope with life." Maybe they would even say that of course I can get through life fine, it has been comparatively easy.
While I continue to experience, and talk to others who experience, that everything in scripture is applicable to life and everyday living, in North America, The Middle East, Central Africa, and Asia, that following Jesus is relavent across culture and time. Behind my assumptions are many more evidences that I could not express in several paragraphs (or several years of a blog), but in the end it has come down to faith, that Jesus has sought me out, and called me to follow him, which I have decided to do. A decision I have never regretted since.
