My Faith, Grace, and Shifting Theology

Over the past several weeks I've had some new ideas on what faith means. To me, it's hard because the book I read has some truth in it, but some of it contradicts what I've been taught, so I have to really think about what I think the truth really is. I've decided that what makes the best, the absolute best people is grace. The idea that we come to God with nothing, and that he loves us where we are for what we are is the difference-maker. Not for what we wish we were or what we want people to see us as- but simply as we really are. This notion that Yahweh loves us, even as messed up as we are... I think that is foundational to any right living that happens. Are there people who live right but don't really get this? To a degree, sure. In order to truly be great in the kingdom of Heaven, however, one has to accept Heaven and God as a gift- something that cannot be earned by right living. And you must understand that living right is about real love, not about pleasing other people.

The thing I like most about the book I just read (titled "The Jesus Dynasty" by James Tabor) is that it teaches that the early Christians were more focused on Jesus's message than on the man being God incarnate or the other theological beliefs that relate, such as the virgin birth or resurrection in bodily form. I honestly don't know whether these things are true, but the idea that it might matter more to focus on Jesus's teachings than on these other things appeals to me. The core idea of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as you would love yourself." seems to me to be more relevant to life than belief in a miracle that may or may not have happened. What Jesus taught itself was somewhat revolutionary- he took righteousness to a whole new level. To even lust is to commit adultery- this insight alone is far more intense than people were taught before Jesus. Other teachings of Jesus indicate that God loves poor people, and as I consider myself poor- at least by American standards- I can relate to this as well. You don't know what love is until you are giving away money to someone in need that you might need yourself. That is genuine love.

I guess my point is that while things tend to be more complex than we imagine them to be, and truthfully, what we wish they were, we're still given the option to largely ignore all those complexities and live as Jesus did- one day at a time, trusting God for our daily bread, loving the people around us to the max, and believing that God loves us simply because it is his nature to love and he made us to be objects of his love. We don't really need more than this to live. We don't have to understand with certainty whether Jesus was resurrected from the dead in bodily form, or whether Jesus was born of a virgin, or all the other obstacles to faith that have been put up by professional religious people. If you don't understand that you yourself are messed up in the first place, then you don't really know your own sinfulness. If you do though, then you can accept that God loves you because it is in his nature to love- always has and always will be. If you can receive that love, then there's hope that you can then disperse that love. That is the hope of humanity- that humans can follow this precise path of humility, to really love the people around them.

It is my hope that you the reader will come to God as a little child and accept God's love as it comes- free of charge, on the house. The truth is we were made by God, and that is the only reason God has to have in order to love us. I hope today you will discover or rediscover how much God loves you, and use that as a catalyst for an entirely new life of ruthless trust in God.