Thursday, May 01, 2008

The Bullet of Loving Jesus: The True Substance

When I did graduate work in philosophy my professor assigned me a topic for a term paper which blew my mind. Ready? “The background for and implications of Hierarchical Context verses Dramatic Redemptive for Biblical Symbolism.” How could I write on something when I didn’t even understand the title?!

Slowly, it emerged that I was to do a study on the best symbol for Christianity on earth. I was to seek the sources for the “dramatic presence of Christ” and to eliminate the “hierarchies of man produced organized religion.”

Where can one find authentic Christianity … the true message of Jesus … on earth today? Bonhoeffer called it “religionless Christianity.” How can we discover the gospel of Jesus without it being corrupted by man? Where is the “faith that conquers” which goes beyond denominations, church buildings, theological debates and hypocritical lives?

Guess what I came up with? The Cross? No! The Bible? No! Orthodox Creeds? No! The Church? No! The only ultimate symbol of Christianity is the “new creation,” the “new man” (Gal. 6:15). The person who loves is the only true symbol of the gospel of Christ. “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” (Gal. 5:22). Anything less misses the meaning of our Master’s Resurrection!

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