Friday, 03 July 2009
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Christians Don't Follow a Book. Christians Follow a Person.
by Brant HansenHere's an excerpt from A Jesus Manifesto, which is newly-written by authors Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet. Thought I'd post it, since it echoes so well some of the stuff we talk about on the show. Can't hurt to have someone else say it...
It is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies. The fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. Christian faith claims to be rational, but also to reach out to touch ultimate mysteries. The cure for a big head is a big heart.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with CliffsNotes for a systematic theology. He leaves his disciples with breath and body.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. Jesus gives his disciples wounds to touch and hands to heal.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with intellectual belief or a “Christian worldview.” He leaves his disciples with a relational faith.
Christians don’t follow a book. Christians follow a person, and this library of divinely inspired books we call “The Holy Bible” best help us follow that person. The Written Word is a map that leads us to The Living Word. Or as Jesus himself put it, “All Scripture testifies of me.” The Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Christ, heaven’s North Star.
The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The “good news” was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The “good news” was the story of a person’s life, as reflected in The Apostle’s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.
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Comments (41)
Then why do Christians obsess so much over the rules in their little rulebook?
I once put it like this, in response to the question "What religion do you choose to follow?"
I said "I choose to follow God in the person of Jesus, and the state of my following God is my religion."
I think I liked the points made here, though I think, to some extent, the bible is a plan on how we ought to live here.
@SerenaDante@xanga - The post is more instructional than descriptive of what Christians do. It uses language like "Christians do this, that" as rhetoric for what Christians ought to do, since it's obvious some do follow a book and not a person.
Then explain sola scriptura? The elevation of the book to a place of worship? If Christians want to claim to follow Jesus, they need to stop ignoring the part of that book where they are told that everything He taught was not written down. They also need to stop treating it like a history or science book.
Two things I want to point out:
1. Jesus never contradicts the Bible. It points to Him, yes, but the things it says are also absolute. Nothing God says now changes anything the Bible says.Part of God continuing to speak is Him continuing to speak through the Bible. The words are not static. They are alive.
2. The Bible absolutely does help Christians to form a Christian worldview. Relational Christianity and intellectual Christianity are not mutually exclusive. If you have one without the other, you have problems.
I want to like this post, but I think the writer of the statement and I might have some significant disagreements. I believe Christianity is relationship with Christ, and a huge way He helps us to experience and know Him is through His Word, the Bible. When I read the Bible, I'm not just reading words on a page. The Holy Spirit speaks to me, and the words are alive.
Then why does everything have to come down to the phrase ... "Well, the BIBLE says..."
the comment above mine is a perfect example of how they DO follow a book.
@XDaemonessX@xanga -
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel -
@Pickwick12@xanga -
@SerenaDante@xanga -
You're all missing the point. This isn't about what Christians actually do, it's about what they should do. The first paragraph even says (to paraphrase) "Christians don't actually follow Christ, they follow the story of his life as written thousands of years ago by other people." It then goes to say that they don't realise that's what they're doing, and get lost in something that's not Christianity.
You do not know Jesus. Jesus is dead, ergo you can not possibly know him. There's a huge difference between knowing and knowing about.
@XDaemonessX@xanga - As the writer of the comment above you
, I agree. What Christianity is, is a relationship with a Person. The Bible is a huge part of the way we get to know Him.
@HeartOfPandora@xanga - You obviously misread my comment. I agree that Christians should not elevate the Bible to a place of worship and that is exactly what I said.
Good post.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - Actually, I wasn't even trying to reply to you.
@HeartOfPandora@xanga - OK, well you did, so...
Q: Then explain sola scriptura?
A: The prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments are the only true norm by which to judge and evaluate teachers and teachings. I am not sure that the Viola and Sweet book, if this quote is a fair summary, follows that principle. And, sola scriptura is not the worship of a book; one worships God, the Bible tells us about Him.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - Really, this post isn't about sola scriptura. Even if you accept additional teachings as having equal value as scripture, the question really doesn't change: are we following teachings about Jesus in order to form a theological framework, or are we following Jesus himself? It's just as easy for both the protestant and catholic to follow books, stories, and teachings rather than following Jesus.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - Not a problem as you are distorting what Sola Scriptura originally meant.
"
Sola scriptura, however, does not ignore Christian history
and tradition when seeking to understand the Bible. Rather, it sees the
Bible as the only final authority in matters of faith and practice. As Martin Luther said, "The true rule is this: God's Word shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel can do so."
I find sola scriptura to be heretical for a bunch of different reasons but let's use what Luther originally taught instead of the bible worship characterized by many evangelical protestants. BTW i agree w/ everything else you said.
p
@Theophilus166@xanga - So what tells you what He wants you to follow? The Holy Spirit, alone? How do you know where He is going?
This post is about what I interpret it to be about. You have a different interpretation because you have a different experience. So you trying to tell me what the post is about is 100% meaningless. It's not as if I started talking about giraffes, in which case you could make a point that the post is not about giraffes as such is plainly obvious. My point is that those who hold up the Bible as the only authority and who follow it as a 100% literal retelling of history and science are elevating the book to a status above Jesus. There is a wealth of information telling us where He had gone and where He is going so we can follow, but it goes beyond the Bible.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - well I'm not going to turn this into a Catholic/Protestant debate. The author is talking about whether we follow teachings or the Teacher. If you want to argue about sola scriptura or additional teachings, go ahead, but I'm done.
@Theophilus166@xanga - Ooooohhhhhhhkaaaaayyyyy. Thanks for letting me know.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - I think sola scriptura is borderline heresy. The Protestants would kick me out if they knew. (So don't tell.)
@SirNickDon@xanga - Heehee, I have never thought you were a dues-paying member of the club anyway.
it's easy to post arguments about what Christians should do. but it's obvious that they don't.
someone made the comment earlier that the Bible is an outline of what God wants Christians to do. but i see a lot of Christians wanting non-Christians to follow the same rules for the same reasons. if that's not following a book, rather than a person, i don't know what is.
@HeartOfPandora@xanga - You're all missing the point. This isn't about what Christians actually do, it's about what they should do.
How do we know what we should do except for reading what God says we should do in the bible?
@musterion99@xanga - No god wrote the Bible. A bunch of men wrote it. Humans are not perfect, ergo the Bible is not perfect, nor is it the "perfect word of a perfect god." Why not just try thinking for yourself?
@HeartOfPandora@xanga - Christians do believe the words of Jesus that are written in the bible and believe what we should do is try to follow them.
@musterion99@xanga - Like I said, why not try thinking for yourself, for once in your life?