How we can heal our world and our selves.
by George Pelly-Bosela
of the Church of Human Weakness
We can heal our world and our selves, by following the commands of Jesus Christ. Two of Jesus’ commands make this abundantly clear: The commands “Do not resist evil”, (Mt 5:38-41), and “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). I have asked myself many times, “Why do so few of us try to follow these commands, when so many of us call Jesus Lord?” And I have found many reasons for this. The reasons that seem to be the strongest reasons, are that most of us do not realize that following Jesus’ commands, will always help us more than it will hurt us, and that many of us misunderstand Jesus. In this essay, I try to show many ways in which following Jesus’ commands, will help us, I try to show that following Jesus’ commands, will always help us more than it will hurt us, and I try to explain many of the ways in which we misunderstand Jesus. For these reasons, I believe that this essay can be an outline for healing our world and our selves. This essay is only an outline, though. Many of us must work together to be able to heal our world and our selves.
A person can do most things the right way, but still be brought to ruin by a comparatively small number of mistakes. This happens to all of us at times. I see this a lot, and I feel great sympathy for anyone to whom this happens. And I feel great regret when I realize that all of the mistakes that people make, could be avoided by following Jesus’ commands. And when I see how few of us, try to follow most of Jesus’ commands: including only a tiny percentage of those of us, who call ourselves Christians.
When we realize that every thing that Jesus tells us to do, will help us more than it will hurt us, then we will do all that Jesus tells us to do. When we do not realize this, then we will not even try to do what Jesus tells us to do. This is clearest with regard to Jesus’ command “Do not resist evil” (Mt 5:38-41). Throughout human history, nearly all of us, have told ourselves that if we did not resist evil, then we and people who we want to help, would suffer greater grief and privation, than we and people who we want to help, would suffer if we did resist evil. Jesus tells us not to resist evil, because the opposite of this is true. Jesus does not give us the command “Do not resist evil”, so that evil will prevail in our world. Instead Jesus tells us not to resist evil, because resisting evil, would not lead to less evil being done to us, but would instead lead to more evil being done to us. Jesus is telling us to avoid an action that would not work for us. Jesus makes this clear when He gives us the command, “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17). Jesus gives us this command because speaking out against evil, will work as a way to reduce evil in our world. Speaking out against evil, may not always allow us to avoid evil, but speaking out against evil, will allow us to avoid more evil than it will create. Resisting evil, on the other hand, creates more evil than it allows us to avoid. Resisting evil, would even create more evil than would be created by letting our brother be as a stranger to us. This is why Jesus tells that if speaking out against evil that our brother does to us, does not lead our brother to stop trespassing against us, then we are to let our brother be as a stranger to us. Letting our brother be as a stranger to us, is a last resort, which we should only turn to after speaking out against evil in many ways. But it is far better than resisting evil, as we will all be tempted to do. As with all of His commands, Jesus is telling us to do what will work best for us, and for people who we want to help. This Command is just one example of this. We will help ourselves most, if we try as hard as we can to do follow all of Jesus’ commands.
The claim that by following Jesus’ commands, we could avoid all of the mistakes that we make, probably sounds like an inflated claim to most of you. This is natural because we all often hear inflated and false claims. It is important to remember, though, that disbelieving true claims, can hurt us just as much as believing false claims, can hurt us. It is very dangerous both to believe too quickly, and to disbelieve too quickly. Our wisest course of action, is to try to learn more about any claim, before we either believe that claim or disbelieve that claim.
One reason it is hard for us to believe that following Jesus, will allow us to avoid all of the mistakes that we make, is that we do not realize that the things Jesus tells us to do, will help us much more through changes they will lead to within us, than through changes they will lead to outside of us. We often expect all of the rewards that come from following Jesus, to be external rewards, and we do not see that most of the rewards that come from following Jesus, are internal rewards. For example following Jesus’ command not to judge, (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37), will allow us to use our minds much more effectively than we would be able to use our minds if we did judge. Part of the reason for this, is that when we judge, we destroy our ability to think clearly, by destroying our ability to see our world as it is. We do this by choosing to see our world in a way that will allow us to judge ourselves and people we like, more favorably than reality would allow. We usually do this by seeing what we want to see and disregarding the rest. (because engaging in selective perception is a less obvious error than outright hallucination. Though for this reason it is also a more dangerous error). And a part of the reason that we will be able to use our minds more effectively if we follow Jesus’ command not to judge, is that when we judge, we spend great amounts of mental energy on judging, and we would be able to use our minds much more effectively, if we devoted this mental energy to activities that helped us. One way in which Jesus’ command, “Do not resist evil”, (Mt 5:38-41), will help us, is by freeing up the great amounts of mental energy that we devote to preparing to fight. If we instead devote this mental energy to trying to figure out how to avoid evil and reduce evil, without resisting evil, then we will always be able to discover alternatives to resisting evil, that will hurt us and people who our actions affect, less than resisting evil, would hurt us and people who our actions affect, and that will help us and people who our actions affect, more. Resisting evil, seldom works as a way of reducing or avoiding evil. Much more often, resisting evil, leads to escalating violence, as it turns fights into battles and battles into wars. To try to be prepared to fight effectively at a moment’s notice, we oversimplify our world into a picture in black and white with no shades of gray, because we fear that if we saw the true complexity of our world, then we might feel indecision when we want to fight, and that this indecision might make us hesitate when we want to act quickly. If we have pledged that we will not resist evil, though, then we will not mentally handicap ourselves by trying to be prepared to fight effectively at a moments notice. Being able to see our world as it truly is, will also be one of the greatest rewards that will come to people who follow Jesus’ commands to forgive people who trespass against us (Mt 6:13-15, Lk 17:3-4,& LK 6:37), and to love our enemies (Mt 5:42-48), because if we do not follow these commands, then the hate in our hearts will cloud our vision. The most valuable thing we own is our selves. And Jesus’ commands are an owner’s manual that we have been given, that tells us how we must act in order to function best.
It is also hard for us to believe that following Jesus, will allow us to avoid all of the mistakes that we make, because we do not realize how different our actions would be, if we tried to follow Jesus. We all have a watered-down idea of what it means to follow Jesus, because most of the people who we see, who say they are trying to follow Jesus, do not try to do most of what Jesus tells us to do. To understand what it means to follow Jesus, we must study what Jesus tells us to do. Not what people who call themselves Christians, do.
We can see how different Jesus’ teachings are from traditional morality, when Jesus says, “You have heard it said in the past that you should not swear unless what you swear to is true. But I say to you, ‘Do not swear at all’” (Mt 5:33-37). In traditional morality, there is nothing wrong with swearing oaths that are true. But Jesus is teaching us a different morality. Jesus tells us that the reason we should not swear at all, is because swearing denies the fact that we have too little power to guarantee anything, when He says, “Do not swear at all, not even on your own head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.” We also see the difference between traditional morality and the morality that Jesus teaches us, in Jesus’ command not to resist evil. (Mt 5:38-48) Fighting, (at least against people who try to do great harm to us), is so central to everything we see other people do, and to everything we do, that without Jesus’ teaching we would not even imagine that not resisting evil, is a possible goal that people could aspire to. Resisting evil would seem to be as much a part of being human as breathing, eating, or drinking. Without Jesus’ teachings most of us would also never consider trying to give to every one who asks of us, and asking for nothing in return, (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), and most of us would never consider trying to do good to those who persecute us, (Mt 5:42- 48), or trying to forgive people who trespass against us, (Mt 6:9-15, see also Lk 6:37). Most of us spend most of our time and energy trying to gain wealth and power, but Jesus teaches us that these things will hurt us more than they will help us, when He says, “It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, Lk 12:33, & Mk 10:17-25), and when He says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”, (Mt 05:05-06). Nearly every thing Jesus tells us to do is something we would not consider doing without Jesus’ teachings.
What makes Jesus’ teachings uniquely valuable to us, is the fact that Jesus tells us to do many things that no other teacher tells us to do. Other teachers tell us that ‘Giving to all who ask of us and asking for nothing in return’, (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42-48), and ‘Taking no thought for our lives’, (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-32), will lead us to take reckless actions that will only hurt us. Jesus knows, though, that following these commands is the only way to create the kind of world that we all want to live in. Some teachers other than Jesus, tell us to do some of the things that Jesus tells us to do. But no other teacher tells us to do everything that Jesus tells us to do. If any other teacher did tell us to do everything that Jesus tells us to do, then we would help ourselves just as much by following that teacher, as we will help ourselves by following Jesus. Jesus, Himself, tells us that His teachings are the most important thing about Him, when He says, “Blasphemy against the Son Of Man will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Mt 12:32 & Lk 12:10). The Son of Man is Jesus’ name, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ teachings and the help that Our Creator gives to people who try to follow those teachings. Jesus is telling us that Our Creator will forgive blasphemy against the name of Jesus, but will not forgive blasphemy against the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus’ commands “Do not resist evil.” (Mt 5:38-41), and “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), are also examples of how much we would help ourselves, if we did try to live as Jesus tells us to live. For as long as any of us can remember, we have been bemoaning the suffering of war. Two examples of this that I have seen, are Mark Twain’s story, “The War Prayer”, and the popular novel, movie, and television series “M.A.S.H.”. We seem to have seen how serious this problem is. Why then, have we not come close to solving it? Can we really do no better than we have done? We could do much better, if we would follow Jesus’ commands not to engage in violence. If enough of us, did this, then we would end the suffering of war, by ending war. Jesus says to us, “You have heard it said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you: Do not resist evil: If a man strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him your left. If a man judges you and takes away your coat, offer him your cloak also. If a man compels you to go a mile, go with him two.” (Mt 5:38-41) Following Jesus’ command, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), will also help us avoid war, because every war occurs because some people want something that other people posses, and because those people do not want to share that thing. Any other reasons that people say they fight wars, are just lies that people tell themselves.
If Jesus had meant His commands not to apply to people who are serving governments, then He would have said this. Jesus never did though. And all attempts to claim that Jesus’ commands do not apply to people who are serving governments, are just excuses that we use when we want to disobey Jesus. paul did not try to make this claim in his letter to the romans, which is often quoted as an attempt to do this. (Romans 13:1). In this part of this letter, paul was trying to persuade the people to whom he wrote, not to resist government-sponsored violence. paul was not telling these people that if governments told them to resist evil, they should obey those governments. The people who paul wrote to, knew that all governments of their time, hated them, and probably could not imagine any government asking them to serve it. So paul did not address this contingency. In this passage, paul said that if a government holds power, then God has ordained that, that government will hold power. This would mean that God has sometimes ordained that violent governments will hold power. paul never said that people who follow Jesus could serve these governments or be a part of these governments. Jesus’ commands make it clear that if we hope to follow Him, we cannot do these things. God may ordain that violent governments will sometimes hold power. But God does not force any person to be a part of these governments. Any person who chooses to be a part of governments that resist evil, will be choosing to disobey Jesus, and will be punished for doing this. Jesus tells us that many people who have temporary advantages, will suffer later, when He says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort. Woe to you who have been filled, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and lament. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you, for your fathers spoke well of the false prophets. (Lk 6:20-26).
Any person who voluntarily joins a military force or a police force, or who takes a job working for a court system or a penal system, is not even trying to follow Jesus’ command not to resist evil. If we try to follow Jesus, we may all sometimes fail. So far every person who has tried to follow Jesus, has sometimes failed. Each of us, has our breaking point. But we must try as hard as we can, to follow Jesus, if we hope to receive rewards that Jesus tells us of, or to avoid punishments that Jesus tells us of. Jesus says to us, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then Your Heavenly Father will forgive you” (Mt 6:13-15, & Mk 11:25-26), “Forgive and you will be forgiven” (LK 6:37). Trying to Forgive people who trespass against us, is not something we can do instead of trying to follow Jesus’ other commands. Every command that Jesus gives is a part of forgiving people who trespass against us. If we are trying to forgive people who have trespassed against us, then we will try to do every thing that Jesus tells us to do.
Following Jesus, is a matter of being able to do what Jesus tells us to do. Jesus says to us, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of that person.” (Lk 12:48). To be able to follow Jesus, we must have been given the wisdom necessary to understand that following Jesus will always help us more than it will hurt us, and the strength necessary to live as Jesus tells us to live, and the good fortune to be led away from temptation that would be too great for us to resist. These are the things that Our Creator gives to people from whom He demands much. This is why Jesus says to His followers, “You have not chosen me. I have chosen you.” (Jn 15:16). Jesus chooses His followers by giving some people the wisdom, strength, and good fortune needed to follow Him. Jesus does not choose his followers by rejecting some people who want to follow Him. Jesus welcomes all people who want to follow Him. People who have not been given these things, will not want to follow Jesus, though. This is also why Jesus says, “Whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever has not, even what he seems to have, will be taken away from him.” (Lk 8:18, Lk 19:26, Mt 13:12,Mt 25:29, & Mk 4:25): Because whoever has these things, will follow Jesus, and will be rewarded for doing this. And this is also why Jesus tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil that we do.
Maybe Our Creator has not expected most of the people who have called themselves Christians, to be able to follow Jesus. Because less was given to these people, maybe less was demanded of them. People who have called themselves Christians, have preserved Jesus’ words. (Without these people, those of us alive today, would not be able to read or hear what Jesus said). And maybe this is as much as Our Creator expected from these people. We who are alive today, are the people to whom much has been given. We have been given innumerable advantages that make it much easier for us to live as Jesus teaches, than it was for people in the past, to live as Jesus teaches. And for this reason much more is demanded of us, than was demanded of people in the past. Most of these advantages, have been given to us by people from the past. Learning that following Jesus, will always help us more than it will hurt us, is a process that takes many generations, with each generation learning a little bit more, and then passing on what it has learned to the next generation. Now I believe that our world has come to the point at which large numbers of people, will see that trying to follow Jesus, will always help us more than it will hurt us, and will, for this reason, try to follow Jesus. Until now Jesus’ words have been like a dormant seed that has been preserved until conditions are ripe for it to grow into a community of people who try as hard as they can, to live by those words.
To be able to have any hope of doing what Jesus tells us to do, we must start by closely studying what Jesus says, and we must realize that any area in which Jesus did not tell us what to do, when He preached on earth, is an area in which Jesus and Our Creator do not care what we do. This has not stopped many people who call themselves Christians, from trying to put words into Jesus’ mouth, in these areas. This probably happens most with regard to homosexuality. Jesus never told us to avoid homosexuality. If He and our Creator cared about people being homosexual, then Jesus certainly would have told us either to be homosexual, or not to be homosexual, when He preached on earth. The most common way in which people try to put words into Jesus’ mouth, is by pretending that Jesus agrees with everything that is said in the Old Testament. Jesus, though, specifically tells us to avoid many actions that people in the Old Testament performed. This is easiest to see in the area of violence. People in the Old Testament, often take part in warring and violence, but Jesus tells us not to resist evil (Mt 5:38-41). The reason that many people think that Jesus agrees with everything in the Old Testament, is that they misunderstand Jesus’ statement, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law of the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill.” (Mt 5:17). These people confuse the ‘Law of the Prophets’ with the ‘Old Testament’. While the law of the prophets is part of the Old Testament, there is much in the Old Testament that is not part of the law of the prophets. Only parts of the Old Testament that reinforce what Jesus teaches, are part of the law of the prophets.
The commands that Jesus gives us, tell us how we should treat all people, whether or not those people follow Jesus. Jesus never tells us to treat people who follow Him any differently from people who do not follow Him. Even though doing this is one of the greatest mistakes that people who call themselves Christians, have made.
Jesus will be hated by the leaders of any society that He comes to, because Jesus tells all of us, about ways in which we are not living as Our Creator wants us to live, and because all people want to believe that they already are living as Our Creator wants them to live, and because the leaders of every society, are especially proud, and for this reason, have an especially strong desire to believe that they already are living as Our Creator wants them to live. Jesus tells us that most people in any society that He comes to, will hate Him, when He says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8), and when He says. “The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21).
When Jesus came to earth, the Jewish people were chosen as the people best suited to receive Jesus, because the Jewish people had a tradition of prophets, many of whom, had preached principles that were similar to the principles that Jesus preached. Many people in any society would have helped to kill Jesus, if Jesus had come directly to them. As many Jewish leaders did. What was unique about the Jewish people, is that many people from their society, tried to follow Jesus closely. These people formed the core of the early Christian church. We know that the Jewish people were chosen as the people best suited to hear Jesus’ teachings first, and to then pass those teachings on to the rest of us, because Jesus says, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 15:29), and because Jesus also says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn12:47). If Jesus had been sent to another people, He probably still would have been killed, but then would also have been forgotten. As it is, Jesus was not forgotten because many Jewish people kept His words alive, and passed His words on to the rest of us. If this had not happened, those of us alive today, would never even have heard of Jesus.
The only way in which any of us can follow Jesus, is by denying our desires, and especially denying our desire to believe that we are doing what our creator wants us to do. Jesus tells us that we must deny our desires, to be able to follow Him, when He says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24, and when He says, “If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33).
Our Creation, and the Creation of our world, is equally impressive whether this creation occurred slowly or quickly. I believe that this creation probably occurred over billions of years, through a process that is generally similar to our theory of evolution. Some people wrongly assume that this theory implies that we have no Creator. This would be impossible, though. If we exist, then we must have been created. The theory of evolution is simply our best attempt to describe how this Creation occurred. This Creation seems less impressive to some people, because it seems slow to them. Being slow or quick, is a matter of perspective, though. Compared to many other processes, a process that only takes four billion years, is very quick. This amount of time only seems great to us, because of our limited perspective. And the creation of life, is such a great achievement, that it will be astounding to any thinking person, no matter how long that person thinks it took.
Many people are also opposed to the theory of evolution, because it seems to them that this theory describes a time when living as Jesus tells us to live, would not always have helped a person, and because they assume that if this were true in the past, it would also be true in the present. The theory of evolution does not describe such a time, though. Because in the time it describes, it was even more important to have close friends, than it is today, and because any person who then lived as Jesus tells us to live, would have had closer friends and would have had fewer enemies, than that person would have had otherwise. Still, it is important to realize that there may once have been a time when following Jesus’ commands, might not always have helped a person. If there ever was such a time, though, then that time ended when Jesus died on the Cross. Jesus tells us that His death created a new covenant, when He says to His disciples, “Drink this cup. It is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Lk 22:19-20, Mt 26:26-28, and Mk 14;22-24). Before this time, people were judged by different standards than we are judged by today, because those people lived under a different covenant. This is why many people who we read about in the Old Testament, may not have been punished for disobeying Jesus’ command not to resist evil. Today, though, we will all be punished if we try to emulate these people. The only way in which we can drink Jesus’ blood, is by living as Jesus tells us to live. Jesus’ blood flowed down from the cross to form the words of His gospels. Every time we read these words, and live by them, we are drinking Jesus’ blood. Every time we read these words, and live by them, we are eating Jesus’ body.
If Jesus had preached just as He preached, but had not died on the cross, we would not take His words seriously. We would say that talk is cheap, and we would think that Jesus was asking us to do things that He wouldn’t do. Because we all would have felt this way about Jesus, people who lived when Jesus preached, would not have preserved and passed on Jesus’ words, and people alive today, would not even be able to hear or read Jesus’ words. If anyone other than Jesus, urges us to live as Jesus tells us to live, but does not suffer as much as Jesus, or as publicly as Jesus, then we do not take that person’s words seriously, and then we say that talk is cheap and that, that person is asking us to do things that he or she would not do. Jesus knows this about us, and this is why He died for us: so that His teachings would come to us, and so that we would take His teachings seriously.
Before Jesus did these things, many people who have since learned from Jesus, may have been confused about what Our Creator wants us to do. This is why Our Creator expected less from people who lived before Jesus came to earth, and this is why Jesus’ death created a new covenant. Jesus says, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of that person.” (Lk 12:48). The opportunity to learn from Jesus, is the most valuable thing that we have been given. Before the gospels had been written, many fewer people had this opportunity. Jesus tells us how valuable the opportunity to learn from Him, is and tells us that Our Creator expects more from people who have been given this opportunity, when He says to people who had heard him speak, but who had not learned from Him, “Woe to you Chorazin and Bethsaida. If the mighty works that have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Tyre and Sidon would have repented long ago. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you at the judgement: and also for Capernaum.” (Lk 10:10-16). The mighty works that had been done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, were Jesus’ works of teaching.
Living by the words of Jesus’ gospels, is the only way we can drink Jesus’ blood, and living by the words of Jesus’ gospels, is the only way we can eat Jesus’ body. And forgiving other people, as we need Our Creator to forgive us, is the only way we can live by the words of Jesus’ Gospels. As with all rituals, the ritual of drinking wine that we believe has been transformed into Jesus’ blood, helps us if it reminds us of teachings that help us. It helps us if it reminds us of the way that Jesus told us to live. Jesus tells us this, when He says, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). If this ritual does not lead us to remember Jesus’ teachings, and to live more closely to the way that Jesus tells us to live, then this ritual is just as empty and as meaningless to Our Creator, as the ritual that Jesus tells us of when He says, “Woe to you, scribes and pharisees. For you pay tithe of mint, and anise and cummin, but have omitted the weightier matters of law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These are the things that are required of you, not the other.” (Mt 23:23 & Lk 11:42)
Sometimes Jesus calls Our Creator, Lord, and sometimes Jesus calls Our Creator, God, but most of the time Jesus calls Our Creator, ‘Father’. Jesus does this to help us understand our obligation to our Creator, and to remind us of ways in which human fathers are like Our Creator. One way in which human fathers are like Our Creator, is that, like Our Creator, they sometimes give to us. Our Creator’s gifts, though, are infinitely more valuable than the gifts that any human father gives. Another way in which human fathers are like Our Creator, is that they sometimes tell us what we should do. Human fathers, though, often tell us that we should do things that we should not do. While Our Creator always tells us what we truly should do. And a third way in which human fathers are like Our Creator, is that like Our Creator, they are often more distant from us and more unknowable than we want them to be. While we can know what Jesus tells us about Our Creator, often we wish that we could know more than this. When Jesus calls Our Creator, ‘Father’, Jesus is not saying that Our Creator is more like a man, than like a woman. Jesus is instead, saying that human fathers try to act like Our Creator, more often than human mothers try to act like Our Creator. While human mother’s usually give at least as much to their children as human fathers do, human mothers usually do not try to tell their children what they should do, as often as human fathers do, and human mothers usually are not as distant from their children, as human father’s are. Jesus wants us to understand Our Creator as fully as we can, because the better we understand Our Creator, the more likely we will be to do what Our Creator wants us to do, and to receive the rewards Our Creator will give to people who do what He wants us to do.
Jesus also is not saying that Our Creator is more like a man than like a woman, by having chosen to come to earth as a man. Jesus simply made this choice because this was the best way for him to be listened to by the greatest number of people. Other than being a man, we do not know what Jesus looked like. All pictures that we have of Jesus are only guesses. And even if we did know what Jesus looked like when He came to earth, we must always remember that both Jesus and our Creator can choose to appear in different ways at different times.
People who claim that the desire to criminalize abortion, is a desire motivated by Christian values, do not understand Jesus. While these people may correctly see that Jesus goes even further than telling us not to kill, when He says to us, “You have heard it said that whoever kills shall be liable to judgement, but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgement, and that whoever says ‘You fool’ to his brother shall be liable to hell fire.” (Mt 5:21-24), these people do not understand that Jesus commanded us not to engage in any forms of coercion, even if a person does evil to us, and that making any activity a criminal activity, or being a part of any system that forces any person to submit to criminal penalties, is a form of coercion. Jesus tells us not to use any form of coercion, even against people who do evil to us, when He says, “Do not resist evil. If a man strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him your left. If a man judges you and takes away your coat, offer him your cloak also. If a man compels you to go a mile, go with him two.” (Mt 5:38-41). Jesus tells us what we are allowed to do, to try to stop people from trespassing against us, when He says, “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17). If doing these things does not lead our brother to stop trespassing against us, then we are to let our brother be as a stranger to us, rather than trying to force our brother to stop trespassing against us.
Our Creator has sent many teachers to earth to help us learn important lessons. And we should praise all of these teachers. But Our Creator has only sent one teacher for us to always follow. We can tell who this teacher is, by noticing that there is only one teacher whose teachings will heal the wounds that are tearing our world apart, if a significant number of people in our world, try as hard as they can to follow those teachings. Many teachers other than Jesus, teach some of the same lessons that Jesus teaches. And many people will learn how to do more of what Jesus’ teaches, from other teachers, than do many people who belong to churches that call themselves Christian churches, and these people will receive greater rewards and fewer punishments from Our Creator, than anyone who does less of what Jesus tells us to do. Even though that person may call Jesus, Lord.
Jesus tells us that we will only receive rewards from Our Creator, and avoid punishments from Our Creator, if we live as He tells us to live, and that if we do not live as Jesus tells us to live, then calling Him Lord, will not help us, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). And Jesus tells us that if we do live as He tells us to live, then we will be as close to Him as His closest family members, when, “as He stood at a podium before a large crowd, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside the building He was speaking in, and wished to see Him. Jesus then asked the person who had told Him this, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’, then Jesus stretched forth his hand to his disciples and said, ‘Behold my mother and my brothers. Whoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother’”. (Mt 12:46-50), “My mother and brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Lk 8:19-21). Because Jesus tells us these things, we know that when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one shall come to The Father, except through me”, (Jn 14:6), He is saying that living as He teaches us to live, is the way, the truth and the life, not that saying that we follow Him, is the way, the truth and the life. And because Jesus tells us these things, we also know that when Jesus says, “Whoever confesses me before men. I will confess him before My Father in heaven. And whoever denies me before men. I will deny him before My Father” (Mt 10:32, see also Lk 9:26 and Mk 8:38), Jesus is speaking of confessing Him by living as He teaches us to live. If we do not live as Jesus teaches us to live, then we will not be able to confess Jesus, even if our mouths say we are confessing Him. And if we do live as Jesus teaches us to live, then we will not be able to deny Jesus, regardless of what we say about Him. Many people try to confess Jesus with their mouths, but do not confess Jesus with their actions. These people have no voice with which to confess Jesus. And many people say they oppose Jesus, because they believe that the way they see people who call themselves Christians, act, is the way Jesus tells us to act, when the people who they see, are not acting as Jesus commands. People who do this, though they often do not know it, are speaking out in favor of Jesus, against people who are denying the true meaning of His teachings.
Saying that Our Creator has sent many teachers to earth to help us learn important lessons, but has only sent one teacher to earth for us to always follow, is no aspersion against any religion. All religions have helped many people greatly, by teaching that Our Creator wants us to do certain things. Some religions tell us this directly, while some religions tell us this by telling us that certain actions will work better for us, than other actions. These religions also teach that each of us was created by the same force that created our world, and if certain actions work better for us, then this must be because Our Creator made our world in such a way that these actions will be rewarded. And this tells us that Our Creator wants us to perform these actions. It is an important step when any person learns that Our Creator wants us to do certain things. Because prior to learning this many people think that Our Creator does not care about what we do, or about what happens in our world. People who believe this do not look for any patterns in our world, and for this reason do a much poorer job of learning about our world. The search for patterns in our world, is a prerequisite for any significant advance in knowledge, in any area. This is especially easy to see in the physical sciences. People who expect all events in our world to be random and patternless, seldom discover the patterns that exist in our physical world. All religions that exist have also greatly helped people who have followed those religions, by helping to develop the social habit of trying to do what our Creator wants us to do. This habit can lead to different actions, depending on what a person believes Our Creator wants us to do. If we are wrong about what Our Creator wants us to do, then it can lead to very harmful mistakes. But if we are correct about what Our Creator wants us to do, then this habit can lead to great positive achievements. The great challenge of human life, is to get this right. Human beings cannot live without convictions. It is just a matter of having convictions that are correct.
What currently existing religions, fail to do, is to accurately tell us what it is that Our Creator wants us to do. And this includes the religion that we call Christianity. Because most people who call themselves Christians, do not try to follow most of Jesus’ teachings, we must admit that no currently existing religion, tries to promote what Jesus tries to promote. The religion that we call Christianity, has brought Jesus’ words to many people, and has, in that regard, helped to promote Jesus’ teachings. But these words have been like a dormant seed that people in this religion have not tried to live by. For this reason it is inaccurate to call this religion Christianity. Instead it should be called, “Printing and distributing the words of Jesus, because someday people may want to live by those words”. If we want a one-word name that is accurate, then we will have to invent a new word that has the same meaning as this phrase. Maybe the word ‘Christ-readers’, would be a good choice. But the word ‘Christian’ is inaccurate because it implies that people with this name are trying to follow Jesus.
Though most people who call themselves Christians, do not try to do most of what Jesus tells us to do, societies in which a large percentage of people have called themselves Christians, have still experienced the benefit of having a much higher percentage of people in these societies who have known how far their society is from the way that Our Creator wants all human societies to be. This has been a great benefit because this awareness has led to creative tension in these societies, that has led to almost constant change, and to ever-present reform movements. It is always popular to call for change in societies in which a large percentage of people call themselves Christians. In other societies the belief that Our Creator always wants all human societies to be radically different from the societies that currently exist in our world, is much less widespread. One way in which this awareness has helped societies in which a large percentage of people have called themselves Christians, has been by being the primary cause of the great advantage in technology that these societies enjoyed from before 1500 A.D. till approximately 2000 A.D., and of the great advantage in material wealth that this technological advantage has led to. The almost constant change that has occurred in these societies, has included an almost constant search for more effective technologies. One recent popular analysis of the causes of technical advantages in different societies, tries to attribute the vast majority of technical advantages, to conditions that are more favorable for the development of agriculture. This analysis does seem to explain the technical advantages of societies with conditions that are more favorable for the development of agriculture, over other societies. But it does nothing to explain the great technical advantages of some societies with conditions that are more favorable for the development of agriculture, over other societies with conditions that are more favorable for the development of agriculture.
The almost constant change and almost constant striving for something better, that characterizes societies in which a large percentage of people call themselves Christians, is considered a form of insanity by our modern mental health profession. This is so because to people who work in our modern mental health profession, this striving seems to come from a mental state in which a person can never be satisfied. People who work in our modern mental health profession, believe that it is impossible for human beings to live the way that Jesus tells us to live. And in truth, life does often seem to be much easier for people who do not try to do this. So if a person considers mental health to be choosing whatever path seems easiest in the short term, then to that person, trying to follow Jesus, would be a sign of poor mental health. True mental health, though, is realizing that sometimes things that are worth having, are difficult to obtain. Our Creator’s favor is one of these things. And obtaining Our Creator’s favor, is well worth trying as hard as we can to do all that Jesus tells us to do. People who work in our modern mental health profession, choose not to do this, and to make their choice seem more reasonable, these people do everything they can to marginalize anyone who tries to follow Jesus. These people correctly note that it is very abnormal for a human being to try to live as Jesus tells us to live. And then these people try to discredit and punish anyone who by continuing to strive for this difficult goal, makes them look bad.
It is important for us to be willing to say that even tough most people who call themselves Christians, do not try to do most of what Jesus tells us to do, societies in which a large percentage of people have called themselves Christians, have still benefited greatly from Jesus’ teachings. It is important to say this because those of us who belong to these societies, must be aware of these benefits in order to share them with people from other societies, and because all people must see this to be able to understand Jesus, and because only people who understand Jesus will follow Jesus, and for this reason, only people who understand Jesus, will receive the rewards that Jesus tells us will come to all people who live as He tells us to live. Jesus tells us all to share any benefit that we may possess, when He says, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), and when He says, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure that no thief will come near to and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33), and when He says, “Sell all that you have and give to the poor. It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, & Lk 12:33). Recently, though, many people from societies in which a large percentage of people have called themselves Christians, have tried not to say that their societies have benefited from Jesus’ teachings, because they think that it is not polite for them to say this. This can be seen most clearly in recent changes that have been made to the system of dating that we use. In creating any system of dating, it is essential that a certain year be chosen as the year 0, and that dates after this year be determined by counting forward, and that dates before this year be determined by counting backwards. Many different years have been chosen in many different dating systems, and the reasons that different people have chosen to use different years, is an important part of history. Until recently the names used in our dating system, told us why people had chosen the year that was used in our system. Every year after the year zero was followed by the initials A.D., and it was common knowledge that these initials stood for the Latin phrase “Anno Domini”, and that this phrase means “Year of Our Lord”, And every year before the year zero was followed by the initials B.C., and it was common knowledge that these initials stood for the English worlds, “Before Christ”. These initials told us that in this system the year zero was chosen because it is believed to be the year in which Jesus Christ was born. This is an important historical fact, that most young people probably do not know, because in recent times the initials A.D. have been replaced by the initials C.E. (which stand for the English words, ‘Common Era’), and the Initials B.C. have been replaced by the initials B.C.E.. (which stand for the English word “Before Common Era). The claims that these words make, are simply false. There is no sense in which human history became more interconnected or more common at this date, and this date was not chosen in common by different groups of people in our world. These are the only two meanings that a young person would think of when hearing these terms, and both of these meanings are false. The only true thing that a young person might think about these terms is that they are nonsensical words that mean nothing. We have replaced terms that helped us learn about history, with terms that instead obscure history. We do not change history by doing this. All that we change is whether or not we know history. We intentionally make it hard for people to learn history, and by doing so, we make those people, more stupid than they would be otherwise. The only honest way in which we can use new names in our dating system, is to choose a different year zero. And maybe this should be done. The date on which Jesus was born, will still be just as important, whatever name we call it by. And there have also been many other important events in human history that might be chosen as new year zeros. The first time that people used writing, is one very important date that could be chosen, and so is the first time that people engaged in farming. Both of these dates are uncertain for people alive today, and for this reason, would have to be estimates, but archeology tells us approximately when these things happened. Or maybe people would want to use the date of the invention of the printing press as a new year zero. It is foolish, though, for us to injure ourselves by using names that make it harder for us to learn from the past. We might wish to change many of the things that have led to this dating system becoming a worldwide system. The primary reason this happened is because European nations ruled over the rest of the world through the system we call colonialism. We might wish that this had not happened, but it is important to remember that this did happen. And trying to hide from this fact, only makes us more likely do things that are similarly unjust, in the future. Learning from the past, is something that we desperately need to do. And this needs to include learning both from things we are proud of, and from things we are ashamed of. As long as history is true, it is something that we need to learn from. I hate the fact that this dating system, associates Jesus, with colonialism. Colonialism is so antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, that it would be hard to imagine two sets of ideas more different than these two. Still, we should never try to hide from the truth, and the truth is that people who used the terms “Anno Domini”, and “Before Christ”, did create the system that we call colonialism. And though this system had great evil in it, I have no desire to try to try to hide from this fact. One of the most valuable things about Jesus’ teachings, is that these teachings can help evil people become good, if those people will admit their evil, and work hard to transform that evil into good. This is what I hope will happen in the future. But if we try to hide from our past, then this will never happen.
Another reason it is not impolite to mention that many good things come from Jesus’ teachings, is that most people who call themselves Christians have still benefited so little from Jesus’ teachings, compared to how much any person will benefit from trying to follow Jesus’ teachings, and because for most of human history, the people who will benefit most from Jesus’ teachings, will be just as likely to come from any society in our world. One reason for this is that 2,000 years is a tiny period of time when compared to the amount of time for which people will benefit from Jesus’ teachings, in the future. We forget that we are still at the dawn of human history, and that many things which, like Jesus’ teachings, will help all people, have not yet had enough time to spread equally to all societies in our world. If we think of the total time that human history will last, as equivalent to a day, then the nearly 2,000 years that have passed since Jesus came to earth, are equivalent to far less than a second.
The division that Jesus brings to our world, that He tells us of, when He tells us of suffering His followers will have to endure, is not meant to be permanent. We know this because Jesus says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47). If the division Jesus brings, were meant to be permanent, Jesus would have said that He only came that He might save a part of the world, not the entire world. The division Jesus brings, is only a step we must take in order to be able to come together as Jesus wants us to come together. Every thing that Jesus tells us to do is something that will bring us together with other people, and if we do all that Jesus tells us to do, then we will come together as one with all people, as certainly as water flows down a mountain when snow melts on that mountain’s top. And then all people will live in harmony and brotherhood.
We must have the humility to always try as hard as we can, to do what Jesus tells us to do: to admit that we often can’t figure out what we should do on our own, and that we can often only know what we should do, if we have learned what we should do from Jesus.
I empathize with people who make the mistake of not trying to follow Jesus, because I share these people’s desire to make the same mistake that they make. We all share this desire. None of us wants to do what Jesus tells us to do. Jesus tells us that no person will ever want to do what He tells us to do, when He says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23, Mt 16:24, & Mk 8:34). We will have to deny ourselves every day of our lives. We will never want to do what Our Creator wants us to do. Our only path to Our Creator’s favor is to see this, and to deny our desires; Every day. And Jesus tells us this again, when he says, “If any one does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33). We can never win Our Creator’s favor by doing what we want to do. We can only win Our Creator’s favor by taking Jesus’ yoke. A yoke is a wooden collar that binds two oxen together at their necks, and that keeps those oxen from leaving a farmer who is making them plow his field. Just as an ox will often wish to be free of a farmer’s yoke, we will often wish to be free of Jesus’ yoke. Jesus tells us, though, that “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:30). When compared to the burden we would have to carry if we did what we want to do, Jesus’ yoke is very easy, and His burden very light indeed. Jesus tells us that, “Every one who sins is a slave of sin” (Jn 08:34). If we do what we want to do, we will serve the harsh master of sin, rather than the gentle master that is Jesus. Even Jesus had to deny what He wanted to do, in order to do what Our Creator wanted Him to do. Because of this, Jesus shows us the perfect example of how to deny ourselves. When Jesus was coming close to His crucifixion, He prayed to Our Creator, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will but as You will.” (Mt 26:39, 42 & 44, Mk 14:36, & Lk 22:42). Jesus did not want to die on the cross, but He did die on the cross, because Our Creator wanted Him to.
If a person wanted to do everything that Our Creator wants that person to do, then that person would be good, and then that person would not have to deny him or herself. This will never be though. Any person who tries to make him or herself want to do, what Our Creator wants him or her to do: That person will instead, make him or herself believe that what Our Creator wants him or her to do, is the same as what he or she wants to do. Such a person will not do Our Creator’s will, but will instead do his or her own will. Seeing our evil lets us see the good that Our Creator wants us to do. When we try to convince ourselves that we are good, we tell ourselves that Jesus told us to do much less than He actually told us to do, and we substitute things that are easier for us to do, for the more difficult things that Jesus actually told us to do. We will only be able to see what Jesus truly teaches, when we admit that we do not want to follow Jesus’ teachings. This is very hard for us to admit though, because each of us believes that if he or she does not want to do what Our Creator wants us to do, then he or she will be punished for this, and will be punished even more harshly for sometimes failing to do what Our Creator wants us to do. We will only admit that we do not want to do what Our Creator wants us to do, if we believe that Our Creator will not punish us for admitting this. This is why Jesus says to us, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then Your Heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15, & Mk 11:25-26), “Forgive and you will be forgiven” (LK 6:37)
“Judge not, lest you be judged. For with whatever judgement you judge, you shall be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37). If we judge by the standards of justice, then we shall be judged by the standards of justice. Justice is our enemy, and mercy our only hope. Jesus tells us what will happen to us if Our Creator shows us justice instead of mercy, when He says, “Agree with your adversary quickly; lest he deliver you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. If this happens you will not come out until you have paid the last cent.” (Mt 5:25-26 & Lk 12:58-59). When Jesus sees people who are about to stone a woman for adultery, He says to them, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” (Jn 8:7). Jesus says this to remind these people that if they punish this woman for her sins, then Our Creator will punish them for their sins. Justice is our enemy, and mercy our only hope.
The good news that Jesus brings to our world is the news that we will receive mercy from Our Creator if we show mercy to our brother’s and sisters. We should all rejoice to hear this news. Because if we had to be good to receive good things from Our Creator, then none of us would ever receive good things from Our Creator. Jesus is showing us a way out of the misery we would know if Our Creator showed us justice instead of mercy. Jesus is showing us that our lives are not the hopeless tragedies they would be if Our Creator only gave good things to good people. Our Creator’s mercy allows us to get good things that we don’t deserve, and Jesus shows us how we can receive Our Creator’s mercy.
This is the part of Jesus’ teachings that differs most from the morality that we try to live by, and this is the part of Jesus’ teachings that does the most to help us do what Our Creator wants us to do. Jesus does not tell us to treat other people well because other people are good. Instead Jesus tells us to treat other people well because each of us needs things from Our Creator that we don’t deserve, and because Our Creator will only give us things that we don’t deserve, if we give other people things that they don’t deserve. Other people will often trespass against us and we will often not want to forgive other people for things they will do to us. If we do not forgive other people for evil they will do to us, though, but if we instead, try to do justice to people who do evil to us, then Our Creator will not forgive us for evil we have done to Him, but will instead do justice to us. Justice is our enemy, and mercy our only hope.
Trying to treat other people as they deserve to be treated would be trying to do justice to those people. This is the principle that has guided most people throughout human history and this is the principle that has led to our world being torn apart by greed violence and self-righteousness, and that has led to each of us being torn apart by greed violence and self-righteousness, and living by this principle will further tear our world apart, and will further tear each of us apart. This is so because we always convince ourselves that whatever we want to do to other people will promote justice, and because we all often want to fight with other people. When we want to fight, saying we are pursuing justice only leads to self-righteousness and hypocrisy. The only way of living that will heal the wounds of our world is trying to show other people mercy, in order to receive mercy we need from Our Creator, as Jesus tells us to do. This is so because even when we lie to ourselves and tell ourselves that the fighting we want to engage in, would lead to justice being done to people who we believe have trespassed against us, we will still try to help those people if we are trying to show them mercy in order to obtain mercy from Our Creator.
Why we are like slaves to Our Creator, and why we are not like slaves to any person. We are like slaves only to Our Creator because only Our Creator has given us all that we have (including every ability we possess and including our lives themselves). And we are not like slaves to any person, because no person has given us every ability we possess, and because no person has given us our lives. Our earthly parents do not give us these things. In the creation of life, earthly parents are laborers who bring materials to a worksite, so that Our Creator can do what no person could ever do. To call human laborers, Creators of life is like saying that a gardener gives life to a plant because he puts a seed in the earth. Our placing seeds in fertile soil, merely determines when and where Our Creator will create a new human life. Jesus warns us against imagining that any person is like Our Creator, when He says to His disciples, “Be not you called Rabbi, for you have a teacher and you are all brothers. And call no man father, for you have a Father in the heavens. Neither be you called master, for Christ is your master.” (Mt 23: 5-12 & Lk 20: 45-47). Calling people either rabbi, father, or master leads us to imagine that those people are like Our Creator, leads us to act toward those people in ways that we should act only toward Our Creator, or toward Jesus, and, and leads those people to try to act like Our Creator or like Jesus, when they should not do so.
Of course there are also many other names that also lead us to do these things and that should also be reserved for Jesus, or for Our Creator. Jesus does not tell us all of these names because He is not a secretary or a list maker. Jesus is instead our teacher and, if we are wise, Jesus will also be our master. If Jesus had tried to list every name we should reserve for Our Creator and for Him, He would have had to list many names in languages that his listeners did not know, and He would have had less time left for the rest of His teaching. Thankfully Jesus did not do this. Jesus tells us enough names for us to see what those names have in common (for us to see that those names lead people who use them, to act toward other people in ways that we should act only toward Our Creator or toward Jesus, and that those names lead people who are called by them to try to act like Our Creator or like Jesus), and then Jesus leaves it to us, to add to this list each time we learn of another name that would lead people to try to act like either Jesus or Our Creator. The names Reverend and Pastor are two names that lead us to do these things. A reverend is any object that is an end toward which reverence is directed. Revere no man for there is one in the heavens whom you revere. While people can be pastors to sheep, only Jesus can be a pastor to people. Call no man pastor, for Christ is your pastor. Lord is another word we should call only Jesus and Our Creator. If we call people any of these names and are still able to forgive people who trespass against us, then we will be forgiven for not calling only Jesus and Our Creator by these names. Calling people by these names is harmful to us, though, because it encourages us to follow people as we should only follow Jesus, and because following people will often lead us not to forgive people who trespass against us, by leading us away from Jesus’ teachings.
Many of you have probably heard that Jesus said the word servant on many occasions when Jesus actually said the word slave. This is due to reading from erroneous translations of Jesus’ words. This error can be corrected by reading an interlinear bible. This is a bible that shows the oldest text of Jesus words that has been found, (a text that is written in ancient Greek), and that also shows, word for word, the English translation of this Greek text immediately below the Greek text. Some interlinear bibles are not based on the oldest text of Jesus’ words, that we have found. Make sure that you read an interlinear bible that is based on this text. This text is usually referred to as either the Nestle-Aland text, or as the Westcott-Hort text. Online an interlinear translation that is based on this text, can be found at http://www.scripture4all.org/ . The best English interlinear translation I have found in book form, is a translation that was made by a man named “Alfred Marshall” in the 1950s. I have found the Nestle-Aland text with the Marshall translation, by doing a Google search on the words ‘Interlinear, Nestle, Marshall, KJV, and Amazon’. Here is the Internet address of a web page that shows a relatively inexpensive way to purchase this translation. http://www.amazon.com/Interlinear-KJV-NIV-Parallel-Testament-English/dp/0310950708
Sometimes it is easy to see that we do not want to follow Jesus’ commands. For example, none of us, wants to always follow Jesus’ command not to resist evil. We all often want to fight. But this would be a great mistake on our part. And this is why Jesus tells us not to fight. We all also do not want to follow Jesus’ command, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). But again we will follow this command if we are wise.
Jesus does not want us to feel bad when we see that we do not want to do what Our Creator wants us to do. Because if we feel bad when we see this, then we will try to pretend that Our Creator wants us to do what we want to do. Instead Jesus wants us to see that because none of us wants to do Our Creator’s will, we all often do what Our Creator does not want us to do, so we will see that we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, and so we will forgive other people in order to get Our Creator to forgive us. If we forgive as we need be forgiven, then we will do all that Jesus tells us to do. If we do not do this, though, then we will not be able to do anything that Jesus tells us to do. If we wanted to do what Our Creator wants us to do, then we would be good. While this is impossible, if we see our evil, then we can forgive people who trespass against us, and then we can receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. And as a part of receiving this forgiveness, we can receive all the rewards that Jesus tells us of. Feeling bad about our inability to be good would stand in the way of our doing this. A person who feels bad when he or she sees that he or she cannot be good. Such a person will never allow him or herself, to see his or her evil.
Jesus wants us to freely admit our evil so we will freely ask Our Creator to forgive us our evil. As the Publican who freely admitted his evil to Our Creator was justified, while the Pharisee who tried to make himself look good to Our Creator was not justified. (Lk 18:10-14) So will it be with all people. Like this Publican we must say to Our Creator, “God be merciful to me, the sinner.” And unlike this Pharisee we must never try to make ourselves look good to Our Creator. And like this publican we must truly believe that we are sinners.
Jesus tells us about our evil, often, so we will become comfortable enough with our evil, to admit our evil freely. We might sometimes wish that we could be good, because if we were good, then we wouldn’t have to forgive other people their evil, to get Our Creator to forgive us our evil. Our wishing for this would be as useful as a rock wishing that it could fly, though. However hard we may wish, this will never happen. Wishing that we could be good, will never make us good. Wishing that we could be good, will only keep us from receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness.
The thing that we can do, that would help us most in trying to follow Jesus, is to ask the question, ‘What does Jesus tell us to do?’, as often as we can ask this question. If we do not do what Jesus tells us to do, then anything else that we do means nothing to Jesus: including most of the things that people do in churches that call themselves Christian churches. The thing that people do most in these churches, is call Jesus, Lord. Jesus tells us that many people who call Him lord, will not follow His teachings, and that their words will not help these people, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). And Jesus tells us again that saying we will do what Our Creator wants us to do, only helps us if we then do Our Creator’s will, when he said, to the chief priests and elders of Jerusalem, “A certain man had two sons. This man said to his first son, “Go work in my vineyard.” This son said, “I will not”, but later repented and went. This man then said the same thing to his second son, and that son said, “I go sir”, but went not.” Jesus then asked, “Which of these two did the will of their father?” and when the person who Jesus was speaking to, answered “The first”, Jesus said, “Truly , I tell you the publicans and the harlots will enter the kingdom of God before you will.” (Mt 21:28-32).
People in churches that call themselves Christian churches, also practice many rituals that are meaningless if we do not live as Jesus tells us to live. Jesus tells us how empty and meaningless rituals are by themselves, when he talks about the rituals that were practiced in the church that He belonged to when He lived on earth. Jesus tells us this when He says to pharisees who belonged to this church, “You pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. You fools, did not He who made the outside of things also make their insides. Instead give alms of what you have and all things will be clean to you. You are like whitewashed graves which indeed appear beautiful from the outside, but are within full of dead men’s bones and all manner of filth.” (Lk 11:37-41 & 44, and Mt 23:25-28). Jesus tells us again how empty religious rituals can be, when He says “Woe to you pharisees. You pay tithe of mint, thyme, anise, and cumin, but omit weightier matters of law, judgment, mercy and faith.” (Mt 23:23 & Lk 11:42 ). Jesus never tells these Pharisees to change their rituals. Instead He tells them that their rituals are meaningless if these rituals do not help them to follow the law, to please the One who judges us all, to show mercy, and to have faith. We will do all of these things, if we do what Jesus tells us to do. And we will not do any of these things, if we do not do what Jesus tells us to do. Jesus tells us that we should not perform religious rituals at all if we are not at peace with our brothers and sisters, when He says to us, “If you bring a gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you. Leave the altar and first be reconciled with your brother, and then offer your gift.” (Mt 5:23-24), and Jesus warns us that religious rituals can keep us from doing what Our Creator’s wants us to do, when He says to people who thought that He should not heal on the Sabbath, “Who among you would not save a sheep that had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath day, and how much better is a man than a sheep. Therefore it is lawful to do good works on the Sabbath days” (Mt 12:9-13, see also Lk 6:7-11, Lk 13:10-17, and Lk 14:1-6).
Many churches that call themselves Christian churches, also hurt people who belong to those churches by encouraging those people to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” Instead of asking the question, “What did Jesus tell us to do?” The reason this hurts many people, is that is that Our Creator does not always want us to do what Jesus would do. One example of this, is that Jesus tells us that on the day of judgement, He will judge many people, while Jesus tells us not to Judge, and never tells us that there is any time when we should disobey this command.
We never need to try to imagine what Jesus would do, to know what Jesus wants us to do, because Jesus told us everything that He wants us to do, when He preached on earth. Trying to imagine that Jesus wants us to do anything else is insulting to Jesus, and is dangerous for us. Asking the question “What would Jesus do?”, leads us to imagine that Jesus and Our Creator, want us to do many things that Jesus and Our Creator, do not want us to do. If Jesus did not tell us what to do in any situation, then in that situation Jesus and Our Creator, only care that we do whatever will most help us to forgive people who have trespassed against us. Imagining that Jesus and Our Creator, want us to do things that Jesus did not tell us to do, when he was on earth, is just a way of trying to put words into Jesus’ mouth. It is a way of pretending that Jesus and Our Creator want us to do things that other people want us to do. If any of us, truly wants to understand Jesus, we will study what Jesus told us to do, and we will not try to imagine anything beyond this. Jesus knows how to talk about things that matter to Him, and we insult Jesus when we pretend that there is anything that He cares about, but didn’t talk about when He lived. To tell us what Our Creator wants us to do, is the reason that Jesus lived, and if we had to guess at what Jesus wanted us to do, then Jesus would not be a teacher who we should follow. This is what people imagine when they pretend that we have to guess at what Jesus wants us to do. We don’t have to guess at this. If Jesus wants us to do a thing, then He will have told us to do that thing, when he preached on earth.
This is so obvious, that I believe that the people who started asking the question ‘What would Jesus do?’, were intentionally trying to pretend that Jesus wants us to do things that they knew Jesus did not care about. One obvious example that applies to many people who call themselves Christians, is the desire to imagine that Jesus is opposed to homosexuality. Jesus never told us to avoid homosexuality. If Jesus were opposed to homosexuality, then He certainly would have told us to avoid homosexuality. This is one of the reasons that so many people who call themselves Christians, try so hard to put words into Jesus’ mouth.
I also think that many of the people who ask the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’, think that it would be fun to imagine that we are more like Jesus than we are. If we truly understand Jesus, this is not fun to imagine though. Jesus had His role to play, and we have ours. And many parts of what Jesus had to do, were very difficult, and are certainly not fun for us to imagine ourselves doing. The most obvious of these things, is being executed by the government of His day. There are many things about our lives that we cannot know, and we may sometimes be forced to make choices in situations in which we will not know what we should do. But one thing that we can know, is that we will always be better off if we do what Jesus tells us to do. This is why it is so important for us to study what Jesus tells us to do. To try to truly make Jesus our master. Instead of pretending that Jesus wants us to do things that He did not tell us to do, so we can put words into Jesus’ mouth. Only people who are not trying to follow Jesus, would do this.
For us to be able to follow Jesus’ command not to resist evil, we must realize that each of us would do great evil, if he or she were led into great temptation, and we must realize that great poverty is a temptation that would probably lead each of us, to do great evil. If we forget this, then we will think that we are better than people who do greater evil than we do, instead of realizing that these people do greater evil than we do, because they have been forced to face greater temptation than we have been forced to face, and then we will not try to help these people, even though doing so is the most effective way to keep them from trying to do evil to us. Jesus teaches that each of us would do great evil, if he or she were led into great temptation, when He tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil that we do. Jesus tells us that even the best of us are very weak when He says to His Disciples, “Pray that you know no temptation. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). This tells us that even though, Jesus’ disciples wanted to do good, if they were tempted, then Jesus knew that they would do evil. And Jesus tells us all to expect to do evil, to plan on doing evil, and not to try to avoid evil, when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). We will all try to live by unrighteous mammon, and when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends: if, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear that their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help.
Ever since Jesus preached, and in all places, conditions have seemed to be ripe for Jesus’ teachings to grow into a community of people who try to follow those teachings. But maybe they have not been. What we can be certain of, is that most of the people who call Jesus, ‘Lord’ today, do not try to follow most of Jesus’ teachings. If they did, then our world would be very different from the world we live in.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus told His Disciples that the time was ripe for their work, (see Jn. 4:35, Mt 9:37, & Lk 10:2). Jesus must have meant that the time was ripe for His teachings to be spread, but not for His teachings to be practiced. Jesus knew that His disciples might misunderstand this statement. Whenever Jesus says anything that any of us might honestly misunderstand, then what Jesus says, will help us, even if we misunderstand that thing. In this case, we can see this if we realize how much Jesus’ disciples helped themselves, by doing the work of spreading Jesus’ teachings. If misunderstanding this statement, was part of what gave Jesus’ disciples the courage to spread His teachings, then this misunderstanding helped them greatly.
I believe that now conditions throughout our world, are ripe for the growth of a community of people who will try to follow Jesus’ teachings. If these conditions are now ripe, then many of us will now be willing to try to follow Jesus.
We will be able to heal our world and our selves, if we follow Jesus’ command, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), and if people who need help we can give, know that we will follow this command.
Most of the violence that people do, is done in order to get or to keep jobs. Including all jobs in which people work for police or military forces. And many other jobs consist of telling stories that perpetuate the myth that violence helps us more than it hurts us. (Including most jobs in the entertainment industry and many jobs in media and communications). One of the primary ways in which “Giving to every one who asks of us, and not asking for anything back from those who take from us”, will heal our world, is by creating a world in which no one is forced to take a job that requires him or her to commit acts of violence, or to perpetuate our culture of violence.
“Giving to every one who asks of us, and not asking for anything back from those who take from us”, will also heal our world, by creating a world in which many more of us, will be able to follow Jesus’ command, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-32). Jesus tells us that it is Our Heavenly Father who will give food drink and clothes to people who seek first His righteousness, and we know that Our Heavenly Father usually gives gifts through the actions of people in our world. For this reason we know that most of the people who seek first His righteousness, and then receive food drink, and clothes, will receive these things, because Our Heavenly father sent Jesus to tell us to help each other, by giving us the command, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask for anything back from one who takes from you.”, and by giving us the command, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens that no thief will come near to, and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), and by saying to a young rich man, “If you would be perfect, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens. … It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, Lk 12:33, & Mk 10:17-25). We see that this is how our Heavenly Father will give food, drink, and clothes to people who seek His righteousness, when Jesus says to His disciples as He sends them forth to preach His gospels, “Do not put gold or silver, or copper in your belts. Nor scrip for your journey. Neither a bag for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat. In whatever city you enter, find those who are worthy and stay with them until you leave. And eat what they give you” (Mt 10:9-11, & Lk 10:4-7).
Miracles that Jesus performs, also usually occur through the faith and the actions of people in our world. The gospel writer Matthew makes this clear when he tells us that when Jesus taught in His own country, “He did not many mighty works because of their unbelief.” (Mt 13:58). And Jesus Himself makes this clear by asking people whom He is about to heal, “Do you believe that I can do what you ask”, and after hearing the answer ‘yes’, saying, “As you believe, so be it.” The greatest Miracle Jesus has performed, is teaching us what Our Creator wants us to do, and teaching us how we can do what Our Creator wants us to do, so that we can receive great rewards from Our Creator and avoid great punishments from Our Creator. By doing this Jesus is teaching us what actions will work for us. In the physical world we can see what actions will work for us, without Jesus’ help, through the physical sciences. In the moral world, though, we usually need Jesus’ help to be able to see what actions will work for us. Inspiring us to help each other, is a part of the miracle of helping us do what Our Creator wants us to do. This may be the source of the miracle in which Jesus feeds over 5,000 people whom He had just healed and spoken to, with only 2 loaves and 5 fishes. (Mt. 14:14-21 & Lk 9:11-17). This miracle may have occurred because many of the people who had come to see Jesus, may have brought their own loaves and fishes, and may have put these in the basket that Jesus passed around, rather than taking loaves and fishes out of that basket. If this is how this miracle occurred, then this miracle is far greater than if Jesus produced loaves and fishes out of thin air, because Jesus inspires us to help each other every time we read His words, and because this miracle will, for this reason, be repeated countless times. And if this is how this miracle occurred, then this is a very impressive miracle, because it is not easy to inspire people to help each other. Jesus’ greatest power is His ability to do this.
Jesus’ teachings will heal our world, if any significant number of people in our world, try as hard as they can to follow these teachings. This will happen because these people’s actions will influence the actions of people they come in contact with, and then these people’s actions will influence people they come in contact with, and this ripple effect will transform our world. Because of this ripple effect, our world will be healed if even as few as one tenth of one percent of the people in our world, try as hard as they can to follow the teachings of Jesus. And any person who tries as hard as he or she can, to live as Jesus tells us to live, will heal the wounds that are tearing him or her apart, long before this happens.
We all doubt the claims that we will heal our world, if we try as hard as we can to follow Jesus’ teachings, and that we will avoid all of the mistakes that we make, if we follow Jesus’ commands, and we all doubt Jesus greatly. If this were not so, then those of us with faith in Jesus, would do everything that Jesus tells us to do, so that we could receive the rewards that Jesus promises to people who follow Him, and so that we could avoid the punishments that Jesus tells us will come to people who do not follow Him. Our inability to have great faith, is one of the limitations, that comes with being human. It is part of the reason that all human beings make great mistakes. If we claim that we have great faith, then we are denying our human fallibility. Claiming that we have great faith, also prevents us from developing the faith that we are able to have. Jesus often tries to discourage us from claiming that we have great faith. At least part of the reason that Jesus does this, is that He knows how dangerous it is for us to claim that we have great faith. Jesus may also have other reasons for doing this, but one thing that we know, is that any time Jesus tries to discourage us from doing a thing, then doing that thing is dangerous to us. In spite of this, most of those of us who call ourselves Christians, try to pretend that we have great faith in Jesus. Admitting that we have little faith in Jesus, allows us to ask questions that come from our doubt, that will allow us to build as much faith as we are able to have.
One of the reasons that we all doubt Jesus, is that to us promises that Jesus makes about rewards we will receive if we follow Him, often sound like inflated claims. One reason for this is that we often assume that Jesus is only talking about external rewards, when in truth, the things that Jesus tells us to do, will help us much more through the changes they will lead to within us, than through the changes they will lead to outside of us. And another reason that promises that Jesus makes about rewards we will receive if we follow Him, sound like inflated claims to us, is that sometimes we consider some things that Jesus says to us, in isolation from other things that Jesus says to us. For example, Jesus tells us we will receive all we ask for, when He says, “Ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8 & Lk 11:9-10), “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14:14). How can this be true when Jesus also says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, then your father will not forgive you.”? What would happen if a person who did not try to forgive all people who had trespassed against him or her? What would happen if such a person asked? Would that person receive all he or she asked for? The answer to this question is that a person who did not try to forgive all people who had trespassed against him or her, would not be able to ask. This is true in the same way that a person who had no throat and no mouth would not be able to speak. Forgiveness is the voice that allows us to ask. We know this because we know that if Our Father has not forgiven a person, then Our Father will not give that person all that he or she asks for.
Asking questions that come from our doubt, is what allows us to build the faith that we are able to have by finding answers like these ones. If we had never asked the question, “Why do Jesus’ claims often sound unrealistic to us?”, then we never would have found these answers. If we are willing to admit that we all doubt Jesus, and if we are willing to ask questions that come from our doubt, then It is easy to find answers that build our faith in Jesus. But if we will not do these things, then the faith that we pretend to have, will crumble as soon as we face difficult circumstances. This is why so few of us, try to do most of the things that Jesus tells us to do.
Jesus tells us all that we have little faith, every time He says to us, “O you of little faith” (Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, & Lk 12:28). The New Testament was originally written in ancient Greek, and was then translated into other languages, and the most literal translation of the original Greek phrase found in the New Testament, is “O you little-faiths”. Little-faiths, is a name that Jesus calls human beings, and is a name that we should remember, because it describes us well. Jesus tells us even more powerfully just how small our faith is, when He says to His disciples, “If your faith were as a grain of mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move, and it would move.” (Mt 17:20). Jesus knows that no person will have enough faith to move a mountain. And this is at least part of the reason that Jesus tells us that people with faith, will be able to move mountains: so that all people who cannot move a mountain, will admit that their faith is too small to fill a mustard seed.
Why haven’t Jesus’ teachings already healed our world? There are two reasons for this. First, because most people who call themselves Christians, ignore most of what Jesus says, and do not try to do most of what Jesus tells us to do. And second, because Jesus’ teachings are weighed down by other teachings in the bible: (both in the Old Testament and the New Testament). Jesus is not only correct when He tells us how Our Creator wants us to live. But Jesus is also focused on those things that Our Creator cares about. Many commands in other parts of the bible, do not contradict Jesus commands, but are instead dangerous distractions that divert our energies away from trying to live as Jesus tells us to live. If Jesus does not tell us what to do in any area, then we know that Our Creator does not care what we do in that area. Things that Jesus does tell us to do, are already more than we can do, without us being distracted by trying to follow other commands. We must try as hard as we can, to follow Jesus, and as a part of doing this we must refuse to waste our time and energy trying to do things that Jesus did not talk about.
If Our Creator cares about what we do in any situation, then Jesus tells us what to do in that situation, or Jesus tells us what Our Creator will do to us in that situation. As Jesus does when He says “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then Your Father will not forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15). If Jesus does not tell us what to do in any situation, though, or does not tell us what Our Creator will do to us in that situation, then in that situation Our Creator only cares that we do whatever will help us most to forgive people who trespass against us, and we know that nothing that Jesus does not talk about is a necessary part of forgiving people who trespass against us. For example Jesus tells us not to judge, because not judging is something that we must do to be able to forgive people who trespass against us. Not judging is a necessary part of forgiving. One area that we know is not a necessary part of forgiving, because Jesus does not tell us what to do in that area, is the area of homosexuality. Many people mistakenly believe that Our Creator is opposed to homosexuality because passages in the Old Testament tell us to avoid homosexuality, and because Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law of the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill.” (Mt 5:17), and because these people assume that the old testament is the law of the prophets. While the law of the prophets is part of the Old Testament, there is much in the Old Testament that is not part of the law of the prophets. This is clearest to us in parts of the Old Testament that contradict what Jesus teaches. For example parts of the old testament that encourage fighting and warring are clearly not a part of the law of the prophets that Jesus has come to fulfill. Only parts of the old testament that reinforce what Jesus teaches, are part of the law of the prophets. This is also true of parts of the New Testament other than words that Jesus spoke when He came to earth. While every one who wrote in the New Testament did so as a part of an attempt to follow Jesus, people who wrote in the New Testament, often may have been mistaken in their understanding of Jesus. At least we know that people who read their words, often interpret those words as contradicting Jesus. One example of this, that I have seen, is a person interpreting paul’s statement that violent people are sometimes ordained to hold governmental power, as a contradiction of Jesus’ command “not to resist evil”, that this person believes negates Jesus’ command when governments sponsor violence. Paul is not contradicting Jesus, though. Paul made this statement in Romans 13:1-3 In this part of this letter, paul said that if a government holds power, then God has ordained that, that government will hold power. If paul was correct in this, then God must ordain that violent governments will sometimes hold power. When governments are violent, though, no person who follows Jesus, can serve these governments, or be a part of these governments. And if we hope to receive rewards that Jesus tells us of, then none of us can do these things. paul never encouraged any person to do either of these things. Jesus never promised that all earthly governments would be Christian. This would make life very easy for people who follow Jesus, but this is not something that we should hope for. And maybe God has ordained that most governments will not be Christian. In this passage paul also said, “rulers are not a terror to good works. … Do that which is good and you shall have praise of the same.” When he said this, paul must have forgotten about the rulers who killed Jesus. Just like all men, paul made many mistakes. But reading paul is still very important, because reading paul can help us follow Jesus. When paul says that violent people are sometimes ordained to hold government power, he says this to people who were trying to follow Jesus, when those people were the victims of government-sponsored violence, to try to convince those people not to resist that government violence. If paul is correct in saying that God has ordained that some governments will commit violence, then God has also ordained that people who choose to work in those governments, will not follow Jesus, and if God has ordained this then God has ordained that people in those governments will be punished for what they do. That violent people who hold government power, will suffer future punishment, is a part of the pattern of rewards and punishments that Jesus describes when He says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort. Woe to you who have been filled, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and lament. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you, for your fathers spoke well of the false prophets. (Lk 6:20-26).
It is also possible that people who write in the New Testament about visions in which Jesus spoke to them, after His death, misunderstood Jesus, or did not actually see or hear Jesus in visions, as they believe they did. Whether or not these people truly saw, and correctly understood Jesus, we know that Jesus told us everything we need to know, while He lived on earth, and if Jesus has spoken to anyone in visions since then, what He has said is only a repetition of what He said while He was on earth, or is the application of what He taught while on earth, to specific circumstances a person faces, and could have been deduced without visions or voices (though without a vision or a voice, it might have taken longer for a person to deduce what Jesus may have told that person in that vision or with that voice.). If any vision a person sees or any voice a person hears, does not reinforce what Jesus taught while He was on earth, then that vision and that voice cannot have come from Jesus.
Every person who currently calls him or herself a Christian, will admit that we are now living under a different covenant than people in the Old Testament lived under. But most of these people, still try to use many parts of the Old Testament to guide the actions of people alive today. Commands that people who lived before Jesus, may have been wise to follow, and things that may have been wise for these people to do, would be foolish for us to do, today. This is probably easiest to see in all of the warring that these people did. Those of us who are alive today will be punished severely if we try to emulate these people, because we now live under the rules that Jesus told us. As a history of the people that was best suited to receive Jesus, the Old Testament is extremely valuable, but as a guide to actions today it is probably the most dangerous book that exists. While the leaders of the Jewish people helped to kill Jesus, many individual Jewish people became strong and committed followers of Jesus, and were the core of the early Christian church. A church that until the fourth century A.D. probably did try to follow Jesus. Since this time, we know that most Christian churches have not tried to follow Jesus, because this is when The Christian Church of that day, condoned the violence on which the Roman empire was built, by becoming the official religion of that empire.
One of the commands often found in parts of the New Testament other than the Gospels, is the command that we should separate ourselves from evil. One of the main themes of Jesus’ teachings, though, is that we all have evil within us, and are all often brought down by this evil. Jesus tells us this when He tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil that we do. Jesus tells us that even the best of us are very weak when He says to His Disciples, “Pray that you know no temptation. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Even though, Jesus’ disciples wanted to do good, if they were tempted, then Jesus knew that they would do evil. And Jesus tells us all to expect to do evil, to plan on doing evil, and not to try to avoid evil, when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). We will all try to live by unrighteous mammon, and when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends: if, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear that their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help. Jesus tells us that no person will ever want to follow Him, when he says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24). We will have to deny ourselves every day of our lives. We will never want to be good. We will never want to do what Our Creator wants us to do. We will always fear and hate our brothers and sisters. And we will never want to forgive our brothers and sisters. This hate will always be in us. Our only path to Our Creator’s favor is to see this hate, and to deny this hate, Every day. And Jesus says, “If any one does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33). We can never win Our Creator’s favor by doing what we want to do. We can only win Our Creator’s favor by taking Jesus’ yoke. A yoke is a wooden collar that binds two oxen together at their necks, and that keeps those oxen from leaving a farmer who is making them plow his field. Just as an ox will often wish to be free of a farmer’s yoke, we will often wish to be free of Jesus’ yoke. Jesus tells us, though, that “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:30). When compared to the burden we would have to carry if we did what we want to do, Jesus’ yoke is very easy, and His burden very light. Jesus tells us that, “Every one who sins is a slave of sin” (Jn 08:34). If we do what we want to do, we will serve the harsh master of sin, rather than the gentle master that is Jesus.
If we are guided by Jesus’ teachings, then coming into contact with evil will not make us more likely to do evil. Instead coming into contact with evil will make us less likely to do evil, because if we have started to understand Jesus, then we will see that evil is simply a result of being too weak to do good. If a person is strong enough and disciplined enough to do good, then being good will always help that person, and being evil will always hurt that person. But often we are all too weak and too undisciplined to do good. Each time we see examples of this, compassion will grow in our hearts, if we have started to learn from Jesus. And this compassion will do more than anything else, to help us follow Jesus. If we try to avoid people with evil tendencies, then we will never develop enough compassion to be able to follow Jesus.
One of the primary reasons, that Jesus’ teachings are able to heal our world, is that Jesus teaches that Our Creator expects different amounts of good from different people, when He says, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of that person.” (Lk 12:48), and that knowing this, helps us follow Jesus’ commands not to judge (Mt 7:1-2 & Lk 6:37), to forgive people who trespass against us (Lk 17:3-4) (LK 6:37) (Mt 6:9-15), and to love our enemies (Mt 5:42-48). To be able to follow Jesus, we must have been given the wisdom necessary to understand that following Jesus will help us more than it will hurt us, and the strength necessary to live as Jesus tells us to live, and the good fortune to be led away from temptation that will be too great for us to resist. These are the things that Our Creator gives to people from whom He demands much.
When Jesus tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation, and that we be delivered from the punishment that might come to us if we do this evil. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil that we do, which does us great harm. Jesus tells His disciples that if they are tempted they will do evil, even though they want to do good, when He says to them, “Pray that you know no temptation Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Jesus tells us that He gives people who follow Him, the wisdom, strength, and good fortune that allow them to follow Him, when He says to His followers, “You have not chosen me, I have chosen you.” (Jn 15:16).
None of us can ever know if any person has been given the wisdom, strength, and good fortune necessary to follow Jesus, and this includes ourselves. Jesus tells us not to try to know these things when he says, ”Judge not, lest you be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2 & Lk 6:37). This command applies just as much to judging ourselves as it applies to judging other people. Jesus tells us that many people who say they follow Him, have not been given the wisdom, strength, and good fortune necessary to follow Him, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works?’ And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). Our Creator demands that each of us to follow Jesus as closely as the wisdom, strength and good fortune to be led away from temptation, that we have been given, allow us to follow Jesus, and if any of us has been given enough of these things that Our Creator demands that, that person follow Jesus closely, then Jesus tells us that if that person does not follow Jesus closely, then that person, “Will be beaten with many stripes. But he who knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes.” (Lk 12:47-48). Though we can never know if any person will be punished for not following Jesus, because we can never know if that person has been given enough that Our Creator expects that person to follow Jesus more often than he or she does follow Jesus, and though we can also never know if any person will be rewarded for following Jesus, because we can never know how much Our Creator demands of any person, we do know that the more often any of us follows Jesus, the more likely we are to receive rewards Jesus tells us of, and that the less often any of us follows Jesus, the more likely we are to receive punishments Jesus tells us of. While we cannot judge how much Our Creator demands from any of us (including ourselves), Jesus tells us that, “There is one who judges.” (Jn 8:50) That one is Our Creator and we are to leave all judgement to Him.
Not all people will choose to seek Our Creator’s righteousness, once their needs for food drink and clothing have been met, but many of us will choose to do this, and if those of us who try to “Give to every one who asks of us, and ask for nothing in return”, are constant in our efforts, then over time, an ever greater portion of the people we give to, will do this. If any of us, tries to “Give to every one who asks of us, and ask for nothing in return”, then there will be many times when it will seem as if doing this will bankrupt us. And if we try to do this separately, then this may happen. But if we work together, and if we are steadfast in our efforts, then this will not happen to us. And whatever following this command does cost in material terms, will be less than what we currently spend in fighting with people who have things that we want, or who want things that we have. At root all human conflicts are the one conflict of people fighting over things they want, when they do not believe that there is enough of what they want, for them to share with the people they fight against. Any other reasons we say we fight, are just window dressing. And are just rationalizations we use to try to justify fighting against people from whom we want to take things, or who we fear will try to take things from us. The primary example that we often think is an exception to this rule, is the nazi persecution of Jewish people during world war II. But in truth this is an example of people trying to rationalize fighting with people they wanted to take things from. Before world war two, Jewish people in Germany, and in nearby nations, had many things that the people who were nazis, wanted to take from them, and seemed to be people who could be isolated more easily than other people, and who could then be victimized. And any other reasons that people who were nazis, gave for their actions, were just rationalizations they used to try to justify those actions in their minds. The same is true of every human conflict.
“Giving to every one who asks of us and asking for nothing in return”, will not only heal our world, but will also cost us less, materially, than the things we are currently doing to tear our world apart. Doing this will still have a cost, and this cost will often seem great to us, and will still often seem hard to pay, but we must always remember that “giving to every one who asks of us and asking for nothing in return”, will cost us less than the alternative would cost us.
This is true of every thing Jesus tells us to do.
As more and more people are able to think more about how they want to live, and think less about getting material things, the rewards that will come from following Jesus, will grow greater and greater, and the costs of following Jesus will grow less and less, until eventually the disparity between these rewards, and these costs, will become so great that all people will see it, and will choose to live as Jesus teaches us to live. This is the day when Jesus’ work will have been fulfilled. We know this because Jesus said, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47), and because we know that no person can be saved unless that person lives as Jesus tells us to live.
When we know what actions will hurt us, then we can avoid those actions, and when we know what actions will help us, then we can choose to perform those actions. This is why Jesus gives us all of the commands that He gives us.
Jesus does not tell us most of the ways in which living as He tells us to live, will help us. Instead Jesus simply tells us that living as He tells us to live, will help us greatly, and then He leaves the rest up to us. if we are wise we will follow Jesus’ commands. Sadly, though, most of us usually do not do this. It is good for us that Jesus focused His efforts on telling us what we should do, rather than on telling us why we should want to do these things, because we can see how living as Jesus tells us to live, will help us, on our own, but we could never discover all that Jesus tells us we should do, without Jesus. Other teachers teach some of what Jesus taught, but we can only learn all that Jesus taught us, from Him.
Seeing how living as Jesus tells us to live, will help us, is the greatest part of the work that Jesus has left for us to do. Seeing more of the ways that living as Jesus tells us to live, will help us, is the only way in which we can become able to do more of what Jesus tells us to do.
It would be better for us if we were able to follow Jesus commands, without seeing how following these commands, will help us. But it is clear that we cannot do this. If we are able to see more of the ways that following Jesus will help us, then we will be able to do more of what Jesus tells us to do. This seems to be our best and our only hope.
There are at least five reasons that are easy for us to see, why the teachings of Jesus, always make our lives better, and can heal our world. First, that Jesus tells us to give to people who need our help, when He says, … . Second, That Jesus tells us never to take part in violence, when He says, … . Third, that Jesus tells us that what matters is the truth about any person, not the false appearances that people often project, when He says, … . Fourth, that no person should ever try to act like God, (even though we all often try to act like God by being self-righteous, and by trying to command each other). Jesus tells us this when He says, … . And fifth, that Jesus tells us that what matters is how we treat other people, not religious rituals, when He says, … . There may also be many other reasons that Jesus’ teachings will always help us, and can heal our world. And I hope that other people will be able to see these reasons. These are just the reasons that I have seen so far. It is important for us to talk to each other about all the reasons we can see. Jesus left this task for us to do, because this is what we can do on our own. What we could never do on our own, is discover what it is that Our Creator wants us to do. The reason for this is that on our own we would never do any of these things long enough to receive any rewards from Our Creator. For example, without assurances from Jesus, we would all resist evil, as soon as not resisting evil became painful for us. And for a time not resisting evil will bring us mostly pain. Not resisting evil, will only later bring us rewards that will far outweigh our suffering. This is true of many parts of Jesus’ teachings, and Jesus tells us this when he says to His disciples, “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake. And brother will deliver brother up to death, and the father the child: and the children will rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:17-18 & 21-22), “I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against the mother, the daughter in law against the mother in law. He who loves father more than me, is not worthy of me. he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. he who takes not his cross and follows me, is not worthy of me. he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” (Mt 10:34-39, Mt 16:24-26, & Lk 9; 23-25), and is why Jesus says to all of us, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23)
One important way in which not resisting evil, will help us more than it will hurt us, is by leading us to devote more of our energy to other ways of trying to avoid evil, that will be much more effective than trying to resist evil, would be. This is especially easy to see when we consider evil that people are only able to do once they have gained great political power. Resisting evil that other people try to do, does relatively little to reduce the amount of evil that other people do. What would do much more to reduce this evil, would be to try to change the economic circumstances that allow people who propose unusually high levels of violence, to gain political power. Such people can only gain great political power when great poverty is present in a society. We see this most clearly with regard to people who want to carry out genocidal killings. People who resist this evil tell themselves that they are effectively working to reduce this evil, when they are actually doing very little to reduce this evil. Instead, if we have pledged ourselves not to resist evil, then we will work much harder to change the economic conditions that might lead to people who propose genocide, gaining political power, and in this way we will succeed in reducing this evil to a much a greater extent than we would if we tried to resist evil. We do not see this, because we all want to believe that resisting evil is an effective way of reducing evil, so that we will not feel foolish when we resist evil. The reason that we all want to resist evil, is that we all want to lash out in anger at things that frighten us. It is very hard for us to resist this urge, but we must resist this urge if we hope to avoid the great mistake of resisting evil. We will be much better off if we follow Jesus, than if we follow our desire to lash out at whatever frightens us.
Following Jesus’ command, “Do not resist evil” (Mt 5:38-41) will lead us to avoid the suffering that comes from being victims of evil, more often than any other way of living. One reason this is so, is that when we try to resist evil, people who are trying to do evil to us, usually try harder to do evil to us, and another reason is that if we do not try to resist evil, then we will devote our energies to trying to make peace with people who would otherwise try to do evil to us, and that we will be able to avoid evil those people would do to us, much more often by trying to make peace with them, than by trying to resist their evil. If we follow Jesus’ teachings and still become victims of evil, we can know that if we had not followed Jesus, we would have become the victims of even greater evil. This is just as true between nations as it is between individuals. If Jesus wanted us to act differently when acting as part of a nation, than He wants us to act in our personal affairs, He would have told us this, and He would have said that His command not to resist evil, did not apply to the affairs of Nations. But Jesus never did this. People who call themselves Christians, and who pretend we should fight on behalf of nations, are looking for an excuse not to follow Jesus. For both nations and individuals one strong motivation of nearly all attacks, is the desire to get the first strike or first blow in against someone who we fear will attack us. If this fear is eliminated, then most attacks will disappear. And this fear will be eliminated if any nation or individual pledges publicly to follow Jesus’ command not to resist evil, and proves it is willing to stand by this pledge. People who will be more likely to attack someone who has made this pledge, will be far outnumbered by people who will not fight with that person because they no longer fear that person, and the people who will be more likely to attack, will be weaker than other people, because fewer other nations or individuals will cooperate with them, and as more of us come to see the folly of resistance, they will become almost entirely isolated, and their violence will come to be seen as the result of mental illness that it is. Most people who do attack a nation or an individual who refuses to resist evil, will soon realize they would be much better off with the wiling, eager, and voluntary cooperation of their victim, than they would be with a victim who does not resist their evil, but who is not eager to cooperate with a hated oppressor, and they will soon stop attacking that victim, so long as that attacker is not confused by the fear that will arise if that victim resists, and that has kept most of us from seeing the folly of resistance, throughout history. People throughout our world are coming more and more to see the folly of resistance that Jesus saw nearly 2,000 years ago, and finally I believe that a significant number of people will soon choose to follow Jesus by choosing not to resist evil. If this happens then soon the overwhelming majority of us, will see the folly of resistance, by seeing how much better those people’s lives will be than our lives.
Of course it is fear that keeps us from seeing the folly of resistance now, and for this reason it is the most powerful individuals and nations that have the least excuse for committing violence, and also for this reason, it is one of the most powerful nations that will probably be the first nation to renounce violence. Because I belong to the most powerful nation on earth, (The United States), and because I know this, I am especially ashamed of violence sponsored by the United States government. I know that because of Its great power the United States should already have renounced violence, because as Jesus tells us, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48).
After every war everyone who was involved in that war bemoans the folly that led him or her to fight, but before and during every war we refuse to learn from Jesus that we will be better off if we avoid war and fighting by not resisting evil.
It is often hard for us to believe that not resisting evil will always help us more than it will hurt us, because we often imagine ourselves trying not to resist evil, without also trying to do everything else Jesus tells us to do. Trying to do anything Jesus tells us to do will help us do everything else Jesus tells us to do, though, and will increase the benefits that will come to us from trying to follow Jesus. These benefits will be greatest if we try to do all that Jesus tells us to do. With regard to trying not to resist evil, Jesus’ other commands that will help us the most, are His commands, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask one who takes from you to give anything back.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens that no thief will come near to, and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), and “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens. … It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, Lk 12:33, & Mk 10:17-25). Doing these things will create great good will toward us, and will greatly reduce the number of people who will try to attack us. (For even though most people who might try to attack us are rich not poor, if those people know that most poor people are fond of us, then they will fear that those poor people might stand with us against their attacks.)
The primary reason it is usually hard for all of us to follow Jesus, is that many things Jesus tells us to do, seem as if they will do us more harm than good. For example not resisting evil (Mt 5:38-41), and giving to all who ask of us and not asking for anything in return (Lk 6:27-36), seem as if they will do us more harm than good, by leading us to be beaten and to not have things we need to have to survive. What we forget, though, is that if we do what Jesus tells us to do, we will receive rewards from Our Creator, and avoid punishments from Our Creator, that will more than make up for any suffering we will know from following Jesus. So that if these things do happen to us because we follow Jesus, then other things will also happen to us that will more than make up for the suffering that being beaten or temporarily being without things we need, would cause us. If following Jesus sometimes leads us to suffer, not following Jesus would lead us to suffer more, or would lead us to not receive rewards that would more than make up for our suffering. For this reason what Jesus tells us to do is simply what will work best for us. Jesus tells us this when He says to his disciples, “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake. And brother will deliver brother up to death, and the father the child: and the children will rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:17-18 & 21-22) Jesus tells us this again when He says to all of us, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against the mother, the daughter in law against the mother in law. He who loves father more than me, is not worthy of me. he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. he who takes not his cross and follows me, is not worthy of me. he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” (Mt 10:34-39, Mt 16:24-26, & Lk 9; 23-25), when He says, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23), “and when He says “Fear not those who can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Fear instead He who can destroy both the body and the soul.” (Mt 10:28 & Lk 12:4-5) Jesus tells us that if we live as Our Creator wants us to live, we will receive all that we need, when He says, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34)
Part of the reason it is hard for us to believe that doing what Jesus tells us to do, will help us more than it will hurt us, is that we often imagine the short-term effects of starting to follow Jesus’ command not to resist evil, in the most difficult situations we face, while we ignore the long-term effects of following Jesus’ command not to resist evil, which if we had followed Jesus in the past would have included preventing most of the most difficult situations we face, from arising, and which will often prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
Jesus died for each of us, but if any of us, does not live as Jesus teaches us to live, then that person will be refusing to accept what Jesus has done for him or her, and then that person will not benefit from the work Jesus has done for us. One of the he most strongly held and most erroneous beliefs that most people who call themselves Christians, have about Jesus, is that all they have to do to benefit from work Jesus has done, is say that they follow Him. Often, people who believe this, express this belief by imagining a person who has faith in Jesus, but who does not perform the works that Jesus tells us to perform. These people are imagining what is impossible. If a person has faith in Jesus, then that person will do what Jesus tells us to do, and the more faith any person has in Jesus, the more that person will do of what Jesus tells us to do. To the extent that we have faith in anyone, we will do what that one tells us to do. This is what it means to have faith.
Jesus tells us that words will not help us, if we do not live as He teaches, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). How closely Our Creator expects us to follow Jesus’ teachings, varies for each of us, as Jesus tells us when He says, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48). Those of us who have been given much, are expected to follow Jesus closely, while those of us who have been given less, are expected to follow Jesus less closely. Jesus tells us not to try to determine how much is expected of any person, when He tells us not to judge, (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37), and Jesus shows us how we should act when He says to us, “I Judge no man”, (Jn 8:15). Jesus has told us, though, that when He returns to earth, He will judge. Until then Jesus is only telling us how we will be judged, so that we can prepare ourselves. Even now, though, Jesus tells us that, “There is one who judges.” (Jn 8:50). That One is Our Creator and we are to leave all judgement to Him. How closely any of us, is expected to follow Jesus, depends especially on how great an opportunity we have had to learn from Jesus, how we should live, and on how easy it should be for us to recognize that the way Jesus teaches us to live, is the way Our Creator wants us to live. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Woe to you Chorazin and Bethsaida. If the mighty works that have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Tyre and Sidon would have repented long ago. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you at the judgement: and also for Capernaum.” (Lk 10:10-16). The mighty works that had been done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, were Jesus’ works of teaching. The greatest miracle Jesus has performed is teaching us how we can gain Our Creator’s favor. Everything Jesus teaches us to do, is a part of forgiving people who we believe have trespassed against us, as we need Our Creator to forgive us, and we know what will happen to us if we do not forgive, because Jesus says to us, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father will forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15), “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35)
Any church that teaches that the help Jesus offers us, can come to us even if we do not live as Jesus teaches us to live, is what I call a salesmanship church; because people in that church are following the first rule of salesmanship by telling people who listen to them, what they think those people want to hear. In every realm controlled by salesmanship, people tell us that we can get what we want at little or no cost, and if we are wise we will know that they are usually lying to us. Jesus’ teachings are the most important area in which we should be aware of this fact. Jesus is no salesman. He tells us many things that He knows we do not want to hear, because He knows that those things will help us. And this is why Jesus is so unpopular with people who understand His teachings. Jesus tells us that all people will hate Him when He says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8), and when He says. “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21).
Christ told people what they needed to know.
But they didn’t want to hear it and they told him so.
Then they nailed Him to a cross and they killed Him slow.
And we twist His words so we can squirm away.
From the light that He brings, turning night into day.
People who discover that their church is not helping them learn how to follow Jesus, should not leave their churches. If any of us, belongs to a church, then we should like and care for people in that church, and we should want to do what is best for those people. When we see that we need to search elsewhere for assistance in following Jesus, we should try to bring our church with us by trying to transform that church into a place that can help us learn how to follow Jesus. Being part of a community in which people care about each other, is a good first step toward a better life; especially if people in that community know how to help each other. If we have not learned what Jesus teaches us, though, then we can only help other people in trivial and ultimately worthless ways. With Jesus, we can help each other receive Our Creator’s mercy, instead of Our Creator’s justice, and in his mercy Our Creator will give us all that we ask for.
Jesus’ commands not to judge, (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37), and to forgive if we would be forgiven, (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35), apply just as much to people who work in churches that call themselves Christian, but that seldom teach Jesus’ true teachings, as they apply to any other person. Instead of judging churches that call themselves Christian, but that seldom teach Jesus’ true teachings, we should work with people in these churches, to try to heal these churches. Currently existing churches are a step toward following Jesus because they have kept His words alive. But they are only a step because most people in these churches do not try to follow most of Jesus’ commands. These churches must transform themselves and must heal themselves by joining together as a new church that is dedicated to following all of Jesus commands. The first thought that most of us have about most currently existing churches, is the thought of people in these churches trying to kill people in other churches. And sadly people who have belonged to most currently existing churches have actually done this. And nearly all people who have belonged to currently existing churches, have tried to kill other people, whenever governments have told them to take part in wars or in capital punishment, and have tried to hurt people gravely whenever governments have told them to do this. Nothing could be further from following Jesus’ commands. This is why, by themselves, these churches cannot help us to follow Jesus. (Though these churches do have an important role to play in helping us learn how to follow Jesus, and though these churches must play this role for most of us to have any hope of being able to follow Jesus.)
What currently existing churches must do, is join together in a union church, while at the same time continuing as separate churches in all areas of ritual and ceremony.
The church that currently existing churches must join together in, must be modeled on the concept that Booker Taliafero Washington enunciated in his famous Atlanta convention speech, given in the 1880s. In all areas that are not essential to following Jesus, each church should remain as distinct as each of the separate fingers that make up a hand. (And these areas will include all matters of ritual and ceremony. Because ritual and ceremony are forms of celebration, and in matters of celebration, all people should do whatever is most comfortable for them.) But in all matters that are essential to living as Jesus tells us to live, these churches must join together as one, just as the hand that each finger belongs to acts as one in all matters that are essential to the common interest of each finger. And more closely following Jesus is essential to the common interest of every person. This is also the concept that underlies federalism, with each state government being as separate as each finger of an hand, and with a federal government only acting in areas essential to the common interest of each person in a nation.
The church that currently existing churches must join together in, must teach human weakness, frailty and evil, just as Jesus teaches human weakness, frailty and evil. And for this reason, this it should be named ‘the Church of Human Weakness’. Each currently existing church that joins this church will maintain its current name, but will also proudly announce that it is a member of the Church of Human Weakness, once it has decided to become a part of the movement that will allow us all to follow Jesus’ teachings more closely.
To allow existing churches to join together in the ‘Church of Human Weakness’, and to at the same time continue as they currently are in the area of ceremony and ritual, The Church of Human Weakness, will hold weekly meetings on Saturday instead of Sunday. Many members of the Church of Human Weakness, will be people who work in currently existing churches, who will come to the ‘Church of Human Weakness’ to learn how to follow Jesus more closely, and who will then pass what they have learned, on to members of the church that they work in. The symbolism of the life of Jesus, makes Saturday the day best suited for the activities of the Church of Human Weakness, and makes Sunday the day best suited for the activities of currently existing churches.
Jesus died for us on a Friday. Friday is when Jesus did the hardest part of the hard work that we cannot do for ourselves: Friday is when Jesus did the work that allows us to learn how we can win Our Creator’s favor. Jesus did the hardest part of His work on a Friday, and Jesus rose on a Sunday. Saturday is the day of decision for us. Saturday is the day on which we must prepare ourselves if we hope to rise with Jesus on Sunday. If we have not spent our Saturday learning how to follow Jesus, then on Sunday we will be on the outside looking in. And the greater Our Creator’s rewards are, the more strongly we will regret having wasted our Saturday.
Of course we must prepare ourselves to receive Our Creator’s mercy every day if we hope to receive His mercy, but the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection chooses Saturday as the most important day of preparation for us.
And Sunday is the day of celebration. On Sunday Jesus rose from the dead, and when Jesus rose, Jesus’ followers rose with Him. Sunday is the day of receiving rewards, but these rewards can only be received by people who prepare themselves to receive these rewards, by learning how to follow Jesus before Sunday comes. “Blessed is the slave who is found doing his master’s will, when the Master comes.” (Lk 12:35-48)
Sunday is the day best suited for celebration, if we have lived in a way that allows us to rise with Jesus. Currently existing churches are very good at celebration. And all of their rituals and ceremonies are part of their celebrations. Their greatest problem is that their current celebrations are false celebrations, because they celebrate a thing that will only happen if they help members of their churches, live much more closely to the way that Jesus tells us to live. This is what the ‘Church of Human Weakness’, will help people who belong to these churches, do. Then their celebrations will be entirely warranted.
Section 2.)
If we help other people, then Our Creator will give us help that we need, but if we do not help other people then Our Creator will not give us help that we need. Jesus teaches us this when He says, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15). This is the heart of all that Jesus teaches us. Everything Jesus tells us to do is a part of forgiving people who we believe have trespassed against us. Because of this, each thing Jesus tells us to do is something that will bring us together with other people. If we do all that Jesus tells us to do, then we will come together as one with all people as certainly as water flows down a mountain when snow melts on that mountain’s top, and then all people will live in harmony and brotherhood. Jesus also tells us that sometimes temporary division will be a necessary step toward all people coming together. Jesus tells us these things again when He says to all of us, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against the mother, the daughter in law against the mother in law. He who loves father more than me, is not worthy of me. he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. he who takes not his cross and follows me, is not worthy of me. he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” (Mt 10:34-39, Mt 16:24-26, & Lk 9; 23-25), We know that the division Jesus brings, is not meant to be permanent, because Jesus also says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47). If Jesus had meant to bring permanent division to our world He would have said that He only came that He might save part of our world; not our entire world.
Most human division, though, is not a step that will later help us come together with all other people, and for this reason most human division is an unmitigated evil that causes only suffering, and that comes from the evil that is in all of us, that Jesus has come to our world to heal. This includes the great division that has come from people misunderstanding Jesus. At this point in the history of our world, this division is far greater than the division that has come to our world from people trying to follow Jesus’ true teachings. If our world is ever to be saved, as Jesus wants our world to be saved, then someday this will change, (And if most of those of us who call ourselves Christians, try to follow Jesus’ true teachings, this day will come soon). In our world today, we should often stay divided from the groups we are encouraged to join, because in our world today, most of the times that people come together, they do so in order to divide themselves from, and fight against other groups of people. This is especially true of people coming together in nations or states. If our world is ever to be saved, as Jesus wants our world, to be saved, then nations and states, like all groups that do not include all people in our world, must only be stepping stones that allow us to practice coming together with people nearest to us first, so we can later come together with all people, and must never keep us apart from people in other groups. When people allow groups they belong to, to divide them from people in other groups, though, we should stand against these groups. The temporary division we will cause by doing this, will be a step toward later coming together with all people. Jesus tells us of the importance of sometimes standing against other people when He says, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23). Because nations and states usually keep us apart, people who, like Jesus, want our world to come together, often hope for a world without nations, and often imagine a world without countries. What these people imagine will become reality if our world does come together so that it might be saved, but this will not happen immediately, and until it does happen we must work to eliminate ways in which nations and states keep us apart. Many things that Jesus teaches us, counteract the forces that pull us apart into separate groups that often fight with each other. Probably the most memorable of these teachings, are when Jesus says to us, “Love your enemies”, (Mt 5:42-48) , and when Jesus tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves, (Mt 22:37-40), and when He then tells us that our neighbour is anyone who needs our help. Jesus tells us this when He tells a man who had asked Him, “who is my neighbour?” about a Samaritan who helped an injured Jew when other Jews would not help that person, and then asks the man He was speaking to, “Who was this injured man’s neighbour?” When the man Jesus had asked this of, answered, “He who showed mercy on the injured man”, Jesus replied, “You, go and do likewise.”(Lk 10:25-37). Every thing Jesus teaches us to do will help us come together with other people in ways that will allow us to avoid coming together in groups that divide us from each other.
The greatest cause of suffering in our world is human division. We like to imagine that most suffering in our world, is caused by forces outside of us, but when we imagine this we are lying to ourselves. Wars, violence, and cruelty lead to more suffering than any other causes. Even in the case of natural disasters, most suffering is still the result of human division, and would be averted if we helped each other prepare for natural disasters. For example in wealthy nations we build so that few people are killed by powerful earthquakes, but because of weaker buildings, less powerful earthquakes frequently kill tens of thousands of people in poorer nations.
We can see that following the teachings of Jesus, will heal the division that causes most of our suffering, when Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens that no thief will come near to, and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), when Jesus says “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens. … It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, Lk 12:33, & Mk 10:17-25), and when Jesus says, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask one who takes from you to give anything back.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). We realize that if even a small percentage of those of us who call ourselves Christians tried to do these things, then earthquakes in poor nations would kill no more people than equally powerful earthquakes in rich nations. And when Jesus says, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15), “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35), and, “Judge not, lest you be judged. For with whatever judgement you judge, you shall be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37), we realize that great healing would occur if even a small percentage of those of us who call ourselves Christians tried to live as Jesus tells us to live. We also realize this when we hear Jesus say,
“You have heard it said that whoever kills shall be liable to judgement, but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgement, and that whoever says ‘You fool’ to his brother shall be liable to hell fire.” (Mt 5:21-24),
“You have heard it said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you: Do not resist evil: If a man strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him your left. If a man judges you and takes away your coat, offer him your cloak also. If a man compels you to go a mile, go with him two.” (Mt 5:38-41),
“You have heard it said: Love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who abuse you; so that you may be sons of your father in the heavens. For He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Mt 5:42-48)
“If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17),
“If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; even if He trespasses against you and repents seven times in a day.” (Lk 17:3-4),
“Agree with your adversary quickly; lest he deliver you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. If this happens, you will not come out until you have paid the last cent.” (Mt 5:25-26 & Lk 12:58-59),
“Whoever among you wants to become great, he will be your servant, and whoever among you wants to be first, he will be your slave.” (Mt 20:26-27, see also Lk22:25-27, Mk 10:42-44, & Mt 23:11),
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23:12, Lk 14:11, & Lk 18:14).
“Whoever will humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:4),
“Blessed are the meek.” (Mt 05:05)
“Why do you see the mote in your brother’s eye, but ignore the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me pull the mote out of your eye’, when you have a beam in your own? You hypocrite, first pull the beam out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brothers eye.” (Mt 7:3-5, & Lk 6:41-42),
“Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” (Jn 8:7),
“As you would have men do to you, do you likewise to them.” (Lk 6:31, & Mt 7:12)
“You shall love your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, this is the first great commandment. The second is you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40),
“Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34),
“You are an offence to me, because you do not think of things of God, but think instead, of things of men.” (Mt 16:23, & Mk 8:33),
And when Jesus tells us to always put Our Creator’s desire ahead of our desire, when He says, “When You pray (start your prayers) thus, ‘Our Heavenly Father, let your name be hallowed, let your kingdom come, let your will come to pass.’” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4).
Jesus tells us often, that people with evil histories can become good enough to receive the forgiveness we all need, if those people repent (Mt 4:17, Mt 9:13, Lk 5:32, & Lk 13:1-5), if those people freely admit their evil like the publican who beat his chest, hung his head, said ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner’, and was justified. (Lk 18:10-14), and if those people forgive people who trespass against them. (Mt 6:9-15, Lk 6:37, and Mt 18:23-35). We know it is important to Our Creator that this happens often, because Jesus says to us, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven for one sinner who repents than for ninety nine just men who have no need of repentance.” (Lk 15:7 & Mt 18:12-14). This is also important to all of us because good can only come from evil. Good is evil that has been transformed. Our natural state is a state in which we only pursue self-interest. This is how we all enter our world, and while this pursuit does not always lead us to do evil, it often does. Jesus shows us how we can transform ourselves into beings who will always do good.
Because Our Creator has created the free will that allows many of us to often choose what we will do, (and that may allow some of us to always choose what we will do), it may be that not every person will become good enough to receive rewards from Our Creator, but this is what Our Creator wants to happen. Jesus tells us this when He says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47). This tells us that Our Creator wants every person in our world to be saved, and if any of us, is saved then the evil in us will have been transformed into good.
Not every part of us that is evil, can be transformed into something good.. Some of the evil that exists in us, must be eliminated. But a great deal of the evil in our world, (possibly most of the evil in our world), comes from misguided attempts to obtain good things in harmful ways, and this type of evil can always be transformed into good, and is the origin of all good things that exist in our world.
For these reasons we must try to reform all parts of our world, rather than trying to eliminate parts of our world that have evil histories. If we did this we would try to eliminate all parts of our world, including all organizations in our world, and including all churches that call themselves Christian churches. We should instead try to reform these churches by trying to establish a truly Christian church that teaches human weakness frailty and evil as Jesus taught human weakness frailty and evil, (a church of human weakness), and by inviting currently existing churches that are dedicated to reform, to join this church, in the same way that independent political states sometimes join together to form nations in which a federal government exists alongside state governments. In all matters of religious ritual and ceremony each currently existing church should continue on its current path, with each church differing from all other churches, because rituals and ceremonies are forms of celebration and in matters of celebration, all styles are equally good. (Whether or not people in a church call themselves Christians). But in all matters that pertain to living as Jesus teaches us to live, all churches that are committed to reform, must strive to become like each other, and to become like the new church they will join together in.
Because only a church that teaches human weakness frailty and evil, as Jesus taught human weakness frailty and evil, can help us learn Jesus’ true teachings, the new church that all existing churches that are dedicated to following Jesus, must join, should be called “The Church of Human Weakness.” From the point of view of people in currently existing churches, “The Church of Human Weakness”, will be an ecumenical organization they will join to come together with many other churches, and will be an organization that will help all churches follow the true teachings of Jesus, and that will help people in all churches live as Jesus teaches us to live. Any church that teaches living as Jesus tells us to live, is welcome in the church of human weakness, even if that church is dedicated primarily to following another teacher, and even if people in that church do not call Jesus, God.
Jesus tells us often that we will all do evil, for which we must be forgiven. This helps us see that everyone and everything starts as evil, and that good is evil that has been transformed. Jesus tells us that the primary reason we all do evil, is that we want to believe we are good, when He says to the scribes and pharisees of Jerusalem, “You decorate the tombs of the prophets, and you say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have partaken in the blood of the prophets.’ By saying this, you show that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.” (Mt 23:29-31). By saying they would not have killed the prophets, these scribes and pharisees showed how they were like their fathers who killed the prophets. They were like their fathers who killed the prophets, in that they wanted to see themselves as people who would not kill prophets, in that they wanted to see themselves as people who were good. It was the desire to believe that they were good, that had led their fathers to kill the prophets; because the prophets had shown their fathers that they were not good. It was the desire to believe they were good, that led these scribes and pharisees to partake in the blood of the greatest prophet; because the greatest prophet showed them they were not good. And it is the desire to believe that we are good, that leads all of us to our greatest acts of evil, and that would probably lead all of us to reject Jesus as these scribes and pharisees of Jerusalem rejected Jesus, if Jesus were to come to us as He came to them. All people who try to convince themselves they are good will reject Jesus, And all people who try to convince themselves they are good would help kill Jesus, as these scribes and pharisees helped kill Jesus, if they were put in the same situation as these scribes and pharisees . Every one of us would probably partake in Jesus’ blood if we were put in their circumstances, because every one of us wants to believe that he or she is good. Only people who are able to deny themselves will be able to resist this desire. Jesus says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24), and Jesus says, “If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33).
Jesus told these scribes and pharisees about great evils they had committed, and these scribes and pharisees didn’t want to hear Jesus. If Jesus came today and told us about great evils we have committed, we wouldn’t want to hear Jesus either.
We know that the Jewish people had been chosen as the people best suited to hear Jesus’ teachings first and to then pass those teachings on to the rest of us, because Jesus says I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 15:29), and when He also says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn12:47). If Jesus had been sent to another people we know this would have given all of us less chance of being able to follow Jesus. If Jesus had been sent to another people He probably still would have been killed, but then would have also have been forgotten. As it is Jesus was not forgotten because many Jewish people kept his words alive, and passed his words on to the rest of us. If this had not happened, most of us would never even have heard of Jesus.
We know that we all hate Jesus because Jesus says to us, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8)., and because He says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil.” (Jn 3:19-21),
Jesus tells us again of our weakness when He says to His Disciples, “Pray that you know no temptation. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Jesus is telling His Disciples that even when they want to do good, if they are tempted they will do evil. When Jesus tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil we do; which does us great harm. When we do evil, we harden our hearts against the victims of our evil, and against all people we might want to do evil to in the future. By doing this we make it harder for ourselves to forgive other people when they do evil to us, and by doing this we make ourselves less likely to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Not receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness would do far greater harm to us than any evil other people could ever do. Jesus tells us all to expect to do evil, and to plan on doing evil, when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). Jesus is telling us that we will try to live by unrighteous mammon, that when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and that we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends; If, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help. Jesus tells us that we all do evil we will want to pretend we have not done when He says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. Everyone who does evil, hates the light, and stays away from the light for fear his works will be reproved” (Jn 3:19-21), and when he says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil” (Jn 7:2-8), and Jesus tells us that to follow Him we will have to overcome the desire to believe we are good that leads us to want to pretend we are less evil than we are, but will instead have to admit that we all do many things Our Creator hates, when He says, “If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33). And Jesus tells us that we will have to deny our desire to do evil every day, when He says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24).
Because all organizations have been created by people, and because we know that all people are often evil, we also know that all organizations have great evil in them, and these are the reasons that all people must repent and must try to reform themselves, and must try to reform all organizations they are a part of, in order to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. (including all churches that call themselves Christian churches).
Our Creator wants evil to continue until it is transformed into good. Our Creator gave each of us life, and Our Creator continuously chooses to sustain our lives. And because Jesus teaches that all of us, are evil, we know that this means that Our Creator wants evil to continue in our world. Our Creator wants each of us to be alive, and who are we to question Our Creator. Though we seldom do Our Creator’s will, Our Creator never wants us to doubt that we should go forward with our lives. We must go forward with our lives, in order to transform ourselves into what Our Creator wants us to be. If we stop going forward: if we give up on our lives (if we give up on our selves) then we will never become what Our Creator wants us to be. Even if we never do become what Our Creator wants us to be, by going forward we might help someone else become what Our Creator wants him or her to be. It is true that if we fail to become what Our Creator wants us to be, we will pay the consequences for this failure, but if we give up on our lives (if we give up on our selves), then we will pay consequences that are even more painful than the consequences of failure.
Our Creator does not want a world that is free of evil. If Our Creator wanted such a world, then Our Creator would not have given us free will. Instead Our Creator wants a world in which evil continues until it is transformed into good. If evil is killed, then that evil can never become good, and if all evil were killed then there would be no good. There would then be nothing. Good must come from evil that has been transformed. Good is transformed evil. Our world is an oven in which ingredients that are not good in themselves (our individual selves) are combined (baked) into something that is good: Our greater self in which each of us is a part of a larger whole. There may be macro certainty in this process: (Our Creator may know that something good will come of it), but there is no micro certainty in this process (no individual person knows whether or not he or she will become a part of the good thing that is being created. Our evil may hold us back from doing this.) If we join with other people in becoming something greater than ourselves, then we will know great joy. Our evil may keep each of us from doing this though.
I have wanted to kill evil when I have seen it, instead of wanting to transform evil that I have seen, into good. Because of this I have wanted to kill myself.
Good can only come from evil. Good is transformed evil. If there were no evil, then there could be no good. All that is good was once evil. Evil is a stage we all must pass through. It is the infant that can grow into good. As a stage evil is natural and there is nothing wrong with it. Evil only becomes evil when it continues beyond its proper time: when it does not transform itself into good. We all begin our lives as beings who pursue only self-interest, and who live in competition with other people. In this stage we see our world in terms of conflict, and we seek out conflict. We believe that we can only get what we want if we keep other people from getting what they want. We think that for us to win everyone else must lose. This is simply how we are when we start our lives. There is nothing good or bad about this. It just is.
The only way in which we can eliminate all the evil that is in us, at once is by killing ourselves. If we go on with our lives, then we will do great evil. The best that we can hope to do is to transform parts of ourselves from evil into good, while as a whole we continue to do great amounts of evil. We cannot immediately become good. Becoming good is a long process and it will take a long time. If we want to kill evil when we see it, then we will want to kill ourselves, and then we will not be able to continue to try to become good for anywhere close to long enough for us to actually become good. There are two ways in which a person who feels like this will stop trying to be good. The first way is by simply ending his or her life. The second, and much more common, way is by telling him or herself that he or she already is good. While less dramatic, this way of giving up on the attempt to become good is just as destructive to a person who gives in to it, and is much more destructive to other people. This is so because only people who think that they are good can commit great acts of evil.
It takes courage for a person to admit, that he or she is evil and needs Our Creator’s mercy. This is so because all people fear that Our Creator will show them justice, instead of mercy. A person who thinks that he or she is good, will think that Our Creator owes him or her good things, in return for his or her goodness. Such a person will feel as if he or she has an account full of money in Our Creator’s bank. If a person comes to see that he or she is not good, and that Our Creator owes him or her only punishment, then that person will go from feeling as if he or she has an account full of money in Our Creator’s bank, to realizing that he or she has nothing in Our Creator’s bank, but instead owes Our Creator a great debt, which he or she will only be forgiven If Our Creator shows mercy that he or she doesn’t deserve.
Jesus tells of a man who tried to hold on to what he thought he had, because he did not have enough courage to admit that even that which he seemed to have, was only something that he had on loan from Our Creator. Jesus tells us of this man, when He says, “The kingdom of God is like a Lord, who before going on a journey loaned money to a number of different slaves. One slave hid the money that his lord had loaned him, rather than risking this money to get more money. While other slaves risked the money that they had been loaned, and by risking this money, got more money. When their Lord returned from His journey, the slaves who had risked the money they had been given to get more money, paid their lord more than he had given them. The Lord then loaned these slaves more money than He had loaned them before. The slave, who had hidden what he had been loaned, returned that money saying, “Here is what is yours. When his Lord asked him why he had not used this money to get more money, this man said, “I was afraid. I know you are a hard man: who reaps where he did not sow, and who gathers where he did not scatter.” his Lord then said, “You wicked and slothful slave, if you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather whence I have not scattered, then you should have made some money for me. The money that you had will be taken from you, and will be given to the slave who now has the most: For to every one who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that which he seems to have, will be taken away.” And the unprofitable slave was cast into the outer darkness: there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 25:14-30 & Lk 19:12-27)
What Our Creator gives us is an investment, and Our Creator expects that investment to pay something back to Him. People who use what Our Creator has given them to create something for Our Creator, will get more from Our Creator, But people, who do not have the courage to risk what Our Creator has given them, will not create anything for Our Creator, and will lose even what they seem to have.
We all have a strong desire to imagine that we are better than we actually are, and to imagine that people we feel connected to are better than they actually are. This desire, leads many of us to imagine that churches we belong to, teach Jesus’ true teachings, much more often than they actually do. That we are all much weaker and much more evil, than we want to imagine ourselves to be, is one of the most valuable lessons that Jesus teaches us. Jesus teaches this lesson most powerfully, when He tells us that, “The kingdom of heaven is like a Lord who forgave one of His slaves a great debt, and who later learned that, that slave had refused to forgive another slave a much smaller debt. That Lord then said to that slave, ‘O you wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you asked me to: Shouldn’t you also have pitied your fellow slave, as I pitied you?’ Then his Lord delivered this slave to his tormentors, till he had paid all that he owed. So also will my Heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you, from your heart, forgives your brother?" (Mt 18:23-35). Like each of us, the slave who was forgiven a great debt, and who then refused to forgive his brother a much smaller debt, chose to forget the debt that he had been forgiven, so that he could imagine that he was better than he actually was. Doing this is the reason that this slave refused to forgive his brother.
Jesus tells us again that we are weak and evil, when He tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil that we do; which does us great harm. When we do evil, we harden our hearts against the victims of our evil, and against all people we might want to do evil to in the future. By doing this we make it harder for ourselves to forgive these people if they do evil to us, and by doing this we make ourselves less likely to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Not receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness would do far greater harm to us, than any evil other people could ever do. Jesus tells us that even the best of us are very weak when He says to His Disciples, “Pray that you know no temptation. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Even though, Jesus’ disciples wanted to do good, if they were tempted, then Jesus knew that they would do evil. And Jesus tells us all to expect to do evil, and to plan on doing evil, when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). We will all try to live by unrighteous mammon, and when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends: if, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear that their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help.
And Jesus tells us that we will all try to imagine that we are better than we are, when He says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. Everyone who does evil, hates the light, and stays away from the light for fear his works will be reproved” (Jn 3:19-21), and when he says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil” (Jn 7:2-8). And Jesus tells us that to follow Him we will have to overcome the desire to believe we are good, that keeps us from admitting that we all do many things that Our Creator hates, when He says, “If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33). And Jesus tells us that we will have to deny our desires every day, to be able to follow Him, when He says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24).
It is not only important for us to recognize our weakness as individuals, and the evil that it leads us to do, but it is even more important for us to recognize the weakness of all groups of people, that we consider ourselves connected to, (including both people from the present and people from the past), and the evil that this weakness leads people in these groups to do, because we are far more likely to do evil by following other people or by following tradition, than we are to do evil by following our own desires. Throughout human history, people have done much more evil in the name of following other people or of following tradition, than they have done in the name of following their individual desires. This is so, in part, because when groups of people try to do evil, people in these groups help each other, and for this reason, people in these groups succeed in doing evil, more often than do people who are acting on the basis of their individual desires. While we can only find happiness by living as Jesus teaches us to live, we must learn about the many different errors that can keep us from doing this, in order to avoid those errors, and we must see that following other people, and following tradition, are much more dangerous errors, than following individual desires, and we must fight much harder to avoid these errors.
What Jesus means when He says a person is just, is the opposite of what we mean when we say a person is just. We see this when Jesus says, “When you make a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbours; lest they invite you to their dinners in return. If this happens you will have been paid back. Instead, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind; and you will be blessed, because they cannot pay you back. For inviting these people, you will be paid back at the resurrection of the just.” (Lk 14:12-14).
When we call a person just, we mean that, that person gives other people what they deserve from him or her, but when Jesus calls a person just, He means that, that person gives other people good things that they do not deserve. (As Jesus made clear, in the preceding statement).
Jesus is also telling us that we help ourselves most when we help people who give us nothing in return. This is so because if we help people who give us nothing in return, then Our Creator will give us greater things than people could ever give us. Jesus tells us this again when He says, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask one who takes from you to give anything back. If you lend to people you hope will pay you back, what thanks have you? Even sinners lend to receive as much again. Do good, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest: because He is kind to the unthankful, and the evil, And He makes His sun rise on evil men, and good, And He rains on just men, and unjust. Be you compassionate, as your father is compassionate.” (Lk 6:30 & 34-36, & Mt 5: 42-45), and when He says, “Sell all that you have and give to the poor. It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Lk 18:18-25, see also Mt 19:16-24, & Lk 12:33). Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure that no thief will come near to and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33)
We all do very little good by Our Creator’s standards, and any difference in the amount of good different people do, is small and means little to Our Creator. Jesus tells us this when He tells us of a pharisee and a publican who both went to a temple to pray. “The Pharisee stood, and silently prayed, ‘God, thank you that I am not as other men are: rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice a week, and give tithes of all I posses.’ The Publican stood, in the back of the temple, beat on his chest, and would not even look up, as he said, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner.’ “I tell you”, said Jesus, “This man went to his house justified, rather than the other. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 18:10-14).
By human standards this Pharisee had avoided great evil this publican had done, and had done good this publican had not done. To Our creator, though, these differences were small and meant little. What mattered to Our Creator was that this publican had humbly begged for forgiveness, and that this Pharisee had not.
Though this Pharisee may have been rapacious and unjust, in spite of his claim that he was not, This Pharisee had avoided doing evil this Publican had done, because a Publican was a worker for a foreign government that had stolen the land of Israel. (A Publican was a worker for the Roman empire). So a Publican, like many government workers, was a thief.
By refraining from adultery this Pharisee had also avoided at least one other evil act he had seen men perform. And this Pharisee had probably done some good when he gave tithes. As a priest of Jesus’ church, this Pharisee had also started to do good when he preached the law of the prophets, but negated this good by refusing to try to live by that law. All of this, though, did not justify this Pharisee before our Creator. This publican, on the other hand, was justified, in spite of taking part in the theft of a nation, because a person who believes that he or she is a sinner who needs to beg for Our Creator’s forgiveness, will forgive people who trespass against him or her, as often as he or she is able to, in order to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness, and because everything Jesus tells us to do for other people is a part of forgiving people who trespass against us. “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you.” (Mt 6:9-15)
Any morality based on the belief that we are good will crumble and fall like a house built on shifting sands. Only a morality based on the belief that we are all evil, will last. This morality will be like a house that is built on solid rock. Many people try to convince themselves that other people are good when they want to treat those people well and try to convince themselves that other people are evil when they want to treat those people badly. Doing this only leads these people to be even more cruel and vicious to other people when they go from believing those people are good to believing those people are evil. The truth is that we are all good in some ways and are all evil in other ways, and because of this it is easy for us to believe whatever we want to believe about each other. We will only receive Our Creator’s forgiveness if we try as hard as we can not to judge any people, but try instead to treat all people well, and when other people trespass against us, try to show those people mercy, so Our Creator will show us mercy.
Of Course we will also want other people not to trespass against us, but if we live as Jesus teaches us to live, other people will not be able to do much harm to us compared to the good Our Creator will do to us, while if we try to stop evil by fighting with other people, we will not receive Our Creator’s forgiveness, and we will increase the amount of evil other people will try to do to us and will be able to do to us. The way in which we can do the most to stop other people from doing evil to us is by explaining to those people that they need Our Creator’s forgiveness as much as we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, and that they, like us, will only receive this forgiveness if they try as hard as they can to forgive other people, even if they think those people have trespassed against them. Jesus tells us to do this, and to do no more than this, when other people trespass against us, when He says, “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17). This tells us that if we cannot persuade our brother to stop trespassing against us, we are to let him be as a stranger to us rather than trying to force him to stop trespassing against us.
When this does not stop other people from doing evil to us, we must remember that resisting evil would hurt us far more than other people can hurt us, and we must remember that Jesus says, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23) Most of the time we will all hate people who try to follow Jesus, because when people try to follow Jesus, they will try to forgive as they need be forgiven, and because if they forgive as they need be forgiven, then it will be harder for us to hate as we want to hate. It is easiest for any person to hate when people around that person join in his or her hatred. People who try to follow Jesus are unreliable haters. At any moment they may let us down by renouncing a hatred we want them to join us in. Jesus not only tells to rejoice when other people hate us and treat us badly, but Jesus also tells us to mourn when other people treat us well, when he says, “woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort. Woe to you who have been filled, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and lament. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you, for your fathers spoke well of the false prophets. (Lk 6:20-26).
Many people prefer calling rewards that Jesus tells us of, consequences of the moral laws of our universe, rather than calling them rewards that Our Creator gives to people who do what Our Creator wants us to do. These are just two different ways of saying that certain actions will bring us more that will help us and less that will harm us than other actions will. If we do what Our Creator wants us to do, then it doesn’t matter whether we call the good fortune that then comes to us, rewards from Our Creator or consequences of moral laws of our universe. It also doesn’t matter whether Our Creator has created Our World in such a way that we automatically receive rewards for following Jesus’ teachings, or whether Our Creator intervenes to reward people who follow Jesus’ teachings. This is why Jesus doesn’t tell us about these things.
When things are going well for us we all want to imagine that Our Creator has no expectations of us and that there are no moral laws in our universe that we must follow to have continued good fortune, and when things are going well for us many of us choose to believe that Our Creator does not care what happens in our world, and choose to believe that we do not even have an intelligent creator. When things are not going well for us, though, then we are glad that Our Creator has expectations of us and that there are moral laws in our universe, because then we will want to do what Our Creator expects us to do so that we can receive rewards Our Creator will give to people who do what Our Creator wants us to do.
Whatever we want, though, doesn’t change our reality. Our reality is that Our Creator does not have expectations of us in all situations, (that there are not moral laws we will be rewarded for following in every situation), but that in many situations Our Creator does expect us to act in certain ways, and that in these situations there are moral laws we will be rewarded for following, and will be punished for not following.
The way that Jesus tells us to live, is the way Our Creator wants us to live, and healing our world and our lives, is only one of the ways Our Creator will reward us for living in this way. Some people say that Our Creator doesn’t care how we live, or say that we have no Creator. The second of these statements is nonsense because if we exist, then we either have been created or are still being created, and we must have a Creator. If we became the way we are physically, through the process of evolution, then evolution simply describes part of how have been created. And the statement that Our Creator doesn’t care how we live, is based on a belief that is not supported by what we see of our world. Any time we see actions that always produce certain results, we are seeing a part of what Our Creator wants for our world. And though it is only easy for us to see which actions lead to which results in the physical sciences, this does not mean that the relationship between actions and consequences is more uncertain with regard to human affairs, but only means that it is harder for us to see which actions lead to which results in human affairs. The thing that makes it hardest for us to see which human actions will lead to results we desire, is that we all seldom do the things that would create the world we want to live in, and for this reason we can seldom see the results of these actions. Until we try to live as Jesus tells us to live, this will not change.
Sadly, though, instead of using things that people have made as tools to help us get things Our Creator has made, we often try to get things people have made instead of trying to get things Our Creator has made. Jesus tells us often of the danger of doing this. One time Jesus tells us of this danger is when He says His closest disciple, Peter, “Get behind me Satan. You are an offence to me because you do not think of things of God, but think instead, of things of men.” (Mt 16:23). Jesus tells us of this danger again when, in the parable of the sower, He says, “And some seed fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.” and when He then explains this parable, saying, “In this parable The seed is the word of God, and those seeds that fell among thorns are people who, when they have heard the word, go forth and are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life.” (Lk 8:4-15) “The one who receives the seed among thorns is one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the age, and the deceit of riches chokes the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mt 13:18-23), and tells us of this danger again when He tells us of a man, who had gathered great worldly wealth, and who enjoyed thinking about the things he had. “’You fool’, said God to this man, ‘tonight your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be.’ So it is with anyone, who lays up treasure for himself, but is not rich toward heaven” (Lk 12:15-21), when He says, “Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal. Instead, lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not dig through and steal.” (Mt 6:19-23 & Lk 12:33), and when He says we should not try to receive rewards from people, because if we receive rewards from people, then we will not receive rewards from God. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Don’t be like hypocrites, who sound a trumpet before them that they might have the glory of men. I tell you they have their reward. Instead, do your alms in secret, so that your father, who sees you secretly, will reward you.” (Mt 6:1-4).
Though Jesus tells us to think of things Our Creator has made, instead of thinking of things people have made, Jesus also tells us to understand both things Our Creator has made, and things people have made, when He says to His disciples, “I send you forth as sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” (Mt 10:16)
Section 3.)
None of us will be able to sell all that we have and give to the poor, as Jesus tells us to do, (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), because none of us will be able to sell things we think we need to have to survive. And none of us will be able to give to all who ask of us, when what other people ask of us is something we think we need to have to survive. Jesus knows we will not be able to do these things because our faith is small, and Jesus tells us this often.
The way in which we can come closest to selling all that we have and giving to the poor, and come closest to giving to all who ask of us, is by living as inexpensively as possible, so we will believe that we need little to survive, and so we will be able to give anything more than this as alms, and by doing so “Provide ourselves with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens that no thief will come near to, and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24). When we believe that we need very little, we will be able to give anything else that we have to the poor and to all who ask of us.
In order to live as inexpensively as possible we must try to always think of things of God instead of thinking of things of men (Mt 16:23), and we must work with other people to eliminate expenses that are created by the nature of the society we live in, but that are not expenses that we must pay to get things of God. For example, in our cities today, most apartments and houses are built farther from the places where most people work than they have to be, forcing most people in our society to pay great expenses to travel from their home to their work. Expenses that could easily be avoided if most of us lived closer to our places of work. We also incur similar expenses whenever we live farther than we need to live from any places we need to go to. We can also reduce unnecessary expenses by sharing things we do need, and things of man that help us get things of God, much more often than we currently do. For example the abilities Our Creator gives us, are things of God, and things of man can often help us develop these abilities. This is especially true of books, music, stories, speeches, plays, movies, pictures, sculpture, and other works of art. These things will not always help us develop the intellectual abilities God has given us, but if they are well made, then often they will. These are also items that we will share with each other if we want to live inexpensively, so we will be able to give to the poor, and give to all who ask of us, as often as possible. Most items that we buy at so called “convenience stores” do not help us develop abilities God has given us, or help us very little, while they also do us great harm, and yet there are thousands of these stores in every large city, most of them are open 24 hours a day, and nearly all such stores are open until at least 11 p.m. every night. In a rational society most of these stores would be replaced by libraries, so we would be able to pursue things of God more effectively, and these libraries would offer many more services than they currently do.
Most things people create, sell and buy in wealthy societies, though, do not help us get things of God. Because of this, if we all pursued things of God instead of things of men, most jobs in our society would disappear. Over time, if more people try to get things of God, these jobs will be replaced by jobs that help people get things of God . Even before this happens though, the disappearance of these jobs will be a good thing for every person who currently works in a job that does not help people get things of God, If we do a better job of sharing with each other, as Jesus tells us to do when He tells us to give to the poor, and to give to all who ask of us. One of the most important ways in which we must share is by sharing the privilege of doing work that helps people get things of God. For a time there will be many fewer jobs that do this, than people who need to work. Today people performing at least four fifths of all jobs in wealthy societies do not help people get things of God while they are working. If at some point all of these jobs disappear and very few of them have been replaced by new jobs, then if we are trying to get things of God instead of things of men, we will share jobs that do help people get things of God by dividing each of these jobs into five parts so that five people can work one day a week, instead of one person working five days a week.. or so that five people can work one year with four years off, or five people work one month with four months off, instead of one person receiving the privilege of working in a job that makes people’s lives better all the time, for every four people who have to work in a job that make their lives and their customers lives worse. If we are living less expensively, then if we earn less money in this way, we will not need the money we would have earned by working five days a week. If we try to get things of God instead of things of men, then we will spend most of our time in libraries and in gyms that are as inexpensive as libraries, instead of spending that time wasting money on products that do not help us get things of God. We must also consider that we may not earn less money working one day a week producing things that help people get things of God, than we currently earn working five days a week. This may not happen because if most people stopped buying products that did not help them get things of God, then those people would spend more of their money on products that did help them get things of God, and as they did this the prices of these products would rise, and wages of workers making these products would also rise. We must remember that jobs and employment are things of man, and that as things of man, they only help us if they help us get things of God, and that if they do not help us get things of God they should either be reformed or be discarded. Jesus tells us never to pursue things of man instead of things of God when He says to Peter, “Get behind me Satan. You are an offence to me because you do not think of things of God, but think instead, of things of men.” (Mt 16:23), and when He says, Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal. Instead, lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not dig through and steal.” (Mt 6:19-23 & Lk 12:33)
In the same way we will all fight whenever someone tries to take something we think we need to have to survive, and whenever someone has something we think we need to have to survive, and will not share that thing with us. Though when we fight we reject the rewards Jesus promises to people who follow His teachings. We will only be able to refrain from fighting, when we believe we can get things other people have, that we think we need to have to survive, and keep things other people want, that we think we need to have to survive, without fighting, or when we see that we do not need things other people have or things other people want from us. When our faith in Jesus is strong, we will believe Him when He says, “First do God’s righteousness, and all that you need will be added unto you”, and we will follow His command to, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Mt 6:25-33 & Lk 12:22-34). Often, though, our faith in Jesus will be too weak for us to do this, just as our faith will often be too weak for us to give to all who ask of us, when what people ask of us is something we think we need to have to survive. This is why it is important for us to live as inexpensively as possible. If we do this we will see that we seldom need things other people have, or that other people want to take from us. Doing this will help us follow Jesus when our faith is weak, and because our faith is too small to fill a grain of mustard seed (the smallest seed Jesus knew of), as Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20, trying to follow Jesus when our faith is weak will do far more to help us follow Jesus than trying to strengthen our faith in Jesus will do. (though, of course, we should also try to make our faith in Jesus as strong as it can be.) Instead, though, most of us often try to convince ourselves that our faith is strong by lying to ourselves and each other about what Jesus teaches us, so we will believe that Jesus only tells us to do things that are relatively easy for us to do, and so we can make ourselves believe that our faith is strong by doing things that Jesus never told us to do. When we do this we reject rewards Jesus promises his followers, by not preparing ourselves to follow Jesus when our faith in Him is weak, and we often also reject these rewards by judging ourselves to be better than people who do not follow the false teachings we use to distract ourselves from Jesus’ true teachings. If we are not distracted from Jesus’ true teachings we will try to follow Jesus’ command not to judge, and we will always remember that if we are able to follow some of Jesus’ true teachings that other people are not able to follow, we are only able to do this because we have been led away from temptation that would lead us to do evil, and because Our Creator has given us the strength we need to have to be able to do His will at those times.
Because of the smallness of our faith, (Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, Lk 12:28, & Mt 17:20), because of the weakness of the flesh that this lack of faith leads to in us, (Mt 26:41, LK 22:46, Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4, & Lk 16:9), and because of our consequent inability to do much good (Lk 18:10-14), we must always try to do whatever good we can do most easily, first.
It will be much easier for us to do what Jesus tells us to do, if we try to do all that Jesus tells us to do, than it will be if we only try to do part of what Jesus tells us to do. This is so because doing any thing Jesus tells us to do, will help us do other things Jesus tells us to do.
Jesus’ command to sell all that we have and distribute to the poor (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), tells us to develop every ability we are able to develop, and to then use every ability we possess in the service of the poor. Jesus gives this command to a young rich man, but we must remember that with regard to abilities we are able to develop to a greater extent than most other people, we are all rich. So, with regard to these abilities, this command applies to all of us. These abilities will be different for different people. Which abilities any person will be able to develop to a greater extent than other people, depends on that person’s circumstances. Jesus tells us that the extent to which any of us are able to develop any ability, depends on our circumstances, when He says “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48). Whatever abilities any of us, is able to develop, though, we are commanded to give to the poor, for these abilities are clearly a large part of “all that we have.” And as a part of giving to the poor, we must also help all people other than ourselves, develop any ability they can develop and then hope that those people will give those abilities to the poor. Obviously we give the most to the poor, when these people actually do use abilities they develop to serve the poor, but we cannot tell which people will do this, and even if we could tell which people were more likely to offer their abilities to the poor, it would still be important to help all people develop as many abilities in themselves as possible, because there is always a chance that any particular person will offer his or her abilities to the poor, (and we cannot know how great a chance there is that any particular person will do this.).
For many of us, developing abilities in ourselves that we then dedicate to the service of the poor, is the way in which we can give the most to the poor. The more conventional way of giving as much as we can to the poor, is using our abilities to get as much money as we can, and then giving that money to the poor. And for some people, this is the way they can give the most to the poor. The poor, though, also need many things that do not now exist, (including beautiful music that has not yet been produced, and including a better understanding of Jesus.). A better understanding of Jesus, is something that we all need, and dedicating our abilities to helping people who seek understanding, to understand Jesus better, will for many of us, help the poor more than all the money we could earn, would help the poor.
Section 4.)
The greatest error we can make (the error that will do the most to hurt us) is to try to convince ourselves that we are good.
Jesus tells us of the dangers of trying to convince ourselves that we are good, when he says to the scribes and pharisees of Jerusalem, “You decorate the tombs of the prophets, and you say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have partaken in the blood of the prophets.’ By saying this, you show that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.” (Mt 23:29-31). By saying they would not have killed the prophets, these scribes and pharisees showed how they were like their fathers who killed the prophets. They were like their fathers who killed the prophets, in that they wanted to see themselves as people who would not kill prophets, in that they wanted to see themselves as people who were good. It was the desire to believe that they were good, that had led their fathers to kill the prophets; because the prophets had shown their fathers that they were not good. It was the desire to believe they were good, that led these scribes and pharisees to partake in the blood of the greatest prophet; because the greatest prophet showed them they were not good. And it is the desire to believe that we are good, that leads all of us to our greatest acts of evil, and that would probably lead all of us to reject Jesus as these scribes and pharisees rejected Jesus, if Jesus were to come to us as He came to them. All people who try to convince themselves they are good will reject Jesus, And all people who try to convince themselves they are good would help kill Jesus, as these scribes and pharisees helped kill Jesus, if they were put in the same situation as these scribes and pharisees . Every one of us would probably partake in Jesus’ blood if we were put in their circumstances, because every one of us wants to believe that he or she is good. Only people who are able to deny themselves will be able to resist this desire. Jesus says, “If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24), and Jesus says, “If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33).
Jesus told these scribes and pharisees about great evils they had committed, and these scribes and pharisees didn’t want to hear Jesus. If Jesus came today and told us about great evils we have committed, we wouldn’t want to hear Jesus either.
Trying to convince ourselves we are good, will do more to cause us to lose Our Creator’s favor than any other action we can take. We are not good. The reason we are not good is that most of the time we do not do what we should do: most of the time we do not do what is right for us to do: most of the time we do not do what Our Creator wants us to do. This is not something we can avoid or change. We should always try to do what is right for us to do, but we must accept that we will often fail, and that we will often do what we should not do. Though we usually cannot do what we should do, we can stop trying to convince ourselves that we are good.
If Jesus comes again while we are alive, and if any of us does not help to kill Him, we will only do so if Our Creator leads us away from temptation, or if Our Creator gives us the strength we will need to resist temptation. In either case, if we refrain from doing evil, we will do so, not because we are good, but because Our Creator is good.
Jesus tells us that our ability to do Our Creator’s will depends on whether or not we are led into temptation, when He tells us to pray, ”Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do, if we were led into temptation.
Jesus tells us we will only be able to forgive people who trespass against us, if Our Creator gives us the strength and the knowledge we will need to have to be able to do Our Creator’s will, and if Our Creator gives us the good fortune to avoid temptation. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48). By saying this, Jesus tells us that Our Creator expects people, who have been given more, to do more of what He wants them to do. Jesus tells us again that Our Creator expects people who have been given more, to do more of His will, when He says to the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida, “Woe to You Chorazin and Bethsaida. If the mighty works that have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Tyre and Sidon would have repented long ago. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you at the judgement: and also for Capernaum.” (Lk 10:10-16). The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida had been given the gift of hearing Jesus speak and of watching Jesus work. The more any person is able to learn from Jesus, the more Our Creator expects of that person. Jesus tells us that people who have been given more will be able to do more of Our Creator’s will when He says, “Whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever has not, even what he seems to have, will be taken away from him.” (Lk 8:18, Lk 19:26, Mt 13:12 & Mt 25:29). This will be so because only people who have been given the ability to do what Our Creator wants them to do, and who have been led away from temptation, will be able to forgive people who trespass against them, and because only people who forgive people who trespass against them, will receive rewards that Our Creator will give to people who do what He wants us to do. Though our Creator demands more forgiveness from people who have been given more, Our Creator demands that we all forgive people who trespass against us, as often as we should be able to based on how much wisdom and strength we have been given. If any of us does not do what Our Creator demands of us, then anything that person does have will be of no use to that person and will soon be taken away. Such people only seem to have things they will soon lose.
The Good News Jesus brings to our world is the news that we do not need to be good to win Our Creator’s favor. Jesus teaches that instead of being good, what we need to do to win Our Creator’s favor is to forgive other people for evil they do to us, as we need Our Creator to forgive us for evil we do to him.
Because Jesus knows that we cannot be good, He does not tell us to be good. Instead, Jesus tells us to see our evil, and to renounce our evil.
“If any man does not hate his life, he cannot follow me” (Lk 14:26-33).
“If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.” (Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24)
We will have to deny ourselves every day of our lives. We will never want to be good. We will never want to do what God wants us to do. We will always fear and hate our brothers and sisters. And we will never want to forgive our brothers and sisters. This hate will always be in us. Our only path to God’s favor is to see this hate, and to deny this hate, Every day.
We can never win God’s favor by doing what we want to do. We can only win God’s favor by taking Jesus’ yoke. A yoke is a wooden collar that binds two oxen together at their necks, and that keeps those oxen from leaving a farmer who is making them plow his field. Just as an ox will often wish to be free of a farmer’s yoke, we will often wish to be free of Jesus’ yoke. Jesus tells us, though, that “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:30).
When compared to the burden we would have to carry if we did what we want to do, Jesus’ yoke is very easy, and His burden very light.
Jesus tells us that, “Everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (Jn 08:34). If we do what we want to do, we will serve the harsh master of sin, rather than the gentle master that is Jesus.
Even Jesus had to deny what He wanted to do, in order to do what God wanted Him to do. Because of this, Jesus shows us the perfect example of how to deny ourselves. When Jesus was coming close to His crucifixion, He prayed to God, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will but as You will.” (Mt 26:39, 42 & 44 & Lk 22:42).
Jesus did not want to die on the cross, but He did die on the cross, because God wanted him to.
If a person wanted to do everything that God wanted that person to do, then that person would be good, and then that person would not have to deny him or herself. This will never be though. Any person who tries to make him or herself want to do, what God wants him or her to do: That person will instead, make him or herself believe that what God wants him or her to do, is the same as what he or she wants to do.
Such a person will not do God’s will, but will instead do his or her own will.
Seeing our evil lets us see the good that God wants us to do.
When we want to believe we are good we tell ourselves that Jesus told us to do much less than he actually told us to do and we substitute things that are easier for us to do for the difficult things He actually told us to do. We will only understand Jesus’ true teachings’ when we admit how poorly we follow those teachings.
If we want Our Creator to let us keep stealing from Him, we must encourage people who steal from us, to steal more from us.
We steal from Our Creator every time we use abilities Our Creator has given us in ways Our Creator does not want us to use those abilities. We steal from Our Creator every day, and on the next day we always ask Our Creator to give us more of what we have stolen from Him. Jesus shows us that we ask Our Creator to give us all that we have, when He tells us to pray to God, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Our Creator gives us our daily bread to sustain our lives so we can use those lives to do His will. When we do not use our lives to do Our Creator’s will, then we are stealing from Our Creator.
Jesus says to us, “If a man wishes to judge you and to take away your coat, offer him your cloak also.” (Mt 5:39-48 & Lk 6:27-38). Our Creator will only keep giving us our daily bread after we steal from Him, if we give people who have stolen from us more of whatever they have stolen from us: If we say to a man who steals our coat, “please, take my cloak also.” If we want Our Creator to forgive us for stealing from Him, then we must forgive people who steal from us. If we want Our Creator to keep giving us more of what we have stolen from Him, then we must give other people more of whatever they may steal from us. If we do not do this, then the day will come when Our Creator will stop letting us steal from Him. On that day we will have nothing.
We strike Our Creator on the right cheek every time we use what Our Creator has given us to do things Our Creator doesn’t want us to do, and we hope Our Creator will turn His left cheek to us, rather than striking us in return. Our Creator will only do this, if we do likewise and turn our left cheek to anyone who strikes us on the right, rather than striking that person in return. (Mt 5:39-48 & Lk 6:27-38). If we do not turn our left cheeks to anyone who strikes us on the right, then Our Creator will resist our evil, as we resist evil from other people. If this happens, Our Creator will then show us justice instead of mercy, and in His justice Our Creator will punish us long and hard, for as our evil is great, so also will our punishment also be great.
Jesus tells us that we are totally dependent on Our Creator when He tells us to pray to Our Father, “give us this day our daily bread” , and when He tells us to pray to Our Father, “lead us not into evil but deliver us from temptation.” (Mt 6_5-15, and Lk 11:2-4). This tells us we are so dependent on Our Creator we cannot live unless Our Creator gives to us every day the food we need to sustain our lives, and this tells us we cannot avoid doing evil, unless Our Creator leads us away from temptation that would cause us to do evil. (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). It is the evil temptation would lead us to do, that we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil we do; which does us great harm. When we do evil, we harden our hearts against the victims of our evil, and against all people we might want to do evil to in the future. By doing this we make it harder for ourselves to forgive other people when they do evil to us, and we make ourselves less likely to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Not receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness would do far greater harm to us than any evil other people could ever do.
If Jesus had only said, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it”, then we would believe that even a person who did not try to forgive all people who had trespassed against him or her, could ask and receive whatever he or she asks for. We will only understand Jesus if we remember all that He tells us, and we will misunderstand Jesus if we only consider some things He says to us, and ignore other things He says to us. If two different things Jesus says to us seem to contradict each other, then we are misunderstanding either one or both of the statements that seem contradictory to us. If we ignore these truths, then we will profoundly misunderstand Jesus. For example, I once heard a man who called himself a Christian; say that Jesus only tells us to forgive other people if those people repent. This perversion of Jesus’ teaching occurred when this man heard Jesus’ say, “If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him; and if your brother repents forgive him. Even if he trespasses against you and repents seven times in a day.” And when this man assumed that this is the only time Jesus wants us to forgive people who trespass against us. All we have to do to understand how often Jesus wants us to forgive people who trespass against us is remember that Jesus says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you”, and that Jesus says “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” These statements make it clear that we must always try to forgive people who trespass against us, whether they repent or not.
Adding the qualifier ‘only’, to any thing that Jesus says to us, is an attempt to claim that Jesus told us to do less than He actually told us to do. Adding the qualifier “only” to one thing Jesus says to us, and ignoring other things Jesus says to us, will always appeal to us because none of us wants to do any more work than we have to do. If we give in to this desire, though, we will suffer for doing so. The man who only tries to forgive people who repent. This man will not receive Our Father’s forgiveness. In some ways his life will be easier because he will not try to forgive most people who trespass against him. Because Our Creator will not forgive him, though, his life will be infinitely harder, and his suffering infinitely greater, than it would have been if he had considered all that Jesus said.
Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:30). A yoke is a wooden collar that oxen wear around their necks, and that keeps those oxen from leaving a farmer who is making them plow his field. Just as an ox will often wish to be free of a farmer’s yoke, we will often wish to be free of Jesus’ yoke. When compared to the yoke we would have to wear and the burden we would have to carry if we did what we want to do, Jesus’ yoke is very easy, and His burden very light indeed. His yoke is still a yoke though, and his burden still a burden. And we must wear this yoke and carry this burden if we want to receive rewards Jesus tells us of, and avoid punishments Jesus tells us of. Jesus tells us that, “Everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (Jn 08:34). If we do what we want to do, instead of what Jesus wants us to do, we will serve the harsh master of sin, rather than the gentle master that is Jesus.
If we do not follow Jesus’ command not to judge (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37), then we will inevitably judge ourselves to be better than most other people, in whatever ways we consider most important. And to reinforce our belief that we are better than those people in those ways, we will then try to force those people to be like us in those ways. Whenever two or more people are alike in too many ways, then either only one of those people is thinking about what he or she does, or what is more likely, is that none of those people are thinking about what they do. If we think about what we do, then we will be alike in some ways but we also be different in many ways, and those differences will allow us to work together more effectively with each other, and to live in greater harmony with each other, because we all know that thinking about what we do, and acting on the basis of decisions we make, is the core of human dignity, and because if we are not doing this we will be angry toward every one and everything we see, and we will be most angry toward any person who reminds us that we have lost the dignity that all humans should possess. And we will be reminded of this most by anyone who acts differently than we do. This is why we are most brutal, vicious, and terrifying to other people, when we try to force those people not to think for themselves, but to instead act without thinking, whenever we act without thinking. If we do not consciously pledge ourselves not to judge, then judging will dominate our lives and we will become people who cannot think clearly, and who are terrors to anyone who tries to think at all. Sadly this is what has happened to most of us. Because we do not believe we are free to think for ourselves, we will not let anyone else think for him or herself. If we try as hard as we can, not to judge, though, then we can recover from this state.
Judge Not
In order not to judge, we must assume that if we were placed in another person’s circumstances, we would do the same evil that person does, and that if another person were placed in our circumstances, that person would do the same evil we do, we must never believe that another person does more evil than we do, (only that another person does different evil than we do), we must accept that we cannot know whether or not Our Creator will forgive any person for evil that he or she does, we must remember that our judgements about good and evil will often be wrong, and we must never try to make any judgements about what is in a person’s heart. Jesus tells us not to try to judge what is in a person’s heart when He says to us, “If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; even if He trespasses and repents seven times in a day.” (Lk 17:3-4). If our brother trespasses against us and repents seven times in a day, we will probably believe that our brother is not being honest when he repents. This doesn’t matter to Jesus, though. We are to forgive our brother whether he is honest or dishonest with us. Our Creator can judge our hearts and our brother’s hearts, and Our Creator will only forgive people who sincerely repent. We cannot judge each other’s hearts, though, and we are to forgive all people; whether or not they repent, and whether or not their repentance is sincere. Only people who truly repent, will forgive people who do evil to them, as we all need Our Creator to forgive us for evil we do to Him, and because of this, only people who truly repent will receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Jesus tells us often, that we must repent. (Mt 4:17, Mt 9:13, Lk 5:32, & Lk 13:1-5). Our Creator will judge whether a person has repented or not, just as Our Creator will judge whether or not any person has forgiven people who have done evil to him or her, often enough to receive His forgiveness. We cannot make these judgements, and Jesus tells us not to try. In order not to judge we must also assume that all groups of people would do as much good and as much evil as all other groups of people, if they were placed in the same circumstances as each other. On average the group of us who call ourselves Christians have been placed in circumstances that have given us more power than people from other groups have been given. For this reason those of us who call ourselves Christians have done both more evil and more good than other groups of people have done. We have both caused more wars, violence and killing than most other groups of people, and we have given more to the poor than most other groups of people.
When we believe that some people are better than other people are, we include ourselves among the people who are better than other people. Jesus tells us of the evil doing this will lead us to do, when He says to the scribes and pharisees of Jerusalem, “You decorate the tombs of the prophets, and you say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have partaken in the blood of the prophets.’ By saying this, you show that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.” (Mt 23:29-31).
None of us are kind or cruel. None of us are good or bad. The only reason that some people act more kindly than other people act, is because these people are wiser than other people are in pursuing their desires. These people know that they must try as hard as they can to always treat other people well, to be able to receive things they want and things they need. We all sometimes act cruelly toward each other because we all sometimes forget this and because we all sometimes doubt this. When we do so, though, we are not more cruel in our hearts than are people who do not act cruelly. We are only less wise in our actions.
Jesus tells us that we must treat all people who do harm to us, well, to get things we want and things we need, when He says, ”If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15), and when he says, “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35). Jesus knows that we will not want to forgive people who trespass against us. This is why He tells us that the reason we should forgive these people, is that we want Our Father to forgive us, that if Our Father forgives us He will give us all we need and all we ask for, and that if Our Father does not forgive us we will receive very little of what we need or what we ask for, but will instead receive great punishment.
Though we are all evil, Jesus knows that we can all do good if we try to forgive people who trespass against us. This is why Jesus lived and died for us: so we could learn how to do enough good to receive Our Father’s forgiveness.
Jesus tells us not to try to determine who is following Him more closely, and who is following Him less closely, when He says to us “judge not, lest you be judged.” (Mt 7:2). This command applies just as much to judging ourselves as it applies to judging other people. And of course these two things are the same activity because when we judge ourselves we are comparing ourselves to other people, so we are judging them as well. Whenever we say that one person is good, we are saying that another person is bad, and that is the very judging we are told to refrain from.
I may do a horrible job of following Jesus’ commands, but at least I try to be honest about what these commands are. I do this because I know this honesty must be the first step toward true discipleship. If we are honest in this step then we will be able to build on this honesty and learn how to follow Jesus more closely. If we are not honest in this first step, though, then our attempts to follow Jesus will be built on a weak foundation, and will crumble in failure. What keeps most of us from being honest about what Jesus tells us to do, most of the time, is our desire to believe we are good. This is so because we can only do a small part of what Jesus tells us to do. So in order to believe we are good we must lie to ourselves about what Jesus tells us to do. The ability to admit we are evil is the greatest strength we can have, and the desire to believe we are good is the greatest weakness we can have.
Even though we cannot be good, there is a way we can get Our Creator to treat us well. Jesus tells us this way, when He says, “If you forgive men their trespasses then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will your Father forgive you.” (Mt 6:14-15) To do this we must admit we are not good, and we must admit we need Our Creator’s mercy. Often, though, we will not do this because we will not believe that Our Creator truly will show us mercy instead of justice, if we show mercy instead of justice to people who trespass against us. The good news Jesus brings us (that we will receive mercy if we show mercy). This news sounds too good to be true to most of us most of the time. Jesus tells us that we fear Our Creator will show us justice instead of mercy when He says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21), and when He says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8).
If we do not overcome this fear we will try to judge ourselves and other people, and we will reject the mercy we are offered, because not judging is a necessary part of forgiving. When we judge, it is impossible for us to forgive, in the same way that it would be impossible for a person to run if that person had cut off his or her legs. The only difference is that when we judge we do ourselves more harm than we would if we cut off our legs. Judging and forgiving are opposites. If we have forgiven we will not judge and if we have judged we cannot forgive. This is true of everything Jesus tells us. Everything Jesus tells us to do is a part of forgiving.
Section 5.)
Jesus tells us, that when we help any person, we are helping Him, when He says, “When the Son of man comes in his glory, He will sit on a throne and all nations will be assembled before Him, and He will separate them into two groups. Then He will say to the group on His right, “Come, blessed ones. Inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I hungered and you gave me food, I thirsted and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then these people will ask ‘when did we these things?’ and the king will say, “As you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me.” Then He will say to the group on His left, “Leave me, cursed ones. Go into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I hungered and you gave me no food, I thirsted and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you clothed me not, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then these people will ask, ‘When did we not do these things?’ and the king will say, “As you did not to the least of my brothers, you did not to me.” (Mt 25:31-46)
Jesus tells us to love each other, as He has loved us (Jn 13:34 & Jn 15:12)
Jesus tells us that God will reward us if we are humble and that God will punish us if we are proud when He says, “Whoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, (Mt 18:4), when He says to His disciples, “The greater of you shall be your servant. (Mt 20:26-27, Mt 23:11, Lk 22:25-27), Whoever wishes to be great among you, he will be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you, he will be you slave.” and when He says to His disciples, “He who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and He who is chief, let him be your servant. For who is greater the servant or the one who is served. Isn’t the person who is served greater? But I am with you as a servant. (Lk 22:26-27). Jesus tells us again that God will reward humble people and will punish proud people when He says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Mt 23:12, Lk 14:11, Lk 18:14).
Jesus tells us that He wants us to come together with all other people, when He tells us to love all people who need our help as we love ourselves. Jesus tells us to do this when He tells us to love our neighbour as ourselves, and when He then answers a man who asks, “who is my neighbour?” by telling of a Samaritan who helped an injured Jew when other Jews would not help, and then asking, “Who was this injured man’s neighbour?” When the man whom Jesus had asked this of, answered, “He who showed mercy on the injured man”, Jesus replied, “Go and do likewise.”(Lk 10:25-37). This tells us that Jesus wants us to all come together because loving all people who need our help as we love ourselves is the action that will bring us all together. Jesus tells us again that He wants all people to come together in harmony in Him, when He says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47). Jesus does not say that He came to save a part of the world, or that He came to save some people who are in the world. Jesus tells us that he came to save the entire world. Jesus came that all people in the world might learn to forgive people who trespass against them, and might, by doing so, receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. If any of us does not learn to forgive those who trespass against us, then that person will not receive Our Creator’s forgiveness, and then that person will not be saved. Jesus will save the world, if the world will learn forgiveness from Jesus. Jesus says to us, “I am come to save that which is lost.” (Lk 19:10, & Mt 18:11). Because all people are lost this tells us that Jesus has come to save all people. Because Jesus wants all people to come together, followers of all religions can follow Jesus, without changing their religion. This tells us that Jesus’ teachings are not religious teachings, but are instead moral teachings that show us how we can receive all we need and all we ask for.
Can any person know if he or she has forgiven enough of the people who have trespassed against him or her, to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness? The answer is no. This is the primary reason that Jesus tells us not to judge. Jesus knows that none of us can judge accurately. Jesus says to us, “Judge not, lest you be judged” (Mt 7:2). The reason we must fear being judged is that we cannot be good. If we could judge accurately, though, then we would be able to be good, and then we would not need to fear Our Creator’s judgement. Then we would be able to say to Our Creator, “Go ahead judge me, I have nothing to hide.” We will never be able to say this, though, because we will never be able to judge accurately.
Jesus tells us often that we will not be able to judge accurately. One time that Jesus tells us this is when He says, “Why do you see the mote in your brother’s eye, but ignore the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me pull the mote out of your eye’, when you have a beam in your own? You hypocrite, first pull the beam out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brothers eye.” (Mt 7:3-5, & Lk 6:41-42), Jesus tells us this again when He says, “The stone that the builders refuse, will be the head cornerstone.” (Lk 20:17), and Jesus tells us that our judgement will not be the same as God’s judgement, when He says, “The last will be first, and the first last.” (Mt 20:16). This tells us that people whom we would put last, are people whom God will put first, and that people whom we would put first, are people whom God will put last. Jesus told us that we will often be wrong if we judge that God has punished a person, when His disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth, and asked Jesus, “Who sinned? This man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus then answered, “Neither this man sinned, nor his parents. He is blind so that the works of God may be made manifest in him.” (Jn 9:1-3). What Jesus’ disciples had thought was a punishment, was actually a preparation for a reward. And Jesus tells us that we will be wrong if we judge that people who suffer greater misfortune than we do, have done greater evil than we have done. Jesus tells us this when He says to people who had told him about some Galileans whom the Roman government had killed, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were sinners above all other Galileans, because they suffered these things? I tell you they were not; Unless you repent, you will all perish as they perished. Or do you suppose that those eighteen people in Siloam who died when a tower fell on them, were debtors above all men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you they were not; Unless you repent, you will all perish as they perished.” (Lk 13:1-5). Because we cannot judge either other people or ourselves accurately, each of us must forgive people who trespass against us, as often as we can, and then we must hope that we have shown enough forgiveness to these people, to get Our Creator to show forgiveness to us.
We should not be bothered by the fact that we cannot judge whether or not Our Creator will forgive us for our trespasses against Him. We do not help ourselves when we try to judge this, but we instead do ourselves great harm whenever we try to judge whether or not any person will receive forgiveness: whether we try to judge ourselves, or try to judge other people. This is so because when we try to judge, we make ourselves less able to forgive people who trespass against us, as we need Our Creator to forgive us for our trespasses against Him.
Why we need Our Creator’s forgiveness.
Jesus tells us that Our Creator gives us all we have when He tells us to pray to Our Father, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4), Jesus tells us that Our Creator gives us our lives and every ability we posses, when He says, “Swear not at all, not even on your own head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your communication be, ‘yes yes, no no’, for whatever is more than these is evil.” (Mt 5:33-37), and Jesus tells us that we cannot do anything without gifts Our Creator gives us, when He says, “We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day, night will come when no one can work.” (Jn 9:4). (Jesus is speaking of both the night that comes every 24 hours, and of the night that will come when the sun’s light goes out forever, at the end of the world.). Our Creator gives us the bread we must eat if we want to live, the heads we must use if we want to think, and the sun that lights the day, and that allows all people to live, and to work. Jesus tells us that we should use abilities Our Creator has given us to do what Our Creator wants us to do, when He says to us, “When you do all that you are commanded to do, do not expect thanks, but say instead, ‘we are unprofitable slaves. we have only done what we ought to have done.’” (Lk 17:9-10)
It is only when we see how much we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, that we will start to do what Our Creator wants us to do. It is only when we see how much we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, that we will start to forgive as we need be forgiven.
As long as we can convince ourselves that we are good, we will refuse to admit that we need Our Creator’s forgiveness. We will all do this because it is hard for us to believe that Our Creator truly will show us mercy, instead of justice. (even if we show mercy, instead of justice, to other people). We all fear that we need to be good to win Our Creator’s favor. The good news that Jesus tells us, sounds too good to be true. Because we fear that if we are not good, Our Creator will punish us for our evil, we convince ourselves that we can be good, and by doing so, we reject Our Creator’s mercy. Though we may believe Jesus when He tells us we will be judged with the judgment we judge with (Mt 7:2), We refuse to believe that if we judge justly, we will be doomed when Our Creator judges us justly. We believe instead, that we could be judged by the standards of justice, and be judged favorably. We are wrong to believe this. But in our pride we will not renounce this belief. We continually find ways to convince ourselves that what we do is not very bad (if we admit that it is bad at all), and will not anger Our Creator, but that what other people do is truly evil, and will bring down Our Creator’s wrath.
“Forgive if you would be forgiven” will not mean much to a person who thinks that he or she doesn’t need to be forgiven. Such a person says to Our Creator, “go ahead, judge me, I have nothing to hide.” If this person wants to be judged favorably, then he or she has everything to hide. If any of us want to be judged favorably, then we have everything to hide. If we judge other people justly, then Our Creator will judge us justly and we will be doomed by Our Creator’s just judgment. Justice is our enemy, and mercy our only hope.
Unless a person believes that Our Creator will show him or her mercy instead of justice, any person will refuse to admit that he or she is evil. That person will instead try not to see anything that would show that he or she is evil.
Jesus knows we will try to convince ourselves we are good because we believe we must be good to receive good things from Our Creator, and that we believe this because we believe Our Creator will show us justice instead of mercy , and Jesus knows that if we are able to convince ourselves we are good, then we will pretend we do not need Our Creator’s forgiveness, and then we will refuse to forgive our brothers and sisters, because we will think we do not need Our Creator to forgive us. Because He knows these things about us, Jesus tries to inspire us to have faith in Our Creator’s mercy, and Jesus shows us, and tells us, in many different ways, that we cannot be good. People who do not have faith in Our Creator’s mercy, will hate and fear Jesus, when Jesus tells them of their evil. Most of the time this will include all people. This is why Jesus says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8). And this is also why Jesus says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21). Though we hate Jesus’ light, and though we love the darkness that it banishes, we should instead love Jesus’ light, and hate the darkness it illuminates. We should love Jesus’ light because, though we doubt Jesus, Jesus’ good news is true. Our Creator will show us mercy if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters. If we can sometimes make ourselves come to Jesus’ light, we will learn that its heat will warm us, not burn us. If we can overcome our fear and our hate, we will see that Our Creator truly will show us mercy, instead of justice. If we refuse to admit our evil, though, then we reject Our Creator’s mercy, and then we condemn ourselves to great punishment. And then there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus’ light will show us our evil if we use that light, and we should be grateful to have Jesus’ light to see by.
Jesus’ miracles illustrate the power of the faith He can inspire in us. These miracles depend on the faith Jesus inspires in people who receive them, and these miracles cannot occur if Jesus does not inspire great faith. It is the faith Jesus inspires that makes His miracles happen. Jesus makes this clear when He asks people who are about to receive miracles, “Do you believe that I can do what you ask”, and after hearing the answer ‘yes’, says, “As you believe, so be it.”, and we learn that Jesus’ miracles cannot occur where great faith does not exist, when the gospel writer Matthew says that when Jesus taught in His own country, “He did not many mighty works because of their unbelief.” (Mt 13:58). The greatest miracle Jesus can perform for any person also depends on the faith that Jesus inspires in that person. This miracle is the miracle of allowing a person to receive mercy from Our Creator, instead of Justice. This miracle can occur for all of us if Jesus inspires enough faith in us that we are able to believe that Our Creator will show us mercy if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters. This is so because if we believe this, then we will forgive people who do evil to us. But this miracle will not occur for any person who does not have enough faith to believe that Our Creator will show us mercy if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters.
Even with the faith Jesus can inspire, though, Jesus knows that none of us will always be able to forgive people who trespass against us. This will be so because none of us will always be able to believe that Our Creator will show us mercy instead of justice, if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters instead of justice. Can any person know if he or she has forgiven enough of the people who have trespassed against him or her, to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness? The answer is no. This is the primary reason that Jesus tells us not to judge: Jesus knows that none of us can judge accurately. Each of us must forgive people who trespass against us, as often as we can, and then must hope that we have shown enough forgiveness to these people, to get Our Creator to show forgiveness to us.
Saying we have faith in Jesus, is just another way of saying we are good, and saying we are sinners, is just another way of saying we have little faith. This is so because if we were able to have faith in Jesus, then we would do all that Jesus tells us to do, and then we would become good. Jesus tells us, though, that our faith is small, and that, because our faith is small, we will seldom do what He tells us to do. Because our faith is small, What Jesus wants all of us to do, is admit we are sinners.
Jesus wants us to admit this because when we admit we are sinners, we will forgive people who trespass against us, so that Our Creator will forgive us for our trespasses against Him.
When we are able to follow Jesus, we will not say that we have faith in Jesus. When we are able to follow Jesus, we will say instead, “Jesus, I will try to follow all of your teachings, so that I will be able to forgive people who do evil to me, because I want Our Creator to forgive me for evil I do to Him. Will I be able to forgive people who do evil to me, often enough to get Our Creator to forgive me for evil I do to Him? As you tell me to ‘Judge not’, I will try not judge myself as I try not to judge other people. I will try to leave all judgement to Our Creator. And I will fervently hope that I do forgive people who do evil to me, often enough to get Our Creator to forgive me for evil I do to Him.”
Jesus tells us that people who say they have faith in Him will often not do His father’s will, when he says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you, leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). People who say ‘lord lord’ most loudly, will be the people who will do the will of Jesus’ Father least often. People who claim to have the greatest faith in Jesus, will be the people who will do the will of Jesus’ father least often. This will be so because people who claim to have faith in Jesus, are saying that they are good, and because people who believe they are good will not believe that they need Our Creator’s forgiveness, and will not forgive people who do evil to them, in order to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness.
Forgiving people who have done evil to us is not something we can do once. It is something we must do always. If we are doing what Jesus tells us to do at any moment, then we are forgiving as we need be forgiven, at that moment, And If we are not doing what Jesus tells us to do at any moment, then we are not forgiving as we need be forgiven, at that moment. The more often we forgive people who do evil to us, the more often Our Creator will forgive us for evil we do to Him. When we see our evil, Then we will forgive as we need be forgiven, and then we will be forgiven. Most of the time, though, most of us refuse to see our evil. And most of the time, most of us refuse to forgive as we need be forgiven. Though we should joyfully embrace the mercy Our Creator offers us, we reject that mercy, because we cannot believe that Our Creator truly will show us mercy, instead of justice.
Section 6.)
First pull the beam out of your eye.
Jesus tells us that Our Creator wants all people to forgive people who trespass against them, when He says, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven for one sinner who repents than for ninety nine just men who have no need of repentance.” (Lk 15:7 & Mt 18:12-14 ).
Because we know this, we should feel uneasy whenever we see any person who is not forgiving people who have trespassed against him or her. This uneasiness, though, should not lead us to tell other people that they should change their ways. Jesus tells us this, when He says, “Why do you see the mote in your brothers eye, but consider not the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Let me pull the mote out of your eye”, when you have a beam in your own. You hypocrite, first pull the beam out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brothers eye.” (Mt 7:3-5, & Lk 6:41-42). Whenever we consider, telling another person what we think he or she should do, we should remember, that we probably have many beams in our eyes, and that we can probably not see clearly enough, to know what that person should do.
The best thing we can do for any person, is to try to make it easier for that person to follow Jesus. If we tell another person about Jesus, we should tell that person things that Jesus says, and we should recommend that, that person read more of what Jesus said. We should then allow that person to decide, how to apply Jesus’ words to his or her own life. Jesus tells us all what we should do. We should all try to follow Jesus, and none of us should ever try to tell any other person what he or she should do.
Recognizing that Our Creator expects different amounts of goodness from each of us, helps us not judge as Jesus tells us not to judge. When Jesus tells us to forgive people who trespass against us, to give to all who ask of us and ask for nothing in return, and not to resist evil, we will be tempted to judge anyone we see not doing these things. What we must remember, though, is that none of us knows how much good Our Creator demands from any of us, or how much forgiveness any of us must show to people who trespass against us, to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. One person may show more forgiveness, and may do more good, than another person, but may not receive Our Creator’s forgiveness while the second person may be forgiven, because more may have been given to the first person, and for this reason more may also have been demanded of the first person.
It will take many generations for us to make the changes in ourselves that will allow us to live as Jesus tells us to live. This will have to happen by each generation learning how to come a little bit closer to living as Jesus tells us to live, and that generation then passing whatever has been learned to the next generation, and by each generation encouraging people in the next generation not to imitate them but to instead improve on the way they have lived. It is often nearly as hard for us to see faults in our ancestors or parents, as it is for us to see faults in ourselves because we believe that faults bring shame on their owners and that if we do not ignore faults and weaknesses in our parents and ancestors, that our children and descendants will not ignore faults and weaknesses in us. In truth, though, there is no shame in faults or weaknesses. The only source of shame is not making progress toward reducing our faults and weaknesses, and not being a part of the intergenerational progress of our world that will allow our descendants to live as Jesus tells us to live. Jesus knows that today we cannot live as He tells us to live, and only expects each of us to help our world move toward a time when our descendants will be able to live this way. The amount of progress Jesus expects each of us to make depends on how much has been given to each of us, and while we cannot know how much progress is expected of any of us, we do know that if we try as hard as we can to live as Jesus tells us to live, we will be able to do all Our Creator expects of us, because Jesus says to us, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (Jn 6:35). Jesus will not return to judge our world until we have had enough time to have had a fair chance to have learned to live as He tells us to live. Maybe 2,000 years is enough time for us to do this. Maybe 2,000 years is a very short time to Jesus, and maybe the progress people have made toward living as he tells us to live, since He came to our world, is as much progress as He has expected us to make over this period. At least today most people in our world are able to read Jesus’ words, and many of us do read these words, and some of us try to understand them. Given the obstacles our ancestors have had to overcome, maybe this is as much as was expected of them. We cannot know and we should not try to know: “Judge not lest you be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37).
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. If you love those who love you, what thanks have you. Sinners also love those who love them. (Mt 5:39-48 & Lk 6:27-38). Though these things will be hard for us to do, when we see how much we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, we will do them, because we know that if we resist evil other people do to us, then Our Creator will resist evil we do to Him.
If we try to resist evil, we make it harder for ourselves to forgive people who trespass against us, and by doing this we make it harder for ourselves to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. This will happen because if we try to resist evil that is done to us, hate towards people who do evil to us will grow in our hearts. While it is possible to renounce this hate and forgive people who do evil to us, it is very hard to do so, and often we will not be able to overcome our hate. This is why Jesus tries to keep this hate out of our hearts to begin with, by telling us not to resist evil.
Another reason Jesus tells us not to resist evil, is because we are often wrong in what we identify as evil and what we identify as good. Because of this our judgements will often be incorrect. Jesus tells us that this will be so, when He says to us, “Why do you see the mote in your brother’s eye, but ignore the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me pull the mote out of your eye’, when you have a beam in your own? You hypocrite, first pull the beam out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brothers eye.” (Mt 7:3-5, & Lk 6:41-42). Because I know that I will often be wrong about what I identify as evil, I will try not to consider the speck of dust in my brother’s eye, but will try, instead, to consider the beams in my own eyes, And because I know that I will often be wrong about what I identify as evil, I will always try to see evil within myself before I see evil outside of myself. Because I know I will often be wrong about what I identify as evil, I will also try to identify evil correctly, by trying to adhere closely to Jesus’ words. If Jesus tells us to do a thing, I will consider that thing good. And if Jesus tells us not to do a thing, I will consider that thing evil; and that is all I will consider good or evil, and if Jesus does not talk about a thing, then I will not consider that thing to be either good or evil.
Many people try to make it seem as if Jesus’ teachings are conservative. These people imply that people in our society who live by traditional values, already follow Jesus, and that Jesus’ teachings encourage these people to remain as they are. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus’ teachings are actually revolutionary as no political revolution ever could be. In a political revolution powerful people and powerless people trade places, but the new rulers act essentially as the old rulers acted, and the new subjects act essentially as the old subjects acted. The only thing that could fundamentally transform our world would be for people to experience significant changes within themselves. Following Jesus will lead to significant changes within any person who follows Jesus, and all the changes it will lead to, will be changes for the better: both for our world as a whole and for each person who follows Jesus. People who follow Jesus will not act as rulers or as subjects toward other people. People who follow Jesus will instead, act as brothers and sisters toward all people.
Nothing less than trying as hard as we can to do all Jesus tells us to do, will heal the wounds that are tearing our world apart. Nothing less than trying as hard as we can to give to all who ask of us, and not ask for anything in return. Nothing less than trying as hard as we can to sell all that we have and distribute to the poor. Nothing less than trying as hard as we can not to resist evil. And nothing less than trying as hard as we can to forgive all people who trespass against us. While many people can help us learn how to do what Jesus tells us to do (including many people who do not call themselves Christians), many of the people who can help us in this way, also tell us that we can do less than what Jesus tells us to do and still please Our Creator. We know this is not true because we know that Our Creator wants our world to be healed, and because we know that nothing less than trying hard as we can to do all Jesus tells us to do, will heal our world.
Jesus tells us that great joy can only come from great suffering, when He says, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it lives alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. (Jn 12:24)
People who say, ‘no peace without justice.’ Are making an accurate statement of fact. Peace will not exist without justice, because even when we try to follow Jesus, if evil is done to us we will all usually resist that evil. But this fact does absolutely nothing to make resisting evil, any less foolish for us, because if we resist evil when Our Creator expects us to be able to follow Jesus, and expects us not to resist evil, then doing this will cause us not to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Peace will often not exist with justice either. Justice is one of the conditions necessary for peace, but it is not sufficient to bring about peace.
If two people do equal evil, and if Our Creator expected equal amounts of good from these two people, then if one of those people did that evil as a part of resisting evil done to him or her, and the other person initiated the evil that was resisted, then If Our Creator shows those people justice instead of mercy, Our Creator will judge the person who initiated evil more harshly than the person who resisted evil.
This does not make us any less foolish when we resist evil, though. As Jesus says to us, “Judge not”, and as Jesus said to Peter when Peter objected to Jesus’ allowing another disciple to go unpunished after doing evil to Jesus, “If I will that he tarry till I come again, what is that to you. You follow me.” (Jn 21:20-22). Jesus knows that judging people will make us want to do justice to those people, and will often lead us not to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness, so He teaches us how we can live as Our Creator wants us to live even when other people do evil to us, by teaching us not to judge. When people who say “no peace without justice”, mean that we should willingly fight if injustice is done to us, those people are counseling foolishness. This is how most people have lived throughout history and throughout history most people have convinced themselves that fighting they wanted to engage in would lead to justice. We know that we will usually fight if injustice is done to us, but if we are wise we will always try as hard as we can not to fight, regardless of what other people do to us.
Revenge has never helped anyone, and justice is just a word that we use when we don’t want to say revenge. The word justice implies that the person we are seeking vengeance on actually did what we believe that person did. But this does absolutely nothing to make the vengeance that we seek, help us. Even if we are correct in what we believe about any person, seeking vengeance on that person will do us great harm. Jesus tells us what will happen to us, if we seek vengeance on any person, when He says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses against you, then neither will your father forgive your trespasses.” (Mt 6:9-15, see also Mt 18:23-35, and Lk 6:37). And Jesus tells us not to judge, because each of us will, “Be judged by the judgement you judge by”, (Mt 7:1-2).
Section 7.)
Jesus tells us how much more important our actions are, than our words, when He says to the chief priests and elders of Jerusalem, “A certain man had two sons. This man said to his first son, “Go work in my vineyard.” This son said, “I will not”, but later repented and went. This man then said the same thing to his second son, and that son said, “I go sir”, but went not.” Jesus then asked, “Which of these two did the will of their father?” and when a person answered, “The first”, Jesus said, “Truly , I tell you the publicans and the harlots will enter the kingdom of God before you will.” (Mt 21:28-32). Just as Jesus tells us that our words mean nothing if we do not live as He teaches, Jesus also tells us often that religious rituals mean nothing if we do not live as our creator wants us to live. Jesus tells this when He says to a Pharisee who was surprised when Jesus did not perform a ritual washing before eating, “You Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. You fools, did not He who made the outside of things also make their insides. Instead give alms of what you have and all things will be clean to you.” (Lk 11:37-41, see also Mt 23:25-26). And when He says to these scribes and Pharisees, “You are like whitewashed graves which indeed appear beautiful from the outside, but are within full of dead men’s bones and all manner of filth. (Mt 23:27-28, and Lk 11:44). Jesus never tells the pharisees He speaks to, to change their religious rituals, because He knows that if people follow His teachings then any religious ritual will help them as much as any other religious ritual, but that if people do not follow His teachings, then no religious ritual will help them at all. Jesus tells us again that religious rituals mean nothing if we do not live as Our Creator wants us to live, when He says, “What goes into the mouth does not defile a man. It is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man. For what goes into the mouth comes out in the draught. But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies. These things defile a man.” (Mt 15:10-20). Jesus also warns us that, if they are misused, religious rituals can keep us from doing Our Creator’s will. Jesus tells us this when He says to people who thought that he should not heal on the Sabbath, “Who among you would not save a sheep that had fallen into a pit on the woe Sabbath day, and how much better is a man than a sheep. Therefore it is lawful to do good works on the Sabbath days” (Mt 12:9-13, see also Lk 6:7-11, Lk 13:10-17, and Lk 14:1-6). And Jesus tells us that we should not perform religious rituals at all if we are not at peace with our brothers and sisters, when He says to us, “If you bring a gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you. Leave the altar and first be reconciled with your brother, and then offer your gift.” (Mt 5:23-24.. Jesus tells us that religious ceremonies only help us if they help us do what Our Creator wants us to do when He says when He says to the pharisees of Jerusalem, “Woe to you pharisees. You pay tithe of mint, thyme, anise, and cumin, but omit weightier matters of law, judgment, mercy and faith.” (Mt 23:23 & Lk 11:42 ). Mint, thyme, anise, and cumin can be good things, if they lead us to think about law, judgment, mercy, and faith, and if they lead us to try to follow the law, to try to have faith, and to try to show mercy to other people. If they do not lead us to do these things, though, then mint, thyme, anise, cumin, or any other ceremonial scent or material, are distractions that keep us from seeing Our Creator’s will, and that bring us only woe. What Jesus says of the scribes and pharisees He spoke to, is true of all of us. While nearly 2000 years ago the leaders of the Jewish people helped kill Jesus, many of the Jewish people Jesus spoke to, became devoted followers of Jesus and founded the early Christian Church. Without these people, those of us who are alive today would never have heard or read Jesus’ words, and would know nothing about Jesus. If Jesus had come to another people, He might have been ignored or might have been killed and then forgotten. We know that no people would have welcomed Jesus, because Jesus tells us that all people will hate Him when He says, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. Everyone who does evil, hates the light, and stays away from the light for fear his works will be reproved” (Jn 3:19-21), and when he says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil” (Jn 7:2-8). Though most Jewish people do not say they follow Jesus, often Jewish people who do not say they follow Jesus, come closer to living as Jesus tells us to live, than do those of us who do say we follow Jesus. And often Jewish people who do not say they follow Jesus, do not come as close to living as Jesus tells us to live, as do those of us who say we follow Jesus. On average there is probably no difference between how closely different groups of people come to living as Jesus tells us to live. If there is a difference, we cannot tell which groups of people come closest to living as Jesus tells us to live, and Jesus tells us not to try to determine this when He says, “Judge not lest you be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37). Jesus’ teaches us what Our Creator wants us to do so we can identify errors we and other people make, but Jesus also tells us often that in spite of the knowledge He offers us, we will all often do evil, (Jn 3:19-21 and Jn 7:2-8, MT 26:41, LK 22:46, MT 6:13, Lk 11:4, LK 16:9, Lk 9:23, MT 16:24, & Lk 14:26-33.), and Jesus tells us not to try to determine which people come closer to living as He tells us to live, than other people, when He says, ”Judge not, lest you be judged.” Jesus tells us that He wants us to identify errors and identify evil when we can identify errors and identify evil, and when identifying these things will help us more than it will hurt us, when He tells His disciples to be, “As wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves” (Mt 10:16). We must sometimes try to identify errors and evil because we must act, because we must choose before we can act, because our choices are based at least in part on our beliefs about what is good and what is evil. We all try to avoid some actions because we believe they are evil, and we all try to perform other actions because we believe they are good. Believing that any person is doing evil, is not judging that person. Judging only occurs if we believe that another person does more evil than we do, or if we believe that another person does so much evil that Our Creator will not forgive that person. Jesus tells us to always try to identify evil first in ourselves when He says, “Why do you see the mote in your brother’s eye, but ignore the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me pull the mote out of your eye’, when you have a beam in your own? You hypocrite, first pull the beam out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brothers eye.” (Mt 7:3-5, & Lk 6:41-42). Because we know that our vision will be clouded by beams in our eyes, we should be very doubtful of our ability to identify good or evil, and if we are wise we will only try to identify good or evil when we must try to identify good and evil in order to choose how we will act, (or if we are trying to help another person when we that person must identify good and evil to choose how he or she will act.) The fact that our vision will often be clouded by beams in our eyes is part of the reason Jesus tells us not to try to force other people to do what we think they should do, but to only try to persuade other people to do what we think they should do. (Mt 18:15-17, & Mt 5:38-48). The more closely any person follows Jesus, the more that person will see both errors and evil in him or herself, and in other people, and the less that person will try to judge whether any person does more evil than any other person, or try to judge what evil Our Creator will forgive.
Jewish people have often lived under difficult circumstances that have made it especially hard for them to forgive people who trespass against them, and for them not to resist evil (as Jesus teaches us to do). Under these circumstances the Jewish people have often come closer to living as Jesus tells us to live, than peoples who call themselves Christian have come under easier circumstances. Still, few Jewish people have forgiven people who have trespassed against them, often enough to heal the wounds that are tearing them apart, and that are tearing their part of our world apart, just as few people from any group have forgiven people who have trespassed against them, often enough to heal the wounds that are tearing them apart, and that are tearing their part of our world apart.
Our inability to have more than a small amount of faith in Jesus, is the reason we will all seldom do what Jesus tells us to do. Because our faith in Jesus is weak we will seldom believe Jesus when He tells us that though following him will lead to current suffering, that suffering will be more than made up for by future rewards that people who follow Jesus will receive. When we believe this then we will try as hard as we can to do all that Jesus tells us to do in order to receive the rewards Jesus tells us of. When we do not follow Jesus, we do this because at that moment we do not have faith that following Jesus will bring us rewards that will more than make up for suffering we believe will come to us from following Jesus. Jesus tells us that we are capable of little faith every time He says to us, “O you of little faith” (Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, & Lk 12:28), and Jesus tells us again that our faith will be weak when He says to His disciples, “If your faith were as a grain of mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move, and it would move.” (Mt 17:20). This tells us that unless a person can make a mountain move by telling it to move, that person does not have enough faith to fill the smallest seed Jesus knew of. . Jesus says, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Our inability to have great faith is the reason our flesh is weak. When we believe Jesus’ promise that we will receive rewards that will more than make up for our suffering, then the desire of our flesh to avoid pain and to feel pleasure will lead us to do what Jesus tells us to do. It is not that we cannot endure current suffering to receive greater pleasure in the future, that keeps us from following Jesus most of the time. It is that most of the time we do not believe that following Jesus will bring us future pleasure that will be greater than our current suffering. We want to imagine that the weakness of our flesh is not a sign of the weakness of our faith, because we want to be able to say we have faith in Jesus even when we do not follow His teaching. This is just a way of trying to convince ourselves that we do not need Our Creator’s forgiveness, but that we deserve rewards from Our Creator because of our faith. Believing this allows us to believe we will receive things we want from Our Creator for our faith, not for forgiving people who trespass against us, even though Jesus says to us, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses against you, then neither will your father forgive you.” (Mt 6:9-15, see also Lk 6:37, and Mt 18:23-35). The truth about our faith is that our actions measure our faith. How often we follow Jesus’ teachings shows how strongly we believe Jesus. When we follow Jesus, then we believe Jesus. When we do not follow Jesus, then we do not believe Jesus. (Regardless of what we say about Jesus). Jesus tells us that we should not try to determine if we have as much faith as Our Creator demands of Us, when He says, “Judge not, lest you be judged. For with whatever judgement you judge, you shall be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37). Trying to judge consumes time and energy that Jesus wants us to spend trying to forgive people who trespass against us.
Because our faith will be weak Jesus knows that we will never be able to have faith in more than a small portion of what He tells us. Though we will all often not do what Jesus tells us Our Creator wants us to do, if we try to follow Jesus, then we will be able to follow Jesus often enough to receive rewards Jesus tells us of. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34). If we try to plan ahead we will increase our fears, and these fears will lead us to do greater evil than we will do if we do not try to plan ahead. Jesus is telling us that there is enough evil in each day without us adding to that evil by trying to plan ahead. And Jesus tells us that if we try to follow Him, we will be able to follow Him often enough to receive rewards He tells us of when He says “Ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8 & Lk 11:9-10), “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14:14). If we ask in Jesus’ name, then we will also try as hard as we can to live as Jesus tells us to live, by trying as hard as we can to forgive all people who trespass against us. If we do not do this then we will not have a voice with which to ask. Forgiveness is the voice that allows us to ask. We know this because we know that if Our Father has not forgiven a person, then Our Father will not give that person all that he or she asks for.
Jesus only cares that we have enough faith in Him to do what He tells us to do. Because Jesus knows our faith will be weak, He knows that we will never be able to have faith in more than a small portion of what He tells us. Because of this Jesus tells us both about rewards His followers will receive in this life and about rewards His followers will receive after this life ends. Jesus knows that some of us will be able to have faith in rewards that will come in this life, and that some of us will be able to have faith in rewards that will come after this life, but that almost none of us will be able to have faith in both rewards that will come in this life, and rewards that will come after this life ends. This is at least part of the reason Jesus says, “There is no man, who has left house or parents, or wife or children for the kingdom of God’s sake, who will not receive many times more in the present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting” (Lk 18:29-30). Some people can only believe in rewards in a life after this life because, though they cannot believe that anything in this world could more than make up for the suffering they see, they can believe that rewards in a world to come could more than make up for the suffering they see. While other people can believe only in rewards in this life, because though they cannot believe in things for which they can see no evidence, and because they can sometimes see evidence of Our Creator’s rewards in this world, and when they see a person who they think is following Jesus, suffer, but do not see evidence of rewards that more than make up for the suffering they see, they can believe either that they are failing to see rewards that exist in this world, or that the person they see is not truly following Jesus. Whatever any of us is able to believe; if that is enough to lead us to live as Jesus tells us to live, then we will be as close to Jesus as His closest relatives. “Whoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Mt 12:46-50, see also Lk 8:19-21). But if whatever we are able to believe in is not enough to lead us to do what Jesus tells us to do, then on the day of Judgement Jesus will say to us, “leave me you worker of iniquity. (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46).
Jesus only cares that each of us call Our Creator by whatever name helps us most in trying to do what Our Creator wants us to do. The words, “God, Gott, Bog, Chuv, Dieu, Domine, Theo, Yaweh, Allah, Brahman, Omazd, Akal Purakh, Ekam, Shang Ti, Ameratsu, Molongo, Tangaroa, and Taiowa, ” are just a few of the names that different people call Our Creator. Differences between different religious words, rituals, and ceremonies are differences of style, not differences of substance. The substance of what Our Creator wants us to do is the same for all people. If we do not sincerely try to forgive all people who trespass against us, then nothing we say to Our Creator will lead us to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness, but if we do sincerely try to forgive people who trespass against us, then nothing we say will keep us from receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness.
Section 8.)
If Our Creator does not forgive us, then the hate in our hearts will make our lives cold, empty, and not worth living. No person with hate in his or her heart can know joy. If Our Creator forgives us, He will turn the hate in our hearts into love. If this happens, we will already have started to turn the hate in our hearts into love by forgiving people who have trespassed against us, in order to get Our Creator to forgive us. But without Our Creator’s help we cannot transform all the hate in our hearts. On our own we can only start to forgive. Our Creator must help us before we can forgive completely. When Our Creator does this, we will often not see His hand at work in our lives. If we forgive, often we will believe that the strength to forgive came solely from within ourselves. If we see that when we forgive we do so because Our Creator has given us the strength to forgive, then we will be ale to forgive more often and more completely, and then we will more fully understand what we owe Our Creator.
When Jesus says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47), Jesus is telling us that every person in the world can be saved if that person forgives people who trespass against him or her as often as our creator expects that person to forgive people who trespass against him or her, and that some people from every group and every place in the world will have the wisdom and the strength to forgive people who trespass against them. Not all people will have the wisdom and the strength to forgive, though, and people who do not forgive people who trespass against them, will not be saved, for Jesus says to us, “If you do not forgive people who trespass against you, then your father will not forgive you.” (Mt 6:9-15). None of us will know if we have the wisdom and the strength to forgive people who trespass against us, until we try to forgive. The desire to try to forgive people who trespass against us is a part of the wisdom that people who are able to forgive have been given. Because of this even our efforts to forgive, come from Jesus. Still, it will seem as if these efforts come at least partially from within us, and feeling this way is a necessary part of following Jesus. While we realize that if we follow Jesus, we do so because of gifts He has given us, we must also sometimes think of ourselves as independent beings who choose whether or not we will follow Jesus.
If they are considered by themselves, many things that Jesus says to us can be misleading, because these things show us only one facet of a complex way of living, but when considered together all that Jesus says to us, shows us how Our Creator wants us to live. This is easiest for us to see when we look at what Jesus tells us about the division He will bring to our world. If Jesus did not also say to us, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47), we might believe that the division Jesus will bring to our world, would be permanent division rather than temporary division that is a necessary step we must take before we can all come together to be saved together. If Jesus had meant to bring permanent division to our world, He would have said that He only came that He might save part of our world; not that He came that He might save the entire world. We can also see this when we realize that we might believe that Jesus was talking about saying that we follow Him when He said , “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one shall come to The Father, except through me”, (Jn 14:6), if Jesus did not also say, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46).
Jesus tells us that on rare occasions we should not sell what we have and give to the poor, if we instead use what we have to show our love for Him or His teachings in other ways. Jesus tells us this when, shortly before His death, a woman poured very precious ointment on Jesus’ head as he sat at meat. Then his disciples had indignation, saying, To what purpose this waste, this ointment might have been sold for much and the money given to the poor.) When Jesus heard this he said “Why do you trouble this woman? She has wrought a good work upon me. For you always have the poor with you, but me you do not always have. She has poured this ointment on my body for my burial. Wherever this gospel shall be preached what this woman has done shall be included as a memorial of her.” (Mt 26:7-13)
Jesus’ most valuable teaching is an attempt to get us to treat other people well, when we feel anger toward those people. This is Jesus’ teaching that, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will your father forgive you (MT 6:9-15). If we only forgive people who we believe deserve forgiveness, then Our Creator will only forgive us if He believes that we deserve forgiveness, and this may lead to great suffering for us. So we should not try to determine which people deserve forgiveness but we should instead forgive all people, so that we can be forgiven.
Jesus’ teachings help people who feel great anger, treat other people well. People who feel great anger, and who have learned the lessons Jesus teaches, will treat other people much better than people who feel less anger, but who only try to treat other people well if they feel warmly toward those people. People who do this, will be fair weather friends who will treat other people badly as soon as their feelings toward those people change. And sadly this is the way most people are. Because of this, these people do not truly have any personal values. The only true values are those things that we will do for a person whether we feel great affection for that person or feel great anger toward that person.
People who understand this, will also be much more likely to understand that the most important thing they can do to try to help any person is to try to understand that person. This is true because people who may try to help us in other ways, will more often than not, do us the greatest harm, because more often than not, they will not understand us. If we have not tried to understand a person, then we have not truly tried to help that person. And any feelings of affection that we think we have for that person will only be hypocritical lies that we tell ourselves.
Our feelings are determined by what people with power over us have done to us, and it is a waste of energy for us to try to control what we feel. Instead we should devote all our energy to controlling what we do, and if our feelings need to change for us to do what we must do, then focusing on our actions, is the best way to change those feelings, anyway. We should treat other people well, and let our feelings be whatever they will be.
Everything that Jesus tells us to do is a part of forgiving people who trespass against us, is a part of helping other people whenever we are able to do so, is a part of not judging ourselves to be better than any other person, is a part of thinking of things of God instead of things of men, is a part of humbling ourselves, and is a part of putting Our Creator’s desire ahead of our desire.
If we are able to do these things, then we will do all Jesus tells us to do. None of us will be able to do all Jesus tells us to do, though, because none of us will always be able to forgive people who do harm to us. If we were always able to forgive other people, then we would always treat other people as Jesus tells us to treat them. When we do forgive other people, then we will do all Jesus tells us to do for those people. If a person has not trespassed against us, and if we do not try as hard as we can to do all Jesus tells us to do for other people, for that person, then we will be telling ourselves that that person has trespassed against us and we will not be trying to forgive that person.
Living as Jesus tells us to live, will heal the wounds that are tearing our world apart and that are tearing each of us apart, even if we learn how to live as Jesus tells us to live, from someone other than Jesus, who does not talk about Jesus, and who does not try to follow Jesus, and even if we do not say that we follow Jesus.) Other teachers often teach some of the same lessons that Jesus teaches, and people who follow other teachers often learn and do more of what Jesus teaches us, than do those of us who say we follow Jesus. This includes teachers who we call religious teachers. Jesus’ teachings are not religious teachings, though there is a religion called Christianity. Jesus’ teachings show us what Our Creator wants all of us to do, whatever our religion may be, and are equally valuable to all people, regardless of a person’s religion, and are needed by all people, regardless of a person’s religion.
Jesus tells us that if we live as He tells us to live, then we will be as close to Him as His closest family members, when, “as He stood at a podium before a large crowd, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside the building He was speaking in, and wished to see Him. Jesus then asked the person who had told Him this, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’, then Jesus stretched forth his hand to his disciples and said, ‘Behold my mother and my brothers. Whoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother’”. (Mt 12:46-50), “My mother and brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Lk 8:19-21). And Jesus tells us that if we do not live as He tells us to live, then saying that we follow Him will not help us, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). Because Jesus tells us these things, we know that when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one shall come to The Father, except through me”, (Jn 14:6), He is saying that living as He teaches us to live, is the way, the truth and the life, not that saying that we follow Him, is the way, the truth and the life. And because Jesus tells us these things, we also know that when Jesus says, “Whoever confesses me before men. I will confess him before My Father in heaven. And whoever denies me before men. I will deny him before My Father” (Mt 10:32, see also Lk 9:26 and Mk 8:38), Jesus is speaking of confessing Him by living as He teaches us to live. If we do not live as Jesus teaches us to live, then we will not able to confess Jesus, even if our mouths say we are confessing Him, and if we do live as Jesus teaches us to live, we will not be able to deny Jesus, regardless of what we say about Him. Many people try to confess Jesus with their mouths, but do not confess Jesus with their actions. These people have no voice with which to confess Jesus. And many people say they oppose Jesus because they believe that the way they see people who call themselves Christians, act, is the way Jesus teaches us to act, when the people they see are not acting as Jesus teaches. People who do this, though they often do not know it, are speaking out in favor of Jesus, against people who are denying the true meaning of His teachings. Jesus tells us that Our Creator cares much more about what we say about His teachings than about what we say about His name, when He says, “Blasphemy against the Son Of Man will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Mt 12:32 & Lk 12:10). The Son of Man is Jesus’ name, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ teachings and the help Our Creator gives to people who try to follow those teachings. Jesus is telling us that Our Creator will forgive blasphemy against the name of Jesus, but will not forgive blasphemy against the teachings of Jesus.
I often call Our Creator by many different names, (including God, Gott, Bog, Chuv, Dieu, Theo, Allah, Brahman, Shang Ti, Ameratsu, Molongo, Tangaroa, Taiowa, and many other names). With regard to revealed truth, though, I believe that Our Creator only sent one messenger for us to always follow. And has sent other messengers to help us learn important lessons, but not for us to always follow. I think that we can tell who this messenger is, by noticing that there is only one teacher whose teachings will heal the wounds that are tearing our world apart, if they a significant number of people, try to follow those teachings.
Many different teachers teach lessons that will allow us to start to heal our world and our selves, but only Jesus teaches us everything that we must do to completely heal our world and our selves. The reason for this is that no teacher other than Jesus, tells us to do all that Jesus tells us to do. If any person sees all that Jesus tells us to do, as an unstated part of the commands of any other teacher, and tries as hard as he or she can to do all of these things, then that person will receive all of the rewards that Jesus promises us, whether or not that person says that he or she follows Jesus. Because we know that no other teacher tells us to do all that Jesus tells us to do, we also know that any person who does this must be reading ideas that came from Jesus, into the meanings that they see in other teachings. But this really doesn’t matter as far as the rewards that Jesus promises, are concerned. For each of us, our best opportunity to do what Our Creator wants us to do, lies in trying to directly follow Jesus, but if some people can learn how to do what Jesus tells us to do, from another teacher, then I admire these people for having taken a more difficult path to wisdom, and still finding as much wisdom as any of us can find. And I will be happy for these people to receive all of the rewards that I hope to receive.
The other teacher who comes closest to telling us to do all that Jesus tells us to do, is the teacher Buddha. But even if Buddha told us to do exactly what Jesus tells us to do, Buddha’s teachings would not be able to heal the wounds of our world, as Jesus’ teachings can heal our world, because most of us, would never seriously consider following Buddha, because most people in our world, disagree with the profound pessimism that leads Buddha to say that life is suffering, and that leads him to recommend that we do the things he tells us to do, as a way to eliminate suffering in ourselves by eliminating desire in ourselves. While Jesus also often tells us that we must renounce our desires, at other times Jesus tells us how we can get things that we desire, and Jesus never tells us to try to eliminate all desire in ourselves. Jesus is telling us to renounce some parts of our desire, so we will be able to satisfy other parts of our desire. The belief that if we renounce some desires, we will be able to satisfy other desires, is what most people in our world believe, and this belief is probably correct. The error that most people make, is trying to get away with sacrificing too little of what they desire. And as a result of this, most people in our world, are able to get very little of what they want. Living as Jesus teaches us to live would correct this error. While doing this would require us to try to do many things that Jesus commands, that we do not want to try to do, and that very few of us currently try to do, (whether we call ourselves Christians or not). Living as Jesus tells us to live, would allow us to get more of what we want, than any other way of living would allow, and is the best bargain we can make with a world that will not allow us to satisfy every desire we have.
Even if Buddha were correct in saying that life is suffering, Our Creator would not have sent a messenger who would have preached in a way that requires people to adopt so pessimistic a philosophy, before they will do what He wants them to do, when adopting this philosophy is not a necessary part of doing these things, unless Our Creator sent that messenger to prepare the way for a messenger who, like Jesus, would not preach in this way, and sent that messenger to help us understand Jesus better, by allowing us to compare him to Jesus, as I am doing now. This tells us that Buddha is not a messenger sent by Our Creator for us to follow in the same way that Jesus is, even though Buddha teaches many of the same things that Jesus teaches. Another fact that tells us that Buddha is not a messenger sent by Our Creator for us to follow in the same way that Jesus has been sent, is that Jesus teaches us that we are all fallible, and teaches us how to take our fallibility into account, and how to live wisely with our fallibility, while Buddha teaches none of these things. Buddha teaches that people can attain what he sees as perfection, but Jesus teaches that we should try to be perfect, (when He says, “Be you perfect as your father is perfect.”, (Mt 5:48)), but also often tells us that we will all often fail to act as we should act, (see especially Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46, Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4, Luke 16:9, Jn 3:19-21, Jn 7:6-8, Lk 14:26-33, Lk 9:23 & Mt 16:24, Mt 26:40, & Lk 22:45-46, & Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, & Lk 12:28) and tells us that we all need Our Creator’s forgiveness. Our desire to get this forgiveness, is the reason we should forgive people who do evil to us; as Jesus tells us we must do, when He says to us, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will Your Father forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15), “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35). The fact that Jesus tells us to treat other people well, not because they deserve to be treated well, but because doing so will help us, is one of the great strengths of Jesus’ teaching, because this teaching helps us keep ourselves from trying to determine whether or not any person deserves to be treated well. Jesus also tells us not to try to determine what other people deserve, when He tells us not to judge. (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37) Telling us to treat other people well, not for their sake, but for our sake, is also a strength of Buddha’s teaching, but Buddha teaches that we should treat other people well in order to eliminate desire in ourselves, not in order to gain our Creator’s forgiveness. I am pleased that Buddha teaches many of the same lessons Jesus teaches, and I recognize that, often, people who follow Buddha, will do more of what Jesus tells us to do, than will those of us who say we follow Jesus.
Other than Buddha, no teacher other than Jesus, comes close to telling us to do all that Jesus tells us to do, and this is why no other teachings can come close to healing the wounds of our world. Many other teachers, though, teach some of what Jesus teaches, and people who follow those teachers will often do more of what Jesus tells us to do, than will those of us who say we follow Jesus.
Living as Jesus tells us to live, is the best way to start to heal our world and our selves, and is the only way to finish healing our world and our selves.
Some people believe we can act wisely by trying to foresee the effects of our actions and by then deciding how we will act on the basis of the effects we foresee. If we do this we will not be able to act wisely, though, because we can never foresee more than a very small portion of the effects of any action, and even if we foresee these effects accurately, the effects we cannot see will usually be much greater than the effects we can see. We also cannot see how our lives and our world would be different if we or other people had acted differently in the past, and most importantly we cannot see what would have happened if large numbers of people had lived as Jesus tells us to live, because, at least since 324 a.d. when the Christian Church supported roman emperor Constantine and the violence his power was built on, very few people have lived as Jesus tells us to live. If we try to base our decisions on effects of our actions that we foresee, we will chose to foresee effects that will justify whatever we want to do, or we will be led to foresee effects that will justify what other people want us to do. Neither of these things will lead us to act wisely. For this reason, if we try to act on the basis of effects we can foresee, we will be led by fad and fashion to act first in one way and then in a contrary way, and any progress we make toward living well will usually be cancelled by other actions we take, and we will be blown to and fro like a leaf in the wind, as our actions are controlled by our irrational emotions or by other people’s desire to exploit us, but not by our rational thought. When we can see all the effects of an action (as we sometimes can in the physical sciences), then if we do not choose to only see effects that we want to see, we will be able to make valid decisions based on effects we can see. Outside of the physical sciences, though, we will never be able to see all the effects of any action, and even in the physical sciences we will usually choose to only see some of the effects of any action. Because of this, our only chance to live wisely will be to act consistently on the basis of beliefs we have about what actions will lead to effects that will bring happiness and contentment to us and to other people, even though we know we will not be able to see or foresee all of the effects of acting on those beliefs. If our beliefs are incorrect, `then doing this will still not lead us to act wisely, but when we do this at least we have a chance of acting wisely. Over 200 years ago Immanuel Kant showed us this when he showed us that what we see depends much more on what we are like than on what whatever we are looking at, is like. While many people since have disagreed with Kant’s description of the categories we impose on what we see, No respected thinker has challenged Kant’s insight that our perceptions determine what we see. In spite of this, many people who understand Kant’s insight do not use that understanding to live wisely. If we do not use our ability to think, to improve our lives, then we might as well not think at all.
Trying to find accurate evidence of the effects of our actions, is important as a starting point, because if we try hard to guard against our personal biases by first trying to analyze evidence with one set of biases, and then trying to examine the same evidence with the opposite set of biases, and then trying to examine this evidence with many different sets of biases, and if all of these analyses seem to lead to the same conclusion, then evidence will be an important tool in pointing us toward what we believe to be the truth. Truths that guide our world do exist. Physical sciences clearly show us many examples of this. The difficulty for us, is that we often cannot see these truths, and often see falsehoods when we search for truth. To give up on the attempt to find truth, though, is to give up on the activity that does more than any other activity to enrich our lives. Physical sciences show us many examples of this. If people who developed these sciences, had given up on the attempt to find truth, then we might never have believed falsehoods, but we also would never have discovered many truths that have been very valuable to us. And trying to examine evidence in a way that takes our biases into account, is the best way for us to start searching for the truth. Because our biases are so strong though, and are so hard for us to overcome, we know that they will usually lead us to see whatever we want to see, in evidence that we analyze. So it is still more important that we identify principles that we believe are true, and try to act consistently on the basis of these principles. In addition to giving us a better chance of acting wisely in the short term, doing this will also allow provide us with much more complete evidence of the effects of acting in a certain way, than we could see in any other way, so that when we try to analyze evidence without being overcome by our biases, we will have a much better chance of succeeding in this endeavor,
In searching for the truth, what is most important, though, is that we identify problems we suffer from and then identify actions that will remedy those problems. For example it is clear to all people that the greatest cause of suffering in our world, is the human division that leads us to mistreat each other, and it is clear that forgiving people who we believe have done evil to us, and not judging people, as Jesus commands, will at least start to heal this human division.
Jesus says to us, “Do not swear at all.” And He tells us not to swear because swearing makes us believe that we have more power than we actually have. (Mt 5:33-37).
This command must also apply to the swearing that we do when we take wedding vows. Sometimes Jesus tells us why He gives a certain command, and sometimes He doesn’t. I don’t believe that I will ever know all of the reasons that Jesus tells us to do anything. This command certainly is at odds with the teachings of most churches that call themselves Christian. (the Quaker church is the only exception that I have heard of, and I am not sure that even this church still teaches what Jesus taught in this area). Whatever different churches may teach, though, in the end, I just try to do what Jesus tells us to do.
Following the commands of other people, is the most dangerous thing we can do because following the commands of other people, leads us to do far greater evil than we do for any other reason. All human history teaches this lesson.
Jesus tells us not to follow the commands of any person, but to only follow His commands, when He says to His disciples, “Be not you called Rabbi, for you have a teacher and you are all brothers. And call no man father, for you have a Father in the heavens. Neither be you called master, for Christ is your master.” (Mt 23: 5-12 & Lk 20: 45-47). This tells us that we must never call people any name that might lead us to follow those people instead of following Our Creator, and rabbi, father, and master are only three examples of these names. Jesus is not a secretary or a list maker. Jesus is instead our teacher and, if we are wise, Jesus will also be our master. If Jesus had tried to list every name we should reserve for Our Creator and for Him, He would have had less time left for the rest of His teaching. Thankfully Jesus did not do this. Jesus tells us enough names for us to see what those names have in common, and then Jesus leaves it to us, to add to this list each time we learn of another name that might lead us to follow people instead of following Him. The names Reverend and Pastor are two of the names we should add to this list. A reverend is anything that is an end toward which we direct reverence. Revere no man for there is one in the heavens whom you revere. While people can be pastors to sheep, only Jesus can be a pastor to people. Call no man pastor, for Christ is your pastor.
Because Jesus also tells us not to resist evil (Mt 5:38-41), we know we should not fight against people who try to force us to follow them, but we should do everything that is consistent with following Jesus teachings, to try to avoid being forced to follow the commands of other people. Because Jesus also tells us to love our enemies (Mt 43-48), we should try to create an environment for our enemies that will lead them try to do as little evil as possible, so they will receive as little punishment from Our Creator as possible, and as a part of doing this we should let people who try to give us commands, believe we are following their commands whenever we can do this, and can live as Jesus tells us to live. It is important to remember that when we do this we are not actually following other people, but are instead following Jesus. It is strange for us to think of all people who try to give us commands as our enemies, because often people very close to us try to give us commands, but even if they do not realize it, people very close to us will often be our enemies. Jesus tells us that this will be so, when He says to His disciples, “A person’s foes will be of his own household” (Mt 10:36).
Churches and Ancestors
Throughout human history churches that call themselves Christian churches, have usually led their members to misunderstand and ignore Jesus’ teachings to such an extent, that throughout history the actions of most people who have called themselves Christians, have usually been almost the exact opposite of what Jesus tells us to do. (Just as throughout history the actions of most people who have not called themselves Christians, have also usually been almost the exact opposite of what Jesus tells us to do.) For nearly 2,000 years now people who have wanted to pretend to follow Jesus, have been twisting and perverting His words, and the center of this obfuscation has been churches that have called themselves Christian churches. So we should not be surprised that these churches have devised many effective ways of denying the true meaning of Jesus’ words, and have led many people away from living as Jesus teaches us to live.
Jesus tells us that none of us, want to follow Him when He says, “The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:6-8), and when He says. “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21). Though none of us want to follow Jesus, If we understood Jesus’ teachings correctly, many of us would see that following those teachings, is our best option, because not following Jesus’ teachings would lead us to greater suffering than following Jesus’ teachings. While great clouds of confusion have been raised around Jesus’ teachings, those teachings are so clear and unequivocal that we will still be able to see them through these clouds, if we are aware of the difficulties that we must overcome.
While we must recognize our need to follow Jesus more closely than these churches have led us to follow Him, we must also be grateful to these churches for keeping Jesus words alive and allowing us to hear or read these words, because without these churches, Jesus’ teachings would have been lost, and those of us alive today, would never have even heard of Jesus and would not know anything about Him. Maybe preserving Jesus’ words and passing them on to us so we could follow them, is all Our Creator expected our ancestors to do. We know that Our Creator expects more from some people than from other people, because Jesus says to us, “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48). We who are alive today have been given much more than our ancestors were given, so we know that more is demanded of us, than was demanded of them. While our ancestors were able to keep Jesus’ words alive but were not able to follow them, because of all that we have been given, we who are alive today should be able to follow those teachings. And if our generation follows Jesus’ teachings, we will transform our world so that generations that follow us, will be able to follow Jesus more closely than we will be able to, and so that it will require effort and historical imagination on their part for them to understand how we could have been so immoral. This is the meaning of human progress, and this is the way our descendants can best honor us, (by becoming better people than we are), just as this is the way we can best honor our ancestors. I do not want to believe that our generation will be the first generation to live as Jesus tells us to live. I would much rather believe that our ancestors have been living as Jesus tells us to live, for many generations, but the facts of world history will not allow me to believe this. For many years I have tried to ignore these facts and believe this in spite of these facts; because I did not want to think badly of my ancestors. Now I see, though, that maybe my ancestors did as much as was demanded of them, based on the fact that they were given much less than I have been given, and now that I have learned the importance of not judging from Jesus, I will try not to make any judgement about my ancestors, just as I try not to make any judgement about all people, but try instead to leave all judgement to Our Creator. Understanding this is the key to being able to maintain strong values in our personal behavior, without these values leading us to do great harm to ourselves and to other people by trying to judge those people. Because most of us do not have this understanding, we believe that we have to choose to either abandon all personal values or become a judgemental danger to ourselves and other people. In either case we would be giving up something of great value. Teaching us that we do not have to make this choice, is one of the greatest lessons Jesus teaches us.
Section 9.)
The World hates me because I testify that its works are evil. (Jn 7:6-8). The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their works were evil. (Jn 3:19-21).
To make it easier for us to hide from Jesus’ light, we have surrounded Jesus‘ teachings with a tradition of errors and misinterpretations, that obscures Jesus’ teachings.
This tradition of errors and misinterpretations, allows us to misunderstand Jesus so that we do not learn from Jesus that we cannot be good, and that our only hope lies in the mercy that Our Creator will show us if we show mercy to our brother’s and sisters. Instead we misunderstand Jesus in a way that allows us to believe we can gain Our Creator’s favor by performing religious rituals that our churches teach us. We try to forget that Jesus has often told us that religious rituals that do not lead us to do Our Creator’s will are meaningless to Him, and are meaningless to Our Creator. We try to forget that Jesus has often told us that he only cares about religious rituals if those rituals lead us to do what Our Creator wants us to do.
Though we need to learn from Jesus that we cannot be good, most churches teach people who belong to them just the opposite of this. Most churches teach people who belong to them that they can be good, and also often teach people who belong to them that they are good. Though Jesus says to us, “Judge not lest you be judged” (Mt 7:1 & Lk 6:37). Most churches encourage people who belong to them to judge. In fact judging is the primary activity of most churches. Most churches that we call Christian churches, “call Jesus Lord, but do not the will of Jesus’ father.” Most churches that we call Christian churches say to Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works?”, and on the day of judgement Jesus will say to people in these churches, “I never knew you, leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46)
While there may be a great deal of good in many of these churches, the bottom line is that most churches that we call Christian churches, do not help most of their members learn how to follow Jesus. While many people in these churches probably have very good intentions, these churches are not doing the work Jesus commissioned His disciples to do. For most of us who call ourselves Christians, the primary difference Jesus makes in our lives is that thinking about Jesus leads us to often lie to ourselves so we can believe we are good, instead of seeing the truth about ourselves so we can have a chance of truly becoming good. We know this because we know that if as few as one tenth of one percent of the people in our world tried to always follow Jesus, then our world would be fundamentally transformed, and then the wounds of our world would start to heal. Whatever the reasons this is not happening, any of us who belong to a church that does not help us learn how to follow Jesus, must search elsewhere for guidance in following Jesus. People who discover that their church is not helping them learn how to follow Jesus, should not leave their churches though. If any of us belong to a church, then we should like and care for people in that church, and we should want to do what is best for those people. When we see that we need to search elsewhere for guidance in following Jesus, we should try to bring our church with us by trying to transform that church into a place that can help us learn how to follow Jesus.
Being part of a community in which people care about each other can be a good first step toward a better life; especially if people in that community know how to help each other. If we have not learned what Jesus teaches us, though, then we can only help other people in trivial and ultimately worthless ways. With Jesus, we can help each other receive Our Creator’s mercy, instead of Our Creator’s justice, and in his mercy Our Creator will give us all that we ask for.
The only church that can help us learn how we can follow Jesus is a church that teaches what Jesus taught: a church that teaches that people are weak, frail, and evil, as Jesus taught that people are weak, frail, and evil: a church of human weakness.
Because Jesus wants all people to come together as one in Him, all churches that become churches of human weakness, should also come together as one church. They should all come together as parts of ‘The Church of Human Weakness’. Each separate church that becomes a part of ‘The Church of Human Weakness’ should continue as a separate church on sundays, while all people who try to follow Jesus should come together in ‘The Church of Human Weakness’ on saturdays.
Sunday is the day of celebration; Saturday, the day of preparation.On Sunday Jesus rose from the dead, and when Jesus rose, Jesus’ followers rose with Him. Sunday is the day of receiving rewards, but these rewards can only be received by people who prepare themselves to receive these rewards by learning how to follow Jesus before Sunday comes. “Blessed is the slave who is found doing his master’s will, when the Master comes.” (Lk 12:35-48)
Jesus died for us on a Friday.
Friday is when Jesus did the hardest part of the hard work that we cannot do for ourselves: Friday is when Jesus did the work that allows us to learn how we can win Our Creator’s favor. Jesus did the hardest part of His work on a Friday, and Jesus rose on a Sunday.
Saturday is the day of decision for us. Saturday is the day on which we must prepare ourselves if we hope to rise with Jesus on Sunday. If we have not spent Saturday learning how to follow Jesus, then on Sunday we will be on the outside looking in. And the greater Our Creator’s rewards are, the more strongly we will regret having wasted our Saturday.
Of course we must prepare ourselves to receive Our Creator’s mercy every day if we hope to receive His mercy, but the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection chooses saturday as the most important day of preparation for us.
We can start to learn how to follow Jesus either through independent study of His gospels, through membership in ‘The Church of Human Weakness’, or through membership in a sunday church that has become a church of human weakness, and that has joined in ‘The Church of Human Weakness.’ The leaders of a sunday church that has become a church of human weakness, will attend ‘The Church of Human Weakness’ on saturday to learn about Jesus and to build their faith in Jesus, and will then teach what they have learned, and will then try to impart faith they have gained, to people in their Sunday church.
Each church that joins, “The Church of Human Weakness”, should maintain all of its religious rituals and ceremonies just as they are. These churches should do this because religious rituals and ceremonies are matters of style, and in matters of style all people should follow whatever style they are most comfortable with. Different styles of religious practice work best for different people, and Jesus wants each person to use whatever style of religious practice will most help him or her reach the substance of doing what Our Creator wants us to do. People who try to follow Jesus, should take part in rituals and ceremonies that help them follow Jesus, when they are in their sunday churches. This is a good thing for all of us to do, so long as we also learn how to follow Jesus, either in our saturday church, ”The church of human weakness”, or in a sunday church that has been transformed by it’s membership in “The church of human weakness”, into a church that teaches human weakness, frailty, and evil, as Jesus taught human weakness, frailty, and evil.
For nearly 2,000 years, people have been thinking up new ways of twisting Jesus’ words so they can more easily ignore Jesus when Jesus tells them to do things they don’t want to do. Many of these ways of twisting Jesus’ words have come down to each of us, and were taught to each of us at such a young age that they have become second nature to us. Because of this we all take part in twisting Jesus’ words without even realizing that we are doing so, and we almost never question the false assumptions about Jesus that lead us to do this.
This is the problem the church of human weakness seeks to address.
From the point of view of people in currently existing churches, “The Church of Human Weakness”, will be an ecumenical organization they will join to come together with many other churches, and will be an organization that will help all churches follow the true teachings of Jesus, and that will help people in all churches live as Jesus teaches us to live. Any church that teaches living as Jesus tells us to live, is welcome in the church of human weakness, even if that church is dedicated primarily to following another teacher, and even if people in that church do not call Jesus God.
Section 10.)
Jesus tells us of rewards that will come to people who do what He tells us to do, so we will try to do what He tells us to do, so we will succeed in doing what He tells us to do whenever we are able to, and so that when we are not able to do what He tells us to do, we will realize that because we cannot do what Our Creator wants us to do, we are in desperate need of Our Creator’s forgiveness. We are in need of this forgiveness because we should do what Our Creator wants us to do, and we should do what Our creator wants us to do because Our Creator has given us every ability we possess, and has given us our lives themselves, and because we should use gifts Our Creator has given us, as Our Creator wants us to use those gifts. Still, none of us will always forgive as we need be forgiven, because none of us will always be aware of how much punishment we will receive if Our Creator shows us justice instead of mercy. This will be so because the awareness of how much punishment we will receive if Our Creator does justice to us, frightens us, and because we will all refuse to see how much we need Our Creator’s forgiveness, whenever we are able to do so. The reason that the awareness of how much we need Our Creator’s forgiveness frightens us, is that none of us can always believe that Our Creator will show us mercy, if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters. Instead we all often believe that Our Creator will show us justice instead of mercy. The good news Jesus brings us: The news that Our Creator will show us mercy if we show mercy to our brothers and sisters. This news sounds too good to be true.
When Jesus tells us what Our Creator wants us to do, Jesus shows us that we cannot do what Our Creator wants us to do, by telling us to do many things that we will not be able to do. Jesus also tells us often that we will often not be able to do what Our Creator wants us to do. Jesus tells us this when He says to His disciples, “Pray that you know no temptation Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Jesus tells us this when He tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil we do; which does us great harm. When we do evil, we harden our hearts against the victims of our evil, and against all people we might want to do evil to in the future. By doing this we make it harder for ourselves to forgive other people when they do evil to us, and we make ourselves less likely to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Not receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness would do far greater harm to us than any evil other people could ever do. And Jesus tells us all to expect to do evil, and to plan on doing evil, when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). Jesus is telling us that we will try to live by unrighteous mammon, that when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and that we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends; If, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help.
The fact that doing what Jesus tells us to do will bring us together as one with all people. This tells us that we are still in the process of being created. Our creation can only be complete after we have all come together as one. It is meaningless to ask why we have not been created so that doing what Our Creator wants us to do is easy for us, because we have not been created yet. Our world is like an oven in which each of is like a molecule of flout egg or water that is coming together with other molecules to form a loaf of bread, and difficulties we have in following Jesus are just part of what is necessary for us to come together. But these difficulties will seem small and meaningless when compared to the joy and fulfillment we will feel when our creation is complete. These difficulties and this joy are what Jesus is talking about when He says to his disciples, , “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake. And brother will deliver brother up to death, and the father the child: and the children will rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” Being saved will be joining with other people in the harmony that will be created when we all live as Jesus teaches us to live. (even if we learn to live as Jesus teaches us to live from someone other than Jesus.)
When one of the high priests of Jerusalem asked Jesus, ‘are you the Christ, the Son of God?’ Jesus answered, “You say that I am, nevertheless I say to you, you shall see me sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Mt26:63-66). These priests believed that if Jesus were not the Christ and the Son of God, He could not know what God wants us to do, so Jesus told these priests that He is with God and knows what God wants us to do. Jesus tells us that He knows what God wants us to do because that is what we need to know to live wisely. Jesus must have a special relationship with God if He will be sitting at God’s right hand, but Jesus never says he is the Christ or the Son of God, because it doesn’t matter to Him that we know if He is the Christ or the Son of God. If we accept that He knows what God wants us to do, and if we try to live as He teaches, then trying to know anything else about Jesus is a distraction it is unwise for us to take part in. Because Jesus knows what God wants us to do there is a good chance that He is the Christ and the Son of God, but trying to figure this out is a dangerous waste of time and energy. If Jesus cared that we knew if he was the Christ or the Son of God He would have told us about this. We know that most people who call Jesus the Son of God, seldom believe Jesus when He tells us that if we live as He teaches we will receive rewards or avoid punishments that will outweigh any suffering that comes to us because we follow Him. We know this because whenever any person believes that following Jesus will lead to rewards that will outweigh any suffering following Jesus leads to. Whenever any person believes this, that person will follow Jesus in order to receive rewards Jesus tells us of. Jesus knows we will seldom be able to do this because we are not capable of great faith. Jesus tells us this us this every time He says to us, “O you of little faith” (Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, & Lk 12:28), and Jesus tells us again that our faith will be weak when He says to His disciples, “If your faith were as a grain of mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move, and it would move.” (Mt 17:20). This tells us that unless a person can make a mountain move by telling it to move, that person does not have enough faith to fill the smallest seed Jesus knew of. Jesus says to us, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46). Our inability to have great faith is the reason our flesh is weak. When we believe Jesus when He tells us that we will receive rewards that will more than make up for our suffering, then the desire of our flesh to avoid pain and to feel pleasure will lead us to do what Jesus tells us to do. It is not that we cannot endure current suffering to receive greater pleasure in the future that keeps us from following Jesus most of the time. It is that we do not believe that following Jesus will bring us future pleasure that will be greater than our current suffering most of the time. We want to imagine that the weakness of our flesh is not a sign of the weakness of our faith because we want to be able to say we have faith in Jesus even when we do not follow His teaching. This is just a way of trying to convince ourselves that we do not need Our Creator’s forgiveness, but that we deserve rewards from Our Creator because of our faith. Believing this allows us to believe we will receive things we want from Our Creator for our faith, not for forgiving people who trespass against us, even though Jesus says to us, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses against you, then neither will your father forgive you.” .” (Mt 6:9-15, see also Lk 6:37, and Mt 18:23-35). The truth about our faith is that our actions measure our faith. How often we follow Jesus’ teachings shows how strongly we believe Jesus. When we follow Jesus, then we believe Jesus. When we do not follow Jesus, then we do not believe Jesus. (Regardless of what we say about Jesus). Though we are capable of little faith we are capable of some faith, and it is when we do not believe Jesus when He tells us that following Him will lead to rewards that will outweigh the suffering it will lead to, that we displease Jesus, because it is this lack of faith that leads us not to do the will of His Father. Even though many people who lack this faith will call Jesus, Lord, many people who do this will still hear Jesus say to them, “leave me you workers of iniquity.”. (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46)
What we say about our intended victim is what people who want to hurt us say about us, and is what our intended victim says about people he or she does violence to. It is easy to vilify our intended victims.
Jesus tells us again that we will be treated very badly if we follow Him, when He says, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Satan, how much more shall they call those of his household.” (Mt 10:24-25, see also LK 6:40)
Jesus knows that we could easily believe that when we do good works we should hide our good works because we hear Him say, “Take care not to do your alms in front of people in order to be seen by them. If you do this you will receive no reward from your Father in the heavens” (Mt 6:01). This is why Jesus tells us not to hide what we do from other people when He says, “Let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and may glorify your Father in the heavens.” (Mt 5:16). Though we must never do our alms in front of other people in order that they see us, we must also not do our alms in private in order that other people don’t see us. With our good works as with our bad works it is a waste of energy to either try to make other people see us or to try to hide from other people. Our Creator will see all that we do, and compared to His opinion of us, the opinions other people have of us, and the actions other people take toward us mean next to nothing.
Jesus tells us often that if we try as hard as we can to forgive all people who trespass against us, then we will be able to forgive enough people who trespass against us, to get Our Creator to forgive us for evil we do to Him. Jesus tells us this when He says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (Jn 6:35), when he says, “If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes on me. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (Jn 7:37-38), when He says, “Labour not for the meat that perishes but for the meat that endures into everlasting life that the Son of man will give you.” (Jn 6:27), and when He says, “Whoever believes in the Son of man will not perish but will have eternal life.” (Jn 3:14-15) The bread of life that is Jesus, is forgiveness. The only way in which we can eat the bread that is Jesus, is by forgiving people who trespass against us; The only way in which we can seek God’s righteousness is by trying to forgive people who trespass against us, as we need God to forgive us; The only way in which we can labour for the meat that endures into everlasting life is by forgiving our brothers and sisters, as we need be forgiven. And if we believe in Jesus, then we will forgive people who trespass against us, so that Our Creator will forgive us for our trespasses against Him.
Jesus tells us again that if we try as hard as we can to forgive all people who trespass against us, then we will be able to forgive enough people who trespass against us, to get Our Creator to forgive us, when he says, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”, (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34). And Jesus tells us we will receive all we ask for, when He says, “Ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8 & Lk 11:9-10), “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14:14)
How can this be true when Jesus also says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, then your father will not forgive you.”? What would happen if a person who did not try to forgive all people who had trespassed against him or her? What would happen if such a person asked? Would that person receive all he or she asked for? The answer to this question is that a person who did not try to forgive all people who had trespassed against him or her, would not be able to ask. This is true in the same way that a person who had no throat and no mouth would not be able to speak. Forgiveness is the voice that allows us to ask. We know this because we know that if Our Father has not forgiven a person, then Our Father will not give that person all that he or she asks for.
All who wander in dark valleys and founder in currentless shallows
Arise and take the place that has been prepared for you
Walk in the light to the highest peak and ride the swell of the fullest wave
Blessed are the poor because yours is the kingdom
Blessed are those hungering now, for you will be filled
Blessed are you when men hate you, and separate you and reproach you for the sake of the son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold you have great reward in heaven for they did likewise to the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort
Woe to you who have been filled, for you will hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and lament.
Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you, for your fathers spoke well of the false prophets. (Lk 6:20-26)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they will reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word about you, lying, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for so persecuted they the prophets before you. (Mt 5:3-12)
The spirit of the lord is upon me, therefore He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to preach deliverance to captives, to give sight to the blind, to bring deliverance to those who have been crushed, to preach the acceptable year of the lord. (Lk 4:18)
Let the dead bury the dead. (Mt 8:22)
Section 11.)
One of the most widely held and most destructive misconceptions about Jesus is the belief that following Jesus will make a person more eager and willing to obey people above him or her in a social hierarchy. Because Jesus tells us not to resist evil, when we follow Jesus we will follow orders whenever people try to force us to follow those orders, and by doing this we will avoid the greater evil that would be created if we tried to resist evil that is done to us. Whenever evil is not done to us, though, we will remember that we are only to obey Jesus, and Our Creator. Jesus tells us not to act towards any person as we should act toward Jesus and Our Creator, and not to let any person act toward us as all people should act toward Him and toward Our Creator, when he says to His disciples, “Be not you called Rabbi, for Christ is your master and you are all brothers. And call no man father, for you have a Father who is in heaven. Neither be you called master, for Christ is your master.” (Mt 23: 5-12 & Lk 20: 45-47) Calling people by any of these names, or being called by any of these names would be a way of putting people in places that should be reserved for Jesus, and Our Creator. Of course there are also many other names that would do this. Jesus does not tell us these names because he is not a secretary or a list maker, but if we are wise will instead be our master. As such He tells us enough names for us to see what these names have in common, and then leaves it up to us to add to this list whenever we find another name that would lead us to treat people as these names lead us to treat people. And we should be very glad that Jesus, because if Jesus had taken the time to make such a list He would have had less time and energy for the rest of His teaching. Jesus knows that He must teach us what we are least likely to learn from other sources, and leave things we can do, such as making lists up to us. Making this list would have been especially time consuming if we consider all the different languages that humans speak, and if we remember that Jesus said to us, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47) In the English language, at least two more words that would lead us to follow people as we should follow only Jesus and Our Creator, are the words reverend and pastor. The word reverend means, that which is revered. Call no man reverend, for you have a reverend in Heaven. Revere no man, for you have one whom you revere in heaven. And call no man pastor, for Christ is your pastor, and you are all brothers and sisters in His flock. People can be pastors to sheep, but only Jesus can be a pastor to people. Social Hierarchies and the attempts to give each other orders that are a part of those hierarchies are things of men, and Jesus tells us never top think of things of men before we think of things of God, when He says to His disciple Peter, , “Get behind me Satan. You are an offence to me because you do not think of things of God, but think instead, of things of men.” (Mt 16:23), and Jesus tells us to pursue things of God instead of things of man when He says, , “Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal. Instead, lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not dig through and steal.” (Mt 6:19-23 & Lk 12:33). If people above us in a social hierarchy sometimes tell us to pursue things of God, when we follow Jesus, we will follow their orders, because at that moment things of God and things of man will be identical. Being led away from things of God by disobeying orders when people giving us orders tell us pursue things of God is just as dangerous to us as being led away from things of God by following orders that lead us away from things of God.
In Spite of Jesus’ teachings, though, we all often let certain people control what we do, and when we allow these people to control us we do so in order to put ourselves in a position that will allow us to, control other people. Most of the time, we will not enjoy being controlled by any other person, unless we receive some compensation for being controlled, and during the overwhelming majority of our lives this compensation will come from controlling other people. We all feel; the need to maintain a balance between things we enjoy and things we do not enjoy, and this is one way in which we try to maintain this balance. If we deny this we are only trying to say we are good even though Jesus has told us we are not good when He says, “Pray that you know no temptation Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46), When He says to His disciples, , “Pray that you know no temptation. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46), and When He says to all of us, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). When Jesus tells us not to treat people as we should treat Him and Our Creator, and when Jesus tells us never to pursue things of God instead of things of man, Jesus is telling us that we should maintain the balance between things we enjoy and things we do not enjoy that He knows we will try to maintain, by seldom controlling other people, and by seldom being controlled. Jesus also tells us to let other people control us, rather than resisting evil they do to us, in Mt: 5:38-48 when he says, “resist not evil.” Knowing that Jesus tells us to do this, and knowing that Our Creator will reward any person who does what He expects that person to do, and will punish any person who does not do what He expects that person to do, gives us the emotional compensation that sometimes allows us to feel content even when we do not balance things we enjoy, with things we do not enjoy. We know that if we try as hard as we can to follow Jesus, Our Creator will give us far more that we will enjoy, than we could ever get on our own. Because we never know how much good Our Creator expects of any person we never know if any person will be punished for disobeying Jesus, (because that person may have given little, and little may be demanded of that person), and we never know if any person will be rewarded for following Jesus, (because much may have been given to that person, and for this Our Creator may expect that person to follow Jesus, more often than that person does follow Jesus.), We do know, though, that the more often any of us follows Jesus, the more likely we are to receive rewards, and avoid punishments from Our Creator. Knowing, this, though, will only sometimes lead us not to try to balance being controlled by some people, by controlling other people. When any of us is controlled greatly, we will do this. This is why, if we are seriously trying to follow Jesus, we will try to create a world in which other people try to control us as little as possible, without trying to do this by resisting evil other people will do to us. Resisting evil will only make things worse for us, any time we do it, but being controlled does hurt us by often leading us to then try to control other people, and being controlled is something we do want to avoid. (one of the ways in which resisting evil will hurt us, is that resisting evil will only lead people who are doing evil to us, to try harder to do more evil to us, and that other people will often succeed in doing this. Even people who do evil to us, do not succeed in this, though, The act of resisting will still always do greater harm to us, than could ever be made up for by any way in which it might help us.)
When we try to control other people we will always do much more harm than we will do when we let other people control us, because our natural desire to be free will set limits on how hard we will try to let ourselves be controlled, while there will be no limits to how hard we will try to control other people. (And one of the moist harmful examples of this is the way most people who have guided organized churches that have called themselves Christian Churches have tried to pervert Jesus’ teachings on this subject.) . Following orders is the most dangerous thing a person can do. The clearest lesson of history is the holocaust of word war II, in which over six million people were murdered. Most of the people who committed these murders were ‘just’ following orders’. Most crimes are committed by people who are ‘just following orders’. (including the greatest crime, the crime of war) If people never followed orders from other people, our world would be a much more peaceful and a much better place than it is. Expecting any person to do a thing because we tell them to do that thing is a way of putting ourselves in God’s place. When we are able to follow Jesus we may sometimes tell another person to do something, but we will never consider what we say to be an order, and we will never expect another person to do what we tell that person to do, if that person believes it would be wrong to do so. When we are able to follow Jesus telling a person to do something will only be something we do to use fewer words when time is short, and will only be meant as a suggestion. We will only expect people to follow our suggestions if we have earned their trust, and even then we will hope that whenever they are concerned that we may be telling them to do something that is wrong, they will ask us questions before doing what we tell them to do. Part of the reason that people who follow orders are so likely to do evil is that ordering another person to do any thing is an act of violence, and creates hate in that person; hate that is usually taken out on someone else, often while an order is being followed.
For as long as any of us, can remember, we have been bemoaning the many ways that we hurt each other: and have especially been bemoaning the suffering of war. The first examples of this that come to my mind, are Mark Twain’s story, “The War Prayer”, and the popular novel, movie, and television series “M.A.S.H.” We seem to have seen how serious this problem is. Why then, have we not come close to solving it? Can we really do no better than we have done? I think that we can do better.
What has led humanity to do better in some areas, than we had previously done?
Specialization. Creating jobs, dedicated to doing a thing better. Currently, in the area of avoiding the mistakes that lead to violence and war, no jobs are dedicated to this purpose, and the jobs that seem to come close, are actually dedicated to making people feel better about not avoiding these mistakes. As is sadly the case with most people who work in churches. Most churches have always allied themselves with violence. The main difference now, is that because our society is less hierarchical and more democratic, than it used to be, most churches are less authoritarian and more democratic, than they used to be. But these churches still support what society does as thoroughly as they ever have, and our society still uses violence as much or more than it ever has. We just choose to use violence, in a more democratic way, than in the past.
We know that whatever works as a thing that makes our lives better, is what Our Creator wants us to do. If this were not so then Our Creator would have made our world differently. And if what works sometimes conflicts with ideas that we have about what we believe is right and wrong, (as it often will, for all of us), then we must recognize that our ideas, are what are wrong, (not the reality of our world). Of course it is very important that we also remember that what seems to work in the short-tem often does not work in the long-term, and that what seems to fail in the short-term is often the very thing that we need to do if we want long-term happiness. Jesus tells us both of these things often, and this fact is one of the things, that tells us that Jesus is truly teaching the will of Our Creator.
Jesus tells us that what we most need to do, will work for us, as a thing that makes our lives better in the long term, but not in the short term, when He says, to his disciples, “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake. And brother will deliver brother up to death, and the father the child: and the children will rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:17-18 & 21-22) Jesus tells us these things again when He says to all of us, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against the mother, the daughter in law against the mother in law. He who loves father more than me, is not worthy of me. he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. he who takes not his cross and follows me, is not worthy of me. he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” (Mt 10:34-39, Mt 16:24-26, & Lk 9; 23-25), when He says, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23),
And Jesus tells us that what will help us in the short term, will hurt us in the long term, when He says, Woe to you who have been filled, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and lament. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you, for your fathers spoke well of the false prophets. (Lk 6:24-26).
Jesus tells us that if we think first about the long term effects of our actions, then our short term needs will also be met, when He says, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34), but that if we think first about the short term effects of an action, then we will fail to find happiness, both in the long term and in the short term, when He says, “Fear not those who can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Fear instead He who can destroy both the body and the soul.” (Mt 10:28 & Lk 12:4-5).
Jesus also tells us that we will have to do things that will seem wrong to us. One time Jesus tells us this, is when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9), immediately after He tells us about a man who used unrighteous mammon to keep a job that kept him from having to beg, even though this job required him to collect money owed to his employer, and in spite of the fact that Jesus tells us to “Give to everyone who asks of us, and ask for nothing in return.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). This command has caused many of us to believe that anything that has too much to do with debt collection, is unrighteous, but Jesus is telling us in this passage that we will sometimes have to do that which is unrighteous, in order to make our world a place in which all people can follow Him. Even If this man had been able to avoid this unrighteous action, and had been able to accept the loss of his job, and the poverty it would have led to, many other people who face even more dire circumstances, would not have been able to avoid unrighteousness. Maybe this man was using the money that he gained through his unrighteous action, to bring about a world in which all people could avoid unrighteousness. And if this man was doing this, then Our Creator would have known this, and would have taken this into account when judging this man. And in this way, this unrighteous action might help this man. Unrighteous action will sometimes be required of all of us. This is part of our nature.
The cannibalism that is required of us is another example of this. We know that we are commanded not to kill, so we try to avoid any action as closely related to killing as cannibalism, but Jesus tells us to eat His body and to drink His blood (Lk 22:19-20 & Mt 26:26-28.), and Jesus tells us that we cannot live unless we eat his body and drink His blood. “Truly, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (Jn 6:53). When Jesus died, His blood flowed down from the cross to form the words of His gospels. Every time we read these words, and live by them, we are drinking Jesus’ blood. Every time we read these words, and live by them, we are eating Jesus’ body.
Jesus tells us again that we will sometimes have to overcome our aversion to lending money in order to do Our Creator’s will, when He says, “The kingdom of God is like a Lord, who before going on a journey loaned money to a number of different slaves. One slave hid the money that his lord had loaned him, while other slaves loaned the money they had been given, at interest to other people. When their Lord returned from His journey, the slaves who had risked the money they had been given to get more money, paid their lord more than he had given them. The Lord then loaned these slaves more money than He had loaned them before. The slave, who had hidden what he had been loaned, returned that money saying, “Here is what is yours. When his Lord asked him why he had not used this money to get more money, this man said, “I was afraid. I know you are a hard man: who reaps where he did not sow, and who gathers where he did not scatter.” his Lord then said, “You wicked and slothful slave, if you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather whence I have not scattered, then you should have made some money for me. The money that you had will be taken from you, and will be given to the slave who now has the most: For to every one who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that which he seems to have, will be taken away.” And the unprofitable slave was cast into the outer darkness: there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 25:14-30 & Lk 19: 12-27)
Though Jesus command to “Give to everyone who asks of us, and ask for nothing in return.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48), will often make us feel that we should not loan money for repayment. If the alternative is not giving that money to another person at all, (as it was for the man in this story), then we must realize that doing this goes against Jesus’ command, just as much as loaning money for repayment.
Though we are told that the man in this story would not loan money, because He was afraid of what might happen to him if that money were not paid back. We must realize that one of the reasons he was so afraid, may have been the fact that he knew that we are commanded to “Give to everyone who asks of us, and not to ask for anything back from one who takes from us.” What we can be certain of, is that knowing this, is one of the reasons that any of us would feel fear if we were in his place. That fear will usually help us, as we are reminded every time we hear the adjective, “God fearing” used in a positive manner. This story, though, reminds us that sometimes things that we know Our Creator disapproves of, will be the best alternative available to us, because of circumstances created by our past actions. Our Creator will know our circumstances, and will judge us accordingly. And will know if those circumstances justify an action that we may take. Seeing this, should make us thankful that Jesus tells us not to judge, because we should know that we would never do all the work necessary to judge accurately. It will be best for us to follow Jesus’ command to “give to everyone who asks of you, and ask for nothing in return, (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). If this were not so, then Jesus would not have told us to always do this. Often, though, the best we are able to do, will be less than this, and if this is the case, then we should do whatever is the best that we can do, because maybe this is all Our Creator demands of us, because maybe we have not been given enough to do more than this: “Whoever has been given much, much will be demanded of him.” (Lk 12:48). Jesus is teaching us not to let the perfect, become the enemy of the good. If Our Creator expected us to all immediately follow all of Jesus’ commands, then Our Creator would have created a world that would allow us to do this, without facing the poverty and humiliation that would come to many of us from losing a job, (which is what would happen to many of us if we immediately followed all of Jesus’ commands). Being able to be in a situation in which losing a job would not lead to poverty and humiliation, is one of the things that is given to people from whom our creator expects much.
Section 13.)
“As you would have men do to you, do you likewise to them.” (Lk 6:31, & Mt 7:12)
When we see unequivocal examples of a person doing evil, that person will often be doing evil to us. Though Jesus tells us not to resist evil, we know that if we are victims of evil we will all often resist that evil. When Jesus tells us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil we do does us far greater harm than any evil other people could ever do to us. If we hope to follow Jesus, and receive rewards He promises, we must try as hard as we can not to resist evil, and if we do resist evil, we must try as hard as we can to end our resistance as soon as possible, and we must try to, “Agree with our adversary quickly; lest he deliver us to the judge, the judge deliver us to the officer, and we are cast into prison. If this happens we will not come out until we have paid the last cent.” (Mt 5:25-26 & Lk 12:58-59). And we must try as hard as we can to forgive people who have trespassed against us so Our Father will forgive us (Mt 6:9-15). We must also remember, that however hard we try to follow Jesus, if we are led into temptation will all often fail to do these things, and when we resist evil that is done to us we will all usually want other people to help us resist that evil. Because we will all often want this, we must also help other people resist evil when they are victims of evil we would want them to help us resist if that evil were done to us, in order to follow Jesus command to do to men as we would have them do to us. (Lk 6:31, & Mt 7:12), and we should not help other people resist evil if we would not want those people to help us resist if that evil were done to us. If we were able to follow Jesus we would never want other people to help us resist evil, just as we would never resist evil, but because we are often not able to follow Jesus, then we must also often help other people resist evil that is done to them. When evil is done to other people we will all be tempted to say we would not resist that evil and would not want other people to help us resist that evil if it were done to us, so we do not have to help those people. If this is not true, though, we will be disobeying Jesus and we will be displeasing Our Creator. We must also treat people who are doing evil, as we would want to be treated if we were doing the evil they do. Whenever we do evil we should want other people to stop us, but often we will not want this but will instead want other people to help us in our evil or want them to allow us to do evil without hindrance. If we see one person do evil to another person and if we would want other people to help us resist if we were the victim of that evil, and would want other people not to resist us if we were doing that evil, then we cannot follow Jesus command to “Do to men as you would have them do to you”, (Lk 6:31, & Mt 7:12), until we change ourselves so we would not want both of these things. If we are honest with ourselves this will often happen to us and when it does all we can do in the short term is to beat on our chests, hang our heads down, and say, ‘‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner .’ (Lk 18:10-14)
While resisting evil on other people’s behalf whenever those people suffer evil that we would want other people to resist on our behalf, will sometimes lead us to resist evil when we might not otherwise resist evil, overall it will lead us to resist less evil than we would resist otherwise, because if we are obligated to resist all evil that we would want other people to resist on our behalf if we were the victim of that evil, then we will see the folly of resistance when we might never see that folly otherwise, and then we might truly become people who will not resist evil that is done to us. And in truth this is the evil we all do the most to resist. Most of the time if we say we are resisting evil on another person’s behalf we are only saying that to justify joining a fight that we want to join for reasons of our own. If we see the folly of resistance, though, we will usually see that we can help people who are the victims of evil more in other ways, than we can help them by helping them resist evil, just as when we are victims of evil we can help ourselves more in other ways than we can by resisting evil, and we will often see that resisting evil hurts the victim of that evil more than it helps the victim of that evil. Because Jesus tells us not to resist evil, we know that resistance will always hurt a victim of evil more than it will help that victim, and we know that the more people who join in that resistance the worse off the victim of that evil will be. If this were not true Jesus would not have said, “Do not resist evil.” (Mt 5:38-48). The benefits that will come to us from not resisting evil will outweigh any suffering that comes from not resisting evil because if any significant number of people in our world resist less evil than they currently resist, then the positive results of their non-resistance will lead other people to join them, and after a certain amount of time has passed we will all live in a world free of war, police, military forces, and violence of all kinds. It may take a long time before our world is completely free of these things, but any person’s refusal to resist will lead to enough progress in this direction that our lives will improve greatly every time any person does not resist evil, and will especially improve every time we do not resist evil. What Jesus tells us to do is what will work for us, and is what will make our lives better. Not resisting evil is one powerful example of this. This may sound like wishful thinking, But that does not mean it will not happen. Every positive thing that has ever occurred sounded like wishful thinking if any person predicted that thing would happen before it did. If we continue to resist evil as often as we now do, I do not believe that any of the positive changes I am talking about will occur. I am only saying that if we resist evil less often and less forcefully these things will happen. I am stating a cause and effect relationship similar in form to the statement that if a person drops a lead ball from a tower that ball will fall. As more people resist evil less often and less forcefully our world will be healed in many ways that sound like wishful thinking today.
Resisting evil on other people’s behalf whenever those people suffer evil that we would want other people to resist on our behalf, will often lead us to act unrighteously. Jesus tells us that we should sometimes be willing to do this when He says, “Use unrighteous mammon to make friends, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). Jesus is telling us that we will try to live by unrighteous mammon, that when we try to live by unrighteous mammon, unrighteous mammon will fail us, and that we will only be received into everlasting habitations if we have used the fruits of our unrighteousness to make other people our friends; If, instead of trying to avoid other people because we fear their evil would corrupt our goodness, we see that we are evil, as they are evil, and we befriend them because their evil, like our evil, causes them to need help, as we need help.
We will all resist whenever great evil is done to us, or whenever we fear that great evil will be done to us, and if we do not resist, we only do so because no one is trying to do great evil to us. Jesus tells us that our ability to refrain from evil depends mainly on the circumstances we are placed in when He tells us to pray to Our Heavenly Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4). Jesus is telling us to pray that we be delivered from the evil we would do if we were led into temptation. It is this evil we truly need to be delivered from. Evil that is done to us does us little harm, compared to evil web do; which does us great harm. Jesus tells His disciples that, though they will try to follow His teachings, they will do evil when they are tempted, when He says to them, “Pray that you know no temptation Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41 & LK 22:46).
Knowing that we will not be able to follow Jesus in difficult situations we must work especially hard to follow Jesus in easier situations. Following Jesus in easier situations will lead to a world in which fewer people are placed in the difficult situations that will lead us all to do evil. For example It will be easier for us to follow Jesus’ command to sell all that we have and distribute to the poor (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24), than it will be for us not to resist great evil, and doing this would lead to world in which many fewer people will be put in a position in which they will be the victims of great evil. Jesus gives this command to a young rich man. In material terms the vast majority of those of us who live in wealthy societies today, and great number of those of us who live in poor societies today are rich. (probably at least 1 billion people in all). Chances are if you are reading or hearing these words you are one of these people. This command does not refer only to material riches, though, but also refers to every ability we possess, to every bit of energy we possess, and to our lives themselves. We are to sell every thing we have for the poor. One person may be able to help the poor most by accumulating material wealth and then selling that wealth and distributing to the poor, while another person may be able to help the poor most by dedicating his or her life to the service of the poor. Selling all that we have means that we are to develop whatever abilities in us are most valuable, and then use those abilities to help the poor. otherwise we will only have sold part of what we have. Many people can help the poor most by creating new things that will help the poor and by giving these things to the poor. For example creating a high quality free library near where poor people live, can often be the way in which a person can give the most to the poor. So also can writing a book that helps poor people learn how to live wisely and giving copies of this book or internet access to this book to the poor, or creating a work of art that helps poor people learn how to live wisely. Protecting our natural environment is another way of giving to the poor. These ways of giving to the poor will often also help people who are not poor, because the elements of a good life are the same for all people. If they do this, then this is an added benefit. They must help the poor, though, if we hope to follow Jesus’ command, and if we hope to receive rewards Jesus tells us of, and avoid punishments Jesus tells us of. Whether or not this is the way in which a particular person can give the most to the poor depends on the abilities that person has been given, and depends on the circumstances of that person’s life.
Selling all that we have and giving to the poor will still be difficult for us, though, because we fear that if we do this we will not have things we need to survive. Jesus knows we have this fear, and this is why He says to us, “Take no thought for your life, for what you will eat or drink, or for what clothes you will wear. Your heavenly father knows you need these things. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:25-34 & Lk 12:22-34). If selling all that we have and giving to the poor, and giving to every one who asks of us and not asking for anything in return (Lk 6:27-36, see also Mt 5:42-48) are still more than we can do, though, then each of us should try to give as much to the poor as he or she can, and hope this will be as much as Our Creator expects him or her to do. Jesus says to all of us, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourself with wealth that will not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens that no thief will come near to, and that no moth will corrupt.” (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24). When Jesus says, “Judge not lest you be judged.” (Mt 7:1-2, & Lk 6:37) Jesus is telling us not to try to determine how often Our Creator expects any person to follow Him, and a part of why Jesus tells us this is because we could not accurately judge this even if we tried. When Jesus says, “To whoever much is given. Much will be demanded of that person.” Many of the things that are given to some people and not to other people are things we cannot see or measure. People who are treated well as children, and who are taught wisdom as children will be able to do much more of what Jesus tells us to do than other people will be able to do. These people have been given the ability to follow Jesus more easily than other people, and for this reason more will be expected of these people. Even if we tried, though, we could not identify who has been treated well as a child and who has been treated poorly. Though we cannot judge, Jesus tells us that “There is one who judges.” (Jn 8:50). This one is Our Creator and we are to leave all judgement to Him.
“O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For words come from the heart”. (Mt 12:34). When Jesus asks this question of people who had said that His words had come from Beelzebub, we realize that Jesus is not saying that these people are physically unable to say good things, because Jesus tells us in many other places that people will often say good things when their hearts are evil, (especially when He tells us about people who try to speak to God, or to Him in ways that make them hypocrites, and Jesus tells us that these people’s words will not help them. (Mt 6:1-6, 6:16-18, 15-:3-9, 23:13-33, & 24:46-51, Lk 13:14-16, Lk 11:37-49, & Mk 7:2-13, including Mk 7:6 where Jesus says, “This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. (See also Mt15:8)). So we know that Jesus is not surprised to hear people with evil hearts say good things. Instead Jesus is here using the word ‘speak’, to mean speaking in a way that Our Creator will hear, and that will lead Our Creator to give us things we want and things we need. It is this type of speaking that Jesus is telling us cannot come from people with evil hearts. Until we understand this, things Jesus says about how much we can accomplish by speaking about Him in the right way, and things Jesus says about how little false words will help us, will seem to contradict each other. When different things Jesus says seem contradictory to us, this is a sign that we do not yet understand what Jesus means by one or both of the statements that seem contradictory. When things Jesus seems to say about how much we can accomplish by speaking about Him in the right way, and things Jesus says about how little false words will help us, seem contradictory to us, this apparent contradiction arises from the facts that most human languages use one word, (the word, ‘speak’) to stand for at least two very different concepts, and that for us to be able to understand Jesus, Jesus must speak to us in human languages. To overcome these limitations, when Jesus uses words that have multiple meanings, He gives us examples and stories that show us what He means by these words, and Jesus tells us these examples and stories in conjunction with other teachings that help us understand what He means when He uses these words. If the Aramaic language had one word for physical utterances, and had a different word for speaking in ways that Our Creator will hear that will lead Our Creator to give us things we want and things we need, then Jesus would not have to use these methods to show us what He means when He uses the word, ‘speak.’ But no human language will ever have separate words for every thing we need to learn from Jesus, so in any language Jesus will have to use some words with examples and stories, and in many different contexts to show what He means by those words, and if we want to learn from Jesus, we must identify words that Jesus uses in this way.
By using the word speak only to refer to speaking that helps us get things we want and things we need, Jesus shows us that physical utterances that do not help us get these things, should not be called speaking. It would be more helpful to us if we used the phrase, “wasting time and energy” to refer to these utterances. We should only use the word, ‘speak’ to refer to actions that help us. Jesus also shows us that we should only use the word ask to refer to asking that Our Creator hears and that leads Our Creator to give us things we want and things we need, when He says, “Ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8 & Lk 11:9-10), “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14:14). We know that these statements apply only to people who ask by trying to live as Jesus tells us to live, because Jesus also says, “If you forgive men their trespasses, then your Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then Your Father will not forgive you” (Mt 6:9-15), and says, “Forgive if you would be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37, see also Mt 6:9-15, and Mt 18:23-35). While a person who does not try to forgive all people who trespass against him or her, can physically utter words that ask. Asking in this way will not lead Our Creator to give that person things that person asks for, though, and for this reason should not even be called asking. We know this because we know that Our Creator will not give people He has not forgiven “anything they ask for.” Forgiveness is the voice that allows us to ask, and if we ask with the voice that forgiving can give us, then we will receive all that we ask for, and of course if we try to forgive all people who trespass against us, we will ask for very different things than we would ask for if we did not try to forgive all people who trespass against us. If we imagine ourselves asking for vengeance and receiving what we ask for we will be imagining what can never be. A person who sees that he or she needs Our Creator’s help, and who believes Jesus when He tells us we must forgive people who trespass against us, if we want Our Creator to forgive us for our trespasses against Him. Such a person will not only ask Our Creator for help. Such a person will also always try, as hard as he or she can, to forgive people who have trespassed against him or her, in order to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. If any of us does not try to forgive people who trespass against us, then that person has not truly asked Our Creator for anything. That person may ask with the lips, but in his or her heart that person believes that he or she can get what he or she needs, without Our Creator’s help. When we do not see that we are totally dependent on Our Creator, then we will not ask, but when we do see that we are totally dependent on Our Creator then we will ask, and then we will also forgive as we need be forgiven.
Single words should always refer to useful activities, and wasteful activities should always be called corrupted versions of the useful activity they most closely resemble. For example physical utterances that do not lead Our Creator to give us things we need and things we ask for, should be called ineffective and impotent speaking and asking, but should never be called speaking or asking. Speaking in this way helps us remember how easily useful activities can be transformed into wasteful activities, and how easily wasteful activities can be transformed into useful activities. This is hard for many of us to see, though, because George Orwell described a language that was constructed in nearly this way, but with the adjective, ‘ungood’ used in the place of the adjectives, wasteful, ineffective and impotent, in his novel 1984, and alleged that, that language perpetuated repressive government. Orwell has helped all of us who have read this passage, by causing us to question the structure of languages and the influence language can have on culture (and has especially helped those of us who like me had not questioned these things before reading his book), but Orwell was wrong to allege that the language he describes, perpetuates repressive government. Orwell criticizes this language by alleging that it makes things that are different seem more similar to each other than they are. This only seems to be so to him, because our current languages do the opposite of this by making things that are similar seem more different than they are. Our current languages do this because most people who have helped shape these languages have wanted to imagine that they are more different from people they don’t like, than they are, and because languages that make similar things seem more different that they are, help them do this. Languages that reverse this trend by showing us that wasteful, ineffective, impotent, and evil things, are corruptions of useful things, help us see the harm repression does to everyone involved in repression, by helping us see that wasteful activities can be transformed into useful activities, and that useful activities can be transformed into wasteful activities. This helps us see the destructiveness of repression because we know that repression makes it less likely that either repressed people, or people repressing those people, will do useful things, and makes it more likely that both repressed people, and people repressing those people, will do wasteful things. Even a language of this sort, that is used to incorrectly identify which activities are useful and which activates are wasteful, helps us come closer to wisdom, than do languages that, (like our current languages), make similar things seem more different than they are, because seeing incorrect relationships between different things, is only one step away from seeing the correct relationships between those things while not seeing that different things are related to each other at all, is many steps away from seeing the correct relationships that exist between those things. Seeing that wasteful and useful activates can be transformed into each other, and that repression makes it more likely that any activity will become wasteful and less likely that any activity will become useful, also helps us understand why Jesus teaches that we should never try to force people to do anything that we cannot persuade those people to do, (even when those people do evil to us), when He says “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17). This tells us that if we cannot persuade our brother to stop trespassing against us, we are to let him be as a stranger to us rather than trying to force him to stop trespassing against us. Jesus also tells us not to try to force any person to do what we think that person should do, (even when that person does evil to us), when He says, “Resist not evil” (Mt 5:38-48).
One great weakness of most churches that currently call themselves Christian churches, is most evident in the poetry of John Milton.
In Milton’s poetry the only heroic characters are Lucifer and his followers. Because these are the only characters who are not guaranteed success in their fight. Everyone else in this poem, Other than God comes across as weak sycophant who is only fighting in order to be on the winning side. That we all feel this way, is evident in the fact that the only adjective that we have in our language, that means ‘requiring careful planning and great patience’ (exactly the heroic qualities required of a rebel), is the word diabolical. And that this weakness crosses languages, is evident in the fact that a friend of mine recently preferred going by the nickname ‘Li’l Diabla’ in order to convey her great determination. (Even though she is probably the best person that any of us might ever meet). That we all feel this way, is also evident in every story that we feel deeply about. Characters in these stories can only be heroic, if they are not guaranteed of success in their endeavors. Think of any story that is meaningful to you, and you will see this.
This is a wholly inaccurate description of Christianity, though. Anyone who tries to live by Jesus’ words, has been on the losing side of every battle throughout human history. And while Jesus ensures us that if we endure in our faith in Him, we will receive rewards that outweigh our suffering, these rewards will only come after we have suffered greatly. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake. And brother will deliver brother up to death, and the father the child: and the children will rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:17-18 & 21-22) Jesus tells us these things again when He says to all of us, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against the mother, the daughter in law against the mother in law. He who loves father more than me, is not worthy of me. he who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. he who takes not his cross and follows me, is not worthy of me. he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for my sake, will find it.” (Mt 10:34-39, Mt 16:24-26, & Lk 9; 23-25), when He says, “Blessed are you when men will hate you, and when they will separate you from their company, and will reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did likewise to the prophets.” (Lk 6:22-23) and when He says, “There is no man, who has left house or parents, or wife or children for the kingdom of God’s sake, who will not receive many times more in the present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting” (Lk 18:29-30).
Section 14.)
A common misunderstanding
At this point I want to address a common misunderstanding that many people have about Jesus. The best way in which I can address this misunderstanding, is by here reprinting a letter that I sent to a man who read the beginning of this essay, but who still misunderstood Jesus, and who in a letter that he had previously sent to me, had said that “knowing God is more important than preaching morality”, had said that “what paul added makes Christianity overly moralistic”, had made it clear that he felt that paul was more concerned with morality than Jesus was, and had said that “If more people could know God's love, they would be more secure and tend to be more moral”. This man had also previously shown a strong tendency to disregard what He considered to be Jesus’ teachings about morality. Here is the letter that I sent to this man, to show Him the true nature of Jesus’ teachings in these areas, and to show him some of the dangerous consequences of the errors he had made.
Morality is an integral part of God. We cannot know Our Creator without knowing what Our Creator wants us to do. Jesus often tells us what Our Creator wants us to do. His emphasis is more on what Our Father wants us to do, than it is on anything else. If you want to call this, “preaching morality”, then you must admit that “preaching morality” was Jesus’ primary activity. Jesus does this much more than paul, or any of Jesus’ other followers, did this.
It is true that if more people feel more secure, then those people will tend to act more morally. But the feeling of security that Jesus’ brings, is the feeling of security that will come when a significant number of people in our world, follow His command to “Give to all who ask of you, and ask for nothing in return”. (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). Not the shallow and easily destroyed feeling of security that comes from telling each other pleasant stories. If any person believes that Christianity is just a matter of telling each other what we want to hear, then that person’s faith in Jesus will be shallow, and will easily be destroyed. And this is what most of us, believe of churches that ignore Jesus’ commands, whenever those commands are difficult to follow.
I’m sure that you have noticed that most thinking people do not take organized religion seriously, and assume that organized religion is merely a lot of pleasant stories that many people choose to tell each other. Thinking people will only take a religion seriously, to the extent that people practicing that religion try to do difficult things. And because the commands that Jesus gave us are very difficult to always perform, if any church follows Jesus’ true teachings, then that church will be taken seriously by thinking people. Jesus is only taken seriously by most of us, because he died for His beliefs, (and is only remembered today, because He did this). And while none of us will do this much for our beliefs, if we want to be taken seriously then we must do something that is difficult for us to do.
Our Creator is very much concerned with the bottom line, and knows that we will often have to feel unpleasant emotions to make our bottom lines look as they should look, by doing what He wants us to do. Jesus tells us this when He says, “The kingdom of God is like a Lord, who before going on a journey loaned money to a number of different slaves. One slave hid the money that his lord had loaned him, rather than risking this money to get more money. While other slaves risked the money that they had been loaned, and by risking this money, got more money. When their Lord returned from His journey, the slaves who had risked the money they had been given, to get more money, paid their lord more than he had given them. Their Lord then loaned these slaves more money than He had loaned them before. The slave, who had hidden what he had been loaned, returned that money saying, “Here is what is yours. When his Lord asked him why he had not used this money to get more money, this man said, “I was afraid. I know you are a hard man: who reaps where he did not sow, and who gathers where he did not scatter.” his Lord then said, “You wicked and slothful slave, if you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather whence I have not scattered, then you should have made some money for me. The money that you had will be taken from you, and will be given to the slave who now has the most: For to every one who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that which he seems to have, will be taken away.” And the unprofitable slave was cast into the outer darkness: there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 25:14-30 & Lk 19: 12-27)
In this story the slaves who Jesus tells us we are like, had to withstand great fear without giving in to that fear in order to do what Our Creator wanted them to do. In like manner, we will all often have to withstand unpleasant emotions without giving in to those emotions, in order to do what Our Creator wants us top do.
If we cannot point to a specific passage in which Jesus states a thing, then that thing is not a part of His teachings. And to say that it is, is only a lie. If you actually do believe that Jesus talks about God’s love for us, instead of talking about God’s demands of us, then you should be able to quote Jesus saying this. When you see that you cannot do this, you will realize that you have believed lies about Jesus.
We all want to imagine that Our Creator is more concerned with our feelings than He is. But most people who say this, do not actually believe it. The only people who believe this are those fortunate few of us who have had such pleasant lives, that their lives tell them that Our Creator is tenderly concerned with every feeling that they have. You have turned the teachings of Jesus, which are especially well suited to hold us up in difficult times, into an organized religion that is suited only to hothouse flowers.
In General the more loudly any person shouts that Our Creator is tenderly concerned with our feelings, the less that person actually believes this. In my experience, you are such a person. I am guessing that you actually have known some difficulties in your life, and that for this reason you know that Our Creator does not protect every delicate feeling that we have, and I am guessing that you do not actually believe what you say about Our Creator, but are instead hoping that if you shout this loudly enough, then you will believe it. If instead, though, you chose to believe what Jesus actually teaches us, then you would not feel the need to try to do this.
You have also suggested that I write more succinctly. If you can think of any way in which I could have clearly stated important truths that I have stated about Jesus, more succinctly than I have stated them, then I would be happy to hear about this way. In truth though I believe that to achieve greater brevity, I would have to sacrifice clarity. And clearly I do not believe that you would want me to do that. Just as in any recipe, it takes a certain amount of time for each process that is described, to occur, so also does it take a certain number of words, to clearly express any idea. When you say that I use too many words, to me you sound like the Austrian emperor who told Mozart that he used too many notes.
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Matthew 24:1-2 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
Lk7:36-59 Whoever has been forgiven much, will love much. Your faith has saved you, go in peace.
Lk 13:25-30 you shall weep and gnash your teeth when you are on the outside looking in.
Mt 23:14 & Lk 20:47 You devour widow’s houses, and make pretence of long prayer. For this you will receive greater damnation.”
Lk 9:56 The son of man is come not to destroy men’s lives but to save them.
Section 15.)
We are still in the process of being created. In this world we are individuals who are coming together to form something greater than ourselves. Our creation cannot be complete until we have come together as one with all people.
In this world we are like molecules of flour, egg, and, water that are coming together to form a loaf of bread, and this world is the oven in which we are being baked, and for us the end of this world will come when we have come together with all other people and when all nations have come together as one, and this is also when Jesus will return to our world, causing this world to end for us. We know this because everything that Jesus teaches us to do is a part of forgiving people who trespass against us, and for this reason everything that Jesus teaches us to do will help us come together with other people, and because we know that if we do all that Jesus tells us to do, harmony, brotherhood, and unity will come to us as easily and as certainly as water flows down a mountain when snow melts on that mountain’s top.
Because we often join together in groups that keep us from joining with people in other groups, temporary division such as the division Jesus tells us he brings to our world, will often be a necessary step toward all of us coming together, but the ultimate goal of all Jesus does, (including bringing us temporary division), is to help us all come together. We know this because Jesus says, “I came that I might save the world.” (Jn 12:47). If the division Jesus brings to our world, were meant to be permanent Jesus would have said that He only came that He might save a part of the world, not the entire world.
Two of the most significant ways in which we can give to all who ask of us, (as Jesus tells us to do in Lk 6:30 (27-36). see also Mt 5:42- 48), are to give people who want to live near us, our assistance in their efforts to move near us, and to move near people we think we can help most. The first of these ways of giving to all who ask of us, is the way we should try hardest to practice, primarily because, given the smallness of our faith, (Mt 6:30, Mt 8:26, Mt 14:31, Mt 16:8, Lk 12:28, & Mt 17:20), the weakness of the flesh this lack of faith leads to in us, (Mt 26:41, LK 22:46, Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4, & Lk 16:9), and our consequent inability to do much good (Lk 18:10-14), we must always try to do whatever good we can do most easily first, and only if we succeed in doing good that is easy for us to do, then try to good that is harder for us to do, and because it is much easier to help someone move near us than to move near that person. Often we should also try harder to help people who need our help move near us, than to move near them, because often we can give more to other people if we and they are living in whatever place is more conducive to human growth, and for those of us from whom much is demanded because we have been given much, (Lk 12:48), being placed in an environment that is more conducive to human growth is often one of the things we have been given, and is one of the things Our Creator demands we share with other people. Sadly, though, we are often prevented doing this by governments that create laws that prevent people from moving freely across national borders (and we are especially burdened by these laws if we are some of the fortunate people who have been given the good fortune to live in wealthy countries, and because of this are some of the people from whom more is expected). Governments we live under also do us great harm by leading us to do violence by encouraging us, and by sometimes trying to force us, to become members of their military and police forces, even though Jesus tells us not to do violence even when violence is done to us. (Mt 5:38-41). These are only the two most obvious ways governments hurt us. Even if governments only harmed us in these ways, though, they would do much more harm to us than could ever be made up for by any good they might do in other areas, and this shows us that we would be better off if there were no governments. For much of human history the vast majority of us have assumed that governments would always exist and would always be powerful, and for this reason have not even considered trying to significantly reduce the power of governments, and this, along with the widespread denial of the fact that governments do us more harm than good, has prevented us from doing much to reduce the size of government because no one can make a change unless that person can first imagine that change and envision that change. These things have been changing recently, though, and for this reason, at this point in history we can significantly reduce the power of government if we are willing to work to do this. At any time we are capable of little good, and what good we are capable of is partly determined by the nature of the cultures and societies we live in. At this point in our history this is part of the little good we are capable of. While Jesus teaches us how we can live wisely under the yoke of governments, He does not tell us that we will be doomed to always suffer under governments, on this earth. While not living as Jesus tells us to live will do us much more harm than governments can ever do to us, governments also do us harm, and we should live without governments as soon as we are able to. If we try to lessen the power of government by resisting governments, though, we will do more harm to ourselves than governments do to us. There are many things we can do to lessen government power without resisting governments, though. One important way is to try to persuade people in governments to stop doing evil to us by speaking out against their evil. Jesus tells us to do this when he says, “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17). Jesus also tells us not to resist governments, but also not to give governments undue power over us, when He says, says to a person who asks if it is lawful to pay tribute to the romans by holding up a coin and asking whose image is on that coin, and after hearing the answer, ‘Caesar’s’ then says “therefore give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and give to God that which is God’s.” (Mt 22:17-21), a part of what Jesus is saying to that person is that when he chose to use Caesar’s money he gave Caesar power over him, so it is foolish to try to fight Caesar when he uses that power. Maybe governments will take whatever we have from us even if we don’t use their money, but if we don’t use their money it will be much harder for them to take from us, and this will reduce their power over us. If we use money, we should try not to use money created by a government. It might be better, though, for us not to use money at all. We must remember that money is a thing of man, and as such it only helps us if it helps us get things of God. If any thing of man does not help us get things of God then it does not help us at all, and then it should be discarded. Jesus tells us never to pursue things of man instead of things of God when He says to Peter, “Get behind me Satan. You are an offence to me because you do not think of things of God, but think instead, of things of men.” (Mt 16:23), and when He says, Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal. Instead, lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not dig through and steal.” (Mt 6:19-23 & Lk 12:33) In order not to give governments the added power over us they gain when we use their money, we must either establish a money supply not controlled by a government, or must live solely by barter and trade so we will not need money. While this will require some effort on our part, it will be worth the effort it will take because of the great harm it will prevent governments from doing to us. There are also many other ways we can stop giving governments undue power over us, without resisting those governments. In most instances these ways will be different forms of not going out of our way to help a government exert control over us. No one form of not helping governments will be necessary for us to make significant moves away from government, but some significant effort will be required of us. Otherwise the momentum that has created governments will lead governments to continue and to grow more powerful, even if most of us wish there were no governments. For example if we do other things to reduce the power of government , then we may be able to move toward eliminating government while still using government money, and we might only move away from government money when we are very close to having no government, by then transferring the control of the money supply to non-governmental groups, or if our government has become a non-governmental group by no longer sponsoring police, military, or penal forces, and no longer uses force or coercion in any way, we might continue to use the same money that had formerly been controlled by a government, and we might never have to establish an alternative money supply. But stopping our use of government money as soon as possible, would help us move away from government. This might also be true of other things governments do, that would help us more than they would hurt us if they were not done by governments. These things might be able to continue unchanged, while government power is reduced in other ways, and eventually they might be transferred to organizations that do not use the force or coercion that all governments use or they might continue as a part of an organization that is no longer a government because it no longer includes police, military, or penal forces, and no longer uses force or coercion in any way.
One of the primary reasons we have a better chance of reducing the power of government now, than people have had in the past is that the idea that we would be better off with no government is much more common and widespread in our society than it has been in the past. This idea has been widespread in our society at least since 1971, When John Lennon, and Yoko Ono made us all realize that the first step toward doing this was freeing our minds from bad habits that led us to assume that governments had to always exist. (While Ono did not perform musically in the song Imagine, the lyrics of that song were taken from poems she had written in the early 60s and had published in her 1965 book, ‘grapefruit’). We must always first be able to imagine a thing before we can do that thing, and if we can imagine living without governments, then with hard work we will be able to live without governments. When Lennon and Ono also urge us to ‘Imagine no heaven’, though, they are not talking about something we can change, regardless of what we imagine. They are also talking about something Jesus knows we will all imagine, because by heaven they only mean a place in which some people will receive rewards after they die, but they are not talking about rewards people can receive in this life. Lennon and Ono showed that they strongly believed in rewards in this life, by making great efforts to act morally by opposing war. Jesus knows that many of us will not believe in rewards after we die, so He also tells us that rewards will come to his followers in this life when He says, “There is no man, who has left house or parents, or wife or children for the kingdom of God’s sake, who will not receive many times more in the present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting” (Lk 18:29-30). And most often Jesus only tells us we will receive rewards for following him, without telling us when those rewards will come. Because He knows our faith will be small, Jesus only cares that we believe enough of what He says to do what Our Creator wants us to do. Jesus tells us that what matters to Him and to Our Creator is what we do, not what we say, when he says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46). Now that over 35 years have passed since Lennon and Ono encouraged us to imagine a world without government in memorable words that I am sure the vast majority of us have heard, and that a majority of us probably heard when we were young and were most open to considering new ideas; Now we should be able to easily imagine a world without governments, and now we should now be able to start moving toward such a world.
While governments sometimes try to do things that would help us more than they would hurt us, if those things were done well, governments will not be able to do those things as well as non-governmental groups, because government actions will be poisoned by government association with military and police forces. Many people who would actively work with, and enthusiastically support non-governmental groups that tried to do the same things, will not work with governments that try to do these things because they know that anything that is done by force will lead to more harm than good. This is the primary reason Jesus tells us not to resist evil. If governments reduce their activities, many of these people will form non-governmental organizations that would do more good and do less harm than governments do. If there are enough well-intentioned people in any society to get a government to do any good thing, then those people would be able to get that thing done, and done much better without government. It is often impossible for an individual person to chose to work outside government, though, because as individuals we usually do not control the resources necessary to establish alternatives to government, but if we work together we can establish these alternatives. Sometimes we imagine that money governments get through taxes allow governments to do more good that non-governmental groups would be able to do. When we do this we underestimate the strength of the support that would come from people who realize that programs that strengthen communities would help us all, if programs that strengthened communities were not associated with government force and violence. We must also realize that tax revenues come at the terrible price of making ourselves subject to government force and coercion, and that this will outweigh any good governments do. When we want to make ourselves feel better about our world, without having to work to improve our world, we also tell ourselves that government sponsored violence sometimes prevents violence from other sources,. We must always remember though, that any use of force will do more harm than good. If this were not so, Jesus would not have said, “resist not evil.” (Mt5:38-48)
Some parts of large nations will inevitably move away from government more quickly than other parts, and because of this large nations will break up into separate nations with more or less government, as a step toward government disappearing throughout that nation. The issue of helping people who want to live near us, move near us, will probably be the issue that will lead nations to break up, because people in some parts of any nation will realize just how harmful national borders are sooner than people in other parts of that nation. Nations are things of man, not things of God, and when we realize they are not helping us get things of God we will discard them as bad habits, our society has outgrown. Throughout history steps toward this have often happened as people have moved from more oppressive governments to less oppressive governments, and every time this has happened doomsayers have predicted that people would wither and perish without the restrictive governments they have abandoned, and every time this has happened history has shown these people have been wrong. Now we are close enough to living freely to foresee the end of all government and to start to move toward that end.
Just as harmful as jobs in which we commit acts of violence are jobs in which we make it easy for ourselves and other people to commit acts of violence by causing ourselves and other people to oversimplify the reality of our world. We all make great efforts to see our world in black and white with few shades of gray because seeing our world in this way allows us to fight at a moments notice, and because we always want to be prepared to fight. If we saw the true complexity of our world we might feel indecision when we want to fight, and this indecision might make us hesitate when we want to act quickly. We mentally handicap ourselves so we will always be prepared to fight. We would be free of this handicap if we followed Jesus by trying not to resist evil, and if as a part of this we did not prepare ourselves to fight. Though we know that we will all resist evil when we are tempted, and that this is why Jesus tells us to pray, “Lord lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Mt 6:5-15 & Lk 11:2-4), we also know that , if we are not prepared to resist evil, then we will keep our evil to a minimum. If we understand Jesus we will see that we do not lose anything by being unprepared to fight because we will see that when we fight we have already displeased Our Creator, and that the outcome of fight can do nothing to change this. We will see that everyone involved in a fight loses that fight, and that no one ever wins a fight. If we do not try to prepare ourselves to fight at a moment’s notice by oversimplifying Our World then we will be able to develop the greatest gift Our Creator has given us, (Our intellects), by seeing and understanding our world as it truly is. Currently most activities people take part in lead us to oversimplify our experience of our world. We try to reduce reality to a false simplicity. Probably most harmfully we oversimplify our experience of our world by listening to oversimplified music rather than listening to music that represents reality as it is. We also oversimplify our experience of our world in nearly every activity that we call entertainment. We tell ourselves that life is such a simple experience and has such simple solutions, that there is almost no need for us to think. We tell ourselves that we are simply good, and that people we want to fight are simply bad. Shades of gray would only make us hesitate. Thinking would only make us hesitate. Through jobs in advertising people do more damage to their intellects and to the intellects of their fellow humans, than people do in any other type of job. Because we want to be fighters, we refuse to be effective thinkers. Avoiding this fate is one of the greatest rewards that Jesus wants us to receive, and is one of the primary reasons Jesus tells us not to resist evil. If we could become peaceful creatures then our thinking would evolve to so much higher a level than we currently know, that what we currently call thinking would seem to be the rudimentary mental activity of a lower form of life. This is easiest to see in the life of Jesus. Because Jesus transcended violence He is able to think far more clearly than the rest of us and the clarity of His thought is the ability that allows Him to teach us more effectively than anyone else can teach us.
If we see how little we are helped by what most people do in their jobs, and if we see how much we are harmed by what most people do in their jobs, we will realize that, in general, people who do not have jobs are much better friends to us than people who do have jobs. While often it is only random circumstance that determines which people have jobs and which people do not, often the reason that some people do not have jobs is that those people have an especially strong desire to help other people or not hurt other people, or have an especially strong desire to follow Jesus closely, because jobs they have tried to work in, (like most jobs in our world), have not allowed them to do those things, and because they have been dissatisfied with those jobs. For any social movement that aims to heal our world to have a chance of succeeding, some of these people must be among the leaders of that movement. This is so because people who do not have jobs because they have been dissatisfied with jobs they have held, because those jobs have not allowed them to help heal our world, have required them to help tear our world apart, or have not allowed them to follow Jesus closely; People like this will see much more clearly than most of us, how fundamentally our world needs to be transformed to be healed, and how fundamentally most of us need change ourselves to follow Jesus more closely. Most people who currently talk about following Jesus foster the delusion that we are all much closer to following Jesus, and to doing what Our Creator wants us to do, than we are, and foster the delusion that what most of us must do to follow Jesus’ more closely, is live in more traditional ways, and allow people above us in social hierarchies to control us more completely than we presently do, when in truth what we need to do to follow Jesus more closely is the opposite of this. We need to realize that most of the time living by traditional rules and allowing people above us in social hierarchies to control us, lead us to violate Jesus’ teachings, and realize that we need to do these things less often, to follow Jesus more closely. Most of us have been taught throughout our lives that only minor changes are required to make our world all that it should be, and that the needed changes must come almost exclusively from people who have little power, influence, or status in our social hierarchies, because most of what we have called morality in our world has always been primarily a tool we have used to try to control each other, rather than trying to improve our lives by changing our own behavior, and because people with more power in social hierarchies have been able to present their view of ‘morality’ (which stated that other people needed to change much more than they needed to change), more effectively than people with less power due to their greater access to education, and more loudly than people with less power due to their greater ability to control media. As a part of this most of us have been taught that only small incremental changes can help our world, and most of us have been so thoroughly indoctrinated by ubiquity of this message that most of us cannot even envision the scope of the changes our world needs, without automatically feeling that any change as radical as this, must be bad for our world, (as we have been thoroughly taught to feel). Most of what we hear, and see in our world, (and especially most of what is produced by people who have more power in our world), is a part of the indoctrination that causes most of us to feel strong emotions against the radical change our world must undergo to be healed; a change that will occur if any significant number of people in our world ever try to follow the teachings of Jesus. Most of us also refuse to see the true extent of the changes required for us to come close to following Jesus, because most of us do not want to do the work we will have to do to make these changes. While radical change has sometimes led to very negative consequences in the past, the radical change that will occur if any significant number of people in our world try to follow Jesus; This radical change will lead to only positive consequences. None of us can envision the extent of these positive consequences because we have only seen the broken world in which we live, and for this reason cannot see what our world will be like if it is ever healed. While none of us can see what our world will be like if it is healed, we can see how to heal our world, if we allow ourselves to see how Jesus teaches us to live, and only people who have broken free from the indoctrination that keeps most of us from seeing how far we are from where we need to be if we want to significantly improve our lives; only those people will be able to see how much we need to change ourselves. For people who have broken free of this indoctrination, to be able to lead social movements that will only be able to heal our world if they make the fundamental changes that only these people will call for, these people must have access to resources that will allow them to work efficiently in helping to start such a movement. Sadly, though, just the opposite of this is the reality of our world. People who do not want to work in jobs because those jobs do not allow them accomplish good things they want to accomplish, are usually deprived of the most basic resources they need to effectively start a social movement, or to even work effectively, as they are often not even able to maintain good health because they often cannot get enough food to eat, often cannot find heated places to live or find shelter, and often cannot find places in which they can sleep well enough to maintain good health. I am speaking of people who experience homelessness. Even many people who become homeless, solely as result of accidental circumstance and not because of any dissatisfaction with work they have had, will be among the leaders of most movements that will be able to help heal the wounds of our world, because as a consequence of the experience of being homeless, these people will also see much more clearly than most of us how fundamentally our world needs to be transformed to be healed, and because activities they will lead us to take that will heal our world, will also lead us all to follow Jesus more closely, even if they lead us to do these things for reason’s other than trying to follow Jesus. The radical change we need to make to follow Jesus requires us to change thing of man that have become a part of us, not to change things of God. Things of man are anything people have created, including all of the messages, stories, images, songs, films, and all of the other cultural artifacts that become parts of us by controlling most of what we think. Our minds as God created them, are one of the greatest gifts we have been given, but our minds as they have been degraded by the influence of things of man, are greatly diminished things that are only gruesome reminders of the glory God intends for us. Each human mind is immeasurably valuable, just as each human person is immeasurably valuable, because we all have the potential to return to the path of glory God intends for us, but if we do not set ourselves on the path to realizing this potential, by trying as hard as we can to forgive all people we believe have trespasses against us, and by trying as hard as we can not to judge any people, then we will be judged on the basis of what we are, not on the basis of what we can become. If we are judged on the basis of what we can become we will be given all we need and all we ask for, as Jesus tells us when He says, “Ask, and it will be given you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8 & Lk 11:9-10), “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14:14), see also Lk 7:50. But if we are judged on the basis of what we are, we will perish. (Mt 13:49-50, Mt 18:23-35, Mt 16:25, Lk 9:24, Mt 25:31-46, Lk 13:23-24, , Lk 17:23, Mt 10: 39, , Mt 25:14-30, Mt 7:19). We will only be able to start to develop the potential that exists within us if we pursue things of God instead of things of man. Jesus tells us how important it is for us to do this when He says to his disciple Peter “You offend me because you think of things of men instead of things of God.” (Mt 16:23). If things of man do not help us get things of God they must be fundamentally overhauled until they do help us get things of God, and we will only be able to make the fundamental changes that are needed to do this if we follow those among us who are best able to see that wholesale changes are needed. (and in today’s world we are most likely to find such people among the homeless.) For the near future, though, it will be hard for these people to assume the role as leaders that we all need them to assume, because for the near future most homeless people will probably still be deprived of the good health that would allow them to work effectively.. This must be compensated for by their joining in a symbiotic relationship with people who have better health, to start the movements that will be able to heal our world. Because poor health deprives most homeless people of mental agility, until this changes, homeless people must play the role of enunciating general principles that will guide movements that will be able to heal our world (a role they will be uniquely able to play because of their experiences and perspective), and people with better health must use their greater mental agility to work out the details of applying these principles to the many situations in which different people will try to live by them. The success of these movements, though, will be small, and slow to come to fruition, compared to the success we will have in healing our world, if the majority of homeless people in our world are able to maintain good health. We must all see homeless people as people possessed of the reckless courage our word needs. (a courage that has led them to act on the basis of principles they held dear, even when doing so led to negative consequences for them, and we must see that people like this are our world’s most valuable resource, and are critical to the successful healing our world needs to experience. Every person who wants to help heal our world should try to attract as many homeless people as possible to their city, and must try to help these people gain the good health that will allow them to work effectively. This will only be accomplished, if we realize how poor the health of homeless people is, and if we realize that less than ideal solutions are needed to help them regain enough health to work effectively. The primary obstacle to good health for most homeless people is a shortage of food, to address this problem we will have to sometimes provide food that would not be the healthiest choice for a person with enough to eat. When a person is starving, though, any food is better than no food, and often the food that a starving person needs most immediately will be high fat, high calorie food. For this reason, at least in the near future, the way in which we can do the most to improve the health of homeless people, is to find McDonald’s restaurants near city parks that homeless people can sleep in, in good weather, near apartments for homeless people, or near shelters at which homeless people are treated with dignity and respect, and establish at these McDonald’s restaurants free tabs that will allow anyone to come in at any time and order item’s off the McDonald’s Dollar menu, and be able to charge these items to this tab at no cost. In fairness to McDonald’s restaurant owners, people who establish these tabs must pay for these tabs in advance, and if food is ordered up to the amount paid on these tabs, must pay more toward these tabs as soon as possible. (and hopefully will have paid enough in advance so there will never come a must pay restaurant owners a fair service charge. Any of us who have known hunger, know that without a kitchen stocked with food, the McDonald’s dollar menu double cheeseburger sandwich, and McChicken sandwich are probably the two best ways of staving off starvation in our nation. Anyone concerned that these tabs might be misused or exploited must remember that the desire to prevent exploitation, is the greatest barrier to effectively helping each other. Jesus tells us to disregard concerns about misuse or exploitation when He says, “Give to every one who asks of you, and do not ask one who takes from you to give anything back.” (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48). Our world will only be healed when a large number of us can give this freely. One of the reason’s these tabs will do more to help most homeless people work efficiently than current meal sites will, is that the city parks they will be near to, will probably be among the most effective places for people involved in social movement that aims to heal our world, to meet for that movements to have a good chance of succeeding. Another reason is that city parks in combination with nearby public libraries that provide working public computers, will be conducive to effective work to prepare and plan for, and to direct these movements because of the combination of the physical beauty of the parks, and the access to writing tools, and tools to distribute information at the libraries. Free tabs for food from McDonald’s dollar menu’s will also help homeless people work more effectively than current meal sites do, because homeless people currently have to spend most of their time and energy walking back and forth between different meal sites, and homeless shelters. Eventually meal sites that address these concerns by serving food every time people they serve need to eat, and by being located close to, city parks, public libraries, and free apartments for homeless people; eventually meal sites that do this should replace free tabs for food from McDonald’s menus. Until this happens, though, establishing free tabs for food from McDonald’s dollar menus is the way in which most of us can do the most to help heal our world.
Because of the weakness of our faith, and the weakness of our faith, and the weakness of the flesh, and the constant backsliding it leads to, If our society is fundamentally transformed so most of us can receive rewards Jesus tells us of, it will quickly revert to a corrupted state, and will soon need =to be fundamentally transformed again if we hope to receive rewards Jesus tells us of. For this reason our society will need to be in a state of constant transformation that will only come from the establishment of permanent revolution in our world. Though the term ‘permanent revolution has been used as a justification for oppressing people it is a valuable concept that has only been discredited because it has been used by people who actually did the exact opposite of what they claimed to do by creating a power structure that was especially resistant to change. (The tendency to claim to do the opposite of what we actually do, is one of humanity’s most enduring traits.). In order to create a state in which our world is constantly transformed in a way that will allow most of us to receive rewards Jesus tells us of, many more of us must devote our energies to determining what changes are needed in our society. For unwise change could easily transform our society without improving our lives, and would sometimes even make our lives worse. Currently the only group of people in our world, the majority of whom see how fundamentally our world needs to be transformed is the group of home; less people in our world. This must change. Most importantly the academic community in our world must devote it self to determining the nurture of the fundamental change that is needed in our world. Today people in the academic community learn many things that could guide our world’s transformation if they were used to do so, but that are instead seldom used to improve our world, and are often used to make our world a worse place to live.
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Three of the teachers who teach many of the same lessons Jesus teaches, are John Steinbeck, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,
At the end of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ John Steinbeck’s Tom Joad says, “Wherever there is a person who needs my help, I’ll be there.
Martin Luther King Jr. says that, “Each of us must choose to walk either in the creative light of altruism or in the destructive darkness of selfishness. This is the final judgement. Life’s most persistent question is what are you doing for others?”
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - Loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend.
MLK Jr Compassion and non-violence help us to see the enemy’s point of view … If we are mature we may learn and profit and grow from the wisdom of
brothers who are called the opposition.
Gandhi Non-violence leads to humility. Non-violence means reliance on God.
If we would seek His aid we must approach Him with a humble and contrite
heart.
MLK Jr. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
There is some good in the worst of us, and there is some evil in the best of
us. When we discover this we are less prone to hate our enemies.
MLK Jr. Love is the refusal to defeat any man.
Gandhi The aftermath of non-violence is the creation of the beloved community,
while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness.
MLK Jr. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God.
Gandhi Hatred ever kills, love never dies
Gandhi Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Gandhi Suffering cheerfully endured ceases to be suffering
Gandhi A life of sacrifice is the pinnacle of art and is full of true joy.
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One of the most important examples of people who do not speak against Jesus’ teachings, but who are often misunderstood when they encourage people to question the false Christianity they have been taught, is the musical group Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin never said anything against Jesus’ teachings, but they do seem to mock t-he false Christianity that leads many people to believe that saying the word “Jesus” will give them magical powers, And they did seem to tell people to question the false security they thought they had gained by saying Jesus’ name. In criticizing the false Christianity of worshipping only Jesus’ name Led Zeppelin joined Jesus who told us that His words were more important than His name, almost 2,000 years ago when He said, “Blasphemy against the Son Of Man will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Mt 12:32 & Lk 12:10). The Son of Man is Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ teachings and the help Our Creator gives to people who try to follow Jesus. Jesus also tells us that Our Creator cares about what we do, not what we say, when He says, “Not all who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. On the day of judgement, Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?, and in your name cast out demons?, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you workers of iniquity.” (Mt 7:21-23: see also Lk 6:46).
The reason Led Zeppelin is important to people who want to follow Jesus, is that Led Zeppelin, through their music, illustrates Jesus’ teaching that great joy can only come from great sacrifice, and shows us through the medium of high art how it will feel to make difficult sacrifices and to experience the joy this will allow us to know. Jesus teaches that great joy can only come from great sacrifice when He says, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it lives alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. (Jn 12:24). Led Zeppelin shows us often in their music, examples of people who come to know joy by renouncing desires that had led them to suffering, and Led Zeppelin shows us how it will feel to make the difficult sacrifices that will be required to bring about joy, and to then experience the joy this will allow us to know. Led Zeppelin shows us often that great joy will only come to people who renounce destructive desires, and shows us how hard it will be for us to renounce these desires. First, though Led Zeppelin shows us what can happen when we do not renounce destructive desires. Led Zeppelin started as a blues band, and one of the primary themes of blues music is that desire can often lead us to bad places (especially sexual desire). This was the theme of Led Zeppelin’s first album. The protagonist of this album was led to great suffering by his desire, just as zeppelins have often been led to destruction by forces that guided them into obstacles. On their second album Led Zeppelin renounced a destructive desire by telling a woman who had caused the protagonist of the song “Heartbreaker”, great suffering to “go away”, and then released some of the anger this had caused this protagonist to feel, and some of the energy that renouncing this destructive desire had liberated, in the song “Living Loving Maid”. Then Led Zeppelin renounced the desire to remain in a pleasant place in the song ‘ramble on.’ After this Led Zeppelin expresses the joy that comes to a person who renounces a destructive desire in the songs ‘Moby Dick’, and ‘Bring it on Home. Before Led Zeppelin renounced these destructive desires, they had portrayed the confusion leading to tension and suffering, that comes from pursuing destructive desire in the first three songs of this album, and then insert the song ‘Thank You’ as an interlude before ‘heartbreaker’ to remind us that in reality Led Zeppelin already knew how to find joy by renouncing destructive desires, and could renounce their desires so easily that their renunciation would not even be visible to an observer, and that because of this, joy could sometimes seem to come with no effort on their part as it does in the song ‘Thank You.’ The specific example of destructive desire that Led Zeppelin portrays in this album, is the destructive desire of a man for a woman who treats him badly, so in the specific situation they portray Led Zeppelin is saying on the first three songs of this album, ‘Look at how bad things can be for a man controlled by his desire for a hurtful woman’, then Led Zeppelin shows a man breaking free from his desire for a woman who hurts him, and finally Led Zeppelin shows how much better life can be for a man after he does this. Because the example of a man controlled by a woman who hurts him is predominant in blues music, it is also predominant in Led Zeppelin’s music, but Led Zeppelin makes it clear that this is just one form of destructive desire from which need to be liberated, by also showing other destructive desires. Many people have failed to see this and have felt that Led Zeppelin’s music bore a particular animus toward women. This is wholly untrue. Women are sometimes hurtful in led Zeppelin’s songs, but they are also sometimes very helpful in other songs. It all depends on the individual woman, just as the qualities of hurtfulness or helpfulness always reside in individuals and never in groups. Later in their career Led Zeppelin also portrayed the destructive desire of false Christianity for illusory rewards that false Christians hoped to obtain without living as Jesus teaches us to live. This desire is even more dangerous because it will lead to even greater suffering, and for this reason Led Zeppelin provides its listeners an even greater service by showing the dangers of this desire and the need to break free from it in the songs ‘In my time of Dying’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven.’
Led Zeppelin also helps us follow Jesus’ command to think of things of God, instead of thinking of things of men, by helping us develop the greatest thing of God we know: our intellects. Any time we listen to music based on complex patterns and produced by using many different sounds, such as Led Zeppelin’s music, we develop our brains by stimulating electrons in our brains to travel by new neural pathways, and by thus making it easier for us to use those neural pathways in the future.
It is easiest to see Led Zeppelin’s illustration of the message that joy can only come from sacrifice if we arrange Led Zeppelin’s songs to form seven musical journeys that show us how the pain of sacrifice will lead us to joy. These seven musical journeys form Led Zeppelin’s septalogue. Led Zeppelin, of course produced many more than seven musical journeys. (they recorded 72 songs in all, though most of these songs were parts of album sides that were musical journeys, rather than being musical journeys by themselves.), but each album they released usually illustrated many different themes in different sections, with different songs on each album expressing the recurring themes of sacrifice pain and joy, in different musical styles. Putting songs expressing the same theme from different albums next to each other shows the theme they are expressing even more clearly than each song does individually and often listening to songs that express joy immediately after songs that show great tribulation shows more powerfully the connection between the two which one sees most clearly by viewing Led Zeppelin’s career as one great journey in which early albums focus more on tribulation and later albums focus more on joy. Putting songs from different albums next to each other also allows us to experience individual parts of this journey more powerfully when we hear songs that express the same theme in different musical styles immediately before and after each other. While a septalogue of seven Led Zeppelin musical journeys often puts these songs together, it also maintains Led Zeppelin’s aim of producing a first album that focuses almost wholly on the suffering harmful desires can lead us to (in which Led Zeppelin restated the theme of traditional blues music), and also maintains Led Zeppelin’s tendency to focus more on joy and less on tribulation in their later albums. The fact that Led Zeppelin’s music produces the material for seven journeys illustrates their awareness that joy cannot be maintained by rejecting a harmful desire once, but can only be maintained by rejecting harmful desires again and again, throughout ones life. For this reason Led Zeppelin’s career as a whole evokes the image of a Sisyphus who rolls a stone up a hill every morning, and who experiences intense joy throughout the rest of every day, but who has to roll that stone up the same hill, again with each new day. Each of the seven logues in Led Zeppelin’s septalogue is named for the image most strongly evoked by that logue. The seven logues correlate to the seven days of the week. The first logue should be listened to on the first day of the week, the second logue on the second day, and so on until the week ends and this cycle starts over again at the beginning of the next week just as Sisyphus starts over again every morning. Any person who prints the septalogue presented below, (or who views a print preview screen), will notice that the seven logues in order form a near circle that represents the counterclockwise reflection of Jimmy Page’s arm traveling a near circle every time he strikes one of the power chords in the heart of ‘The Song Remains the Same’ This image should be superimposed over each week so we think of each week as one circle of this chord with a pause after that chord, as there is a pause after each of these power chords in this song., and then another chord for every week we live, just as the chords in ‘the Song Remains the Same’ follow one another to reproduce the rhythm on which all life rides and is sustained.
I believe that the Led Zeppelin Septalogue week should start on tuesday because Tiw was the Norse God of war (and because in Romance languages this day is named for their God of War, Mars) Mars was the God of War),and because the first logue in Led Zeppelin’s septalogue shows great suffering as there is great suffering in war, because the beginning of the second logue shows a person still ensnared by destructive desire as a fly in a spiders web, because this man is like a man who is dead and who will soon be brought to life when he cuts himself loose, and because wednesday is named for Woden, the Norse God of Death, (and because in Romance languages this day is named for Mercury, the messenger who brings news of death), because the power of the renunciation of the third logue reminds us of the power of Thor’s hammer, (and I Nations that speak Romance languages, reminds us of the power of Jupiter’s lightning bolts), and for this reason is best listened to on thursday, because the fourth logue is even more evocative of a violent journey through death to life, and for this reason reminds us of the suffering that Jesus knew on a friday, because the fifth logue is the logue in which our minds catch up with our emotions in the renunciation we must perform, and because saturday is the day on which our minds must comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ life if we hope to be able to celebrate on sunday, because the sixth logue is the most celebratory of all logues in the septalogue, and because on the seventh day we must ride the wave of life that has been created throughout the six preceding days for one day before we start to recreate this wave with the new week because doing this requires humor and perspective, and remembering the strength of our previous renunciation, because these qualities are the hallmarks of the seventh logue with ‘Black Country Woman’ showing the use of humor and perspective in the place of the more powerful renunciations that we experienced on previous days just as the moon is like a memory of the sun that had preceded it, and with ‘In The Light’ reminding us of our earlier renunciations by showing a renunciation that is like our earlier ones but less powerful, and then we end our week with more celebration at the end of this logue, until we feel fully sated after ‘in the evening’, and night flight’ and feel ready to collapse into a deep sleep knowing we will start our journey again when we awake.
Led Zeppelin Septalogue
The music of Led Zeppelin shows us that we must accept loss to know joy and shows us how we can come through the pain of loss to find joy.
Logue I Caught in the Web (55:19)
(to be listened to every Tuesday)
1 Good Times Bad Times 2:43
2 Sick Again 4:38
3 Dyer Maker 4:17
4 No Quarter 7:03
5 Black Dog 4:50
6 Tea for One - 9:20
7 Your Time is Gonna Come - 4:40
8 Black Mountain Side - 2:03
9 Communication Breakdown - 2:26
10 I Can’t Quit You Baby - 4:39
11 How Many More Times - 8:22
Logue II Cutting Loose (?53:00)
(to be listened to every Wednesday)
1 Whole Lotta Love - 5:29
2 What is and What Should Never Be - 4:42
3 Friends - q 3:54
4 Misty Mountain Hop - q 4:38 / vpn 4 Sticks
5 Royal Orleans - q 2:58
6 The Lemon Song - 6:17
7 Heartbreaker - 4:13
8 Livin Lovin Maid - 2:39
9 Ramble On - 4:34
10 Moby Dick - 4:20
11 Hots On For Nowhere - 4:42
12 The Ocean - 4:19
Logue III Renouncing (54:11)
(to be listened to every Thursday)
1 The Immigrant Song - 2:25
2 For Your Life – 6:26
3 Since I’ve Been Loving You - 7:29
4 Tangerine - 3:10
5 Kashmir - 8:40
6 Babe I’m Gonna Leave You - 6: 43
7 Dazed and Confused - 6:29
8 That’s the Way - 5:39
9 When The Levee Breaks - 7:10
Logue IV Getting Up (53:40)
(to be listened to every Friday)
1 Celebration Song - 3:32
2 Nobody’s Fault But Mine - 6:22
3 Out on the Tiles - 4:10
4 Rock and Roll - 3:40
5 You Shook Me - 6:28
6 Goin To California - 3:38
7 In My Time of Dying - 11:17
8 The Song Remains the Same - 5:29
9 The Wanton Song - 4:13
10 Bring it on Home - 4:21
Logue V Letting Go (?55:25)
(to be listened to every Saturday)
1 Four Sticks - q 4:45
2 Gallows Pole - q 4:56
3 Achilles Last Stand - q 10:22
4 Hats off to Harper - q 3:42
5 The Battle of Evermore - q 5:52
6 Stairway to Heaven - q 8:03
7 Ten Years Gone - q 6:33
four seconds
8 Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp q - 4:16
9 Bron-Yr-Aur - q 2:06
10 Over the Hills and Far Away - q 4:50
Logue VI Avalon (57:11)
(to be listened to every Sunday)
1 Southbound Suarez - 4:12
2 Houses of the Holy - 4:02
3 Fool in the Rain - 6:11
4 Hot Dog - 3:28
5 The Rain Song - 7:37
6 Carouselambra - 10:32
7 Custard Pie - 5:12
8 Trampled Underfoot - 5:34
9 All Of My Love - 5:50
10 I’m Gonna Crawl - 5:28
Logue VII Riding the Wave (?54:27)
(to be listened to every Monday)
1 Dancin Days 3:43
2 The Rover 5:37
3 Candy Store Rock - 4:07
4 The Crunge - 3:17
5 Black Country Woman - 4:32
6 Down by the Seaside - 5:16
7 Thank You - 4:49
8 In The Light - 8:46
9 Boogie With Stu - 3:53
10 In The Evening - 6:50
11 Night Flight - 3:37
I approach the “free software”, freeware, “open-source”, conversation from the perspective of a person who wants to determine how each of these practices can help us follow the commands, “Give to all who ask of you, and do not ask for anything in return from one who takes from you”1, and “Give alms, provide yourself with treasure in the heavens”2. Both of which were given by my spiritual master, Jesus Christ. I am new to the concepts of “free software”, freeware, “open-source”, conversation, and I want to learn as much as I can about these practices. Because of My inexperience I may have some misconceptions in this area, but my current impression is that developing free software is, under most circumstances, a more effective way of following the commands of Jesus Christ I have cited, than developing freeware is. I want to know if this is true, and I also want to know if developing “free software” is always a more effective way of “giving to all who ask of us”, and of “giving to the poor”, than developing freeware is. I pose this as an open question to anyone who is concerned with healing the wounds that are tearing our world apart: a goal that will be accomplished if enough of us follow the teachings of Jesus, and to anyone who is concerned with living as Our Creator wants us to live. I hope to hear from every person who has an opinion on this matter, (or from as many people as possible). Based on my current level of understanding, I understand that the most significant difference between “free software” and freeware is that in the case of freeware the creator of this software maintains control of the source code with which this software has been created. Under what circumstances, if any, might doing this allow that software’s creator to give more to the poor? Might it allow that software’s creator to make future improvements to that software that would allow it to help the poor more, that that software’s creator would not be able to make if he or she did not maintain control of the source-code with which that software had been created. And if such circumstances might exist, what would lead to those circumstances existing, how often might they exist, and what would indicate to a person developing software if those circumstances were more or less likely to exist with regard to any individual piece of software he or she is considering developing. I know that answering these questions will require a thorough analysis of these issues, but I also know that doing this will be well worth the effort it takes, because answering these questions will allow us to determine how we can best use each of these practices to follow the moral laws of our universe told to us by Jesus of Nazareth. I especially want the help of anyone who has or might in the future be involved in the creation of these types of software. For this reason I will try to present this question and this letter to as many people as possible, and I will try to do this primarily by posting it on a blog I have recently created. Because this blog is new, it has had no visitors, and may for that reason be hard to find, and may not show up on many search engines. I hope that this soon changes, though, so if you are reading this, I ask you to try to answer the questions I have asked, and to try to do whatever you can do to increase the number of other people who see this letter. Whatever the relative merits of “free software” vs. freeware as means of giving to the poor, for either practice to work well will require a massive expansion of public libraries that provide non-obsolete public computers. Public libraries can help us all in so many ways that they should be more common and open longer hours than convenience stores. When this happens both freeware and free software will be effective means of giving to the poor. I would like to hear comments about how we can bring this about. I believe that some sort of a system through which a certain percentage of all software related profits, be voluntarily donated to a public library fund would help make this a reality.
I have not learned many things about these matters, that may seem simple and trivial to most of you who read this. Still, to me they will be new, discoveries and will often be of momentous import. While parts of the questions I ask may seem to be remedial questions to most of you, the questions I ask are also central to the happiness and the well being of the most advanced and knowledgeable of us, because recognizing that any practice, skill, or concept that we consider using, must be considered in terms of whether or not it will help us live by the principles that will allow us to heal our world; (The principles taught by Jesus Christ), is the key to all human happiness. So while I write this letter in part for selfish reasons, I also believe the questions I ask will provide a service to all people who read it.
1. (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48)
2. (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24)
One reason Jesus tells us not to engage in violence, even when evil is done to us, is because violence always begets more violence. One example of this is the violent response of Osama Bin Laden to violence from the United States government. Bin Laden took violent action against people who support the United States government because for well over 20 years the United State government has given overwhelming military support to the undemocratic government of Saudi Arabia, that he has lived under, and by doing this has allowed this government to successfully use force out down efforts to change it. When we gave Military support to the Saudi Government, we joined every fight it takes part in,. and we made the enemies of that government our enemies, and we did not show love to our enemies, as Jesus commands. Knowing that we have done this it is unreasonable not to expect similar actions to be taken toward us. For many yeas we have been attacking Saudi people, who opposed the government we supported militarily, and then we act surprised when some of the people we have attacked respond in kind and take violent action against us. We should have expected to be the recipients of violence from the moment we first gave military aid to any government, and for every moment since. That violence will beget more violence is a law as certain as any law of physics. We cannot predict exactly when or where this violence will occur, or exactly what form it will take, but we know it will come. In this way violence is like an earthquake or other natural disaster, and if the underlying causes that lead to violence are not changed, them violence is just as inevitable as any natural disaster. If we had wanted to avoid being victims of violence, we should not have initiated violence to begin with. It would be nice for us if Bin Laden loved his enemies because we have made ourselves his enemy, but we cannot ask any one to love us, if we show our lack of love for that person by violently attacking that person, as we have attacked Bin Laden. , If Bin Laden had learned how to live wisely from Jesus he would have acted differently than he has, but the same is even more true of the United States government because Bin Laden’s violence was only a response to United States violence.
In order to encourage early Christians he wrote to, not to resist violence that governments were doing to them, did to them, Paul said that governments that did violence to them had been ordained by God. When Paul said this he was also saying that governments that were practicing this violence were ordained not to have Christians working for them or with them, and that people in these governments were probably also ordained to suffer great punishment for not following Jesus. Many people misunderstand Paul’s words to mean that they can follow Jesus and still take part in government-sponsored violence. This is not an honest mistake, though, because even if a person misunderstands Paul, we all know that Jesus tells us not to resist evil, and we cannot misunderstand this command form Jesus. Treating people other than Jesus as authorities equal to Jesus often leads us to misunderstand Jesus when we misunderstand those people. We should also never treat anyone other than Jesus as an authority equal to Jesus because only Jesus is always correct and anyone else can be in error. Paul, Any of the disciples, or any other writers of the new testament are only people like us who are trying to understand Jesus, and in order not to be misled by them, we should only read their words in conjunction with Jesus, words, and we should only follow their teachings if we can see how they resonate with and reinforce what Jesus says. To imagine that any person other than Jesus could be an infallible authority like Jesus, is to tempt our faith in a dangerous and unnecessary way. It is hard enough for us to believe that Jesus is always right, (whenever we do not live as Jesus tells us to live, This is because at that moment we do not believe Jesus when he tells us that following Him will bring us greater rewards than suffering.), that to try to believe that anyone else is always right is simply to encourage ourselves to lie and say we believe what we do not believe. Though we will also sometimes lie in saying we believe Jesus when we do not believe Him,, this is more than made up for by the benefits that will come to us if w try to follow Jesus’ true teachings because trying to follow Jesus gives us our best chance of doing what Our Creator wants us to do. This is not true of anyone else.
We will be able to do much more of what Jesus tells us to do if we try to do all that Jesus tells us to do, than we will be able to do if we only try to do part of what Jesus tells us to do. This is so because doing any thing Jesus tells us to do, will help us do other things Jesus tells us to do. This is easiest to see when we recognize how selling what we have and giving to the poor will help us not resist evil. Selling what we have and giving to the poor will help us not resist evil by decreasing the amount of evil other people will try to do to us. When other people try to do great evil to us, and when we fear that other people will try to do great evil to us, we will all try to resist evil. The best chance we have of not resisting evil most of the time is to hope that little evil is done to us, and to try not to imagine false evil where no evil exists. This is why Jesus tells us to pray, “Lord lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Every time other people try to do evil to us, and every time we fear that other people will try to do evil to us, we will be tempted to resist, and if our temptation is great, we will resist and by doing so we will do evil, and the evil we will do will hurt us much more than any evil other people could do to us. This is so because when we do evil, we harden our hearts against the victims of our evil, and against all people we might want to do evil to in the future. By doing this we make it harder for ourselves to forgive other people when they do evil to us, and we make ourselves less likely to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness. Not receiving Our Creator’s forgiveness would do far greater harm to us than any evil other people could ever do to us. If we hope to receive Our Creator’s forgiveness we must try to overcome the temptation to resist evil whenever we are tempted, but more importantly we must hope that we do not know great temptation, by hoping that other people seldom try to do evil to us. If we have great material riches other people will try to do much more evil to us than they would try to do otherwise, but if we sell all that we have and give to the poor, then other people will try to do less evil to us than they would try to do under any other circumstances.. They will do this because they will want to take our material riches from us. Sometimes people who have less in material goods than we have will try to do this, but more often it will be people who have more than we have, who will try to take material riches from us. Selling all that we have and distributing to the poor will also reduce the amount of evil other people will do by allowing many poor people to avoid work that would lead them to do evil. This is easiest to when we realize that most people who work in military and police forces do so in part because of their need for money, and that these people violate Jesus’ command not to resist evil during their best moments at work, and that often they initiate evil as a part of their work. If no one ever had to do violence to earn money, most of the fighting in our world would end. We would all sometimes still fight for personal reasons, but times that we fight for personal are far rarer than times we fight in order to keep jobs that we need in order to avoid material poverty. Selling all that we have and distributing to the poor will also help us in other ways. Jesus tells us this when He says, “Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal. Instead, lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not dig through and steal.” (Mt 6:19-23 & Lk 12:33). And Jesus tells us this again when He tells us of a man, who had gathered great worldly wealth, and who enjoyed thinking about the things he had. “’You fool’, said God to this man, ‘Tonight your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be.’ So it is with anyone, who lays up treasure for himself, but is not rich toward heaven” (Lk 12:15-21), and when he says to His disciple Peter, “Get behind me Satan. You are an offence to me because you do not think of things of God, but think instead of things of men.” (Mt 16:23). Selling all that we have and distributing to the poor would help us so much that if we were able to sell all we have and distribute to the poor then we would also be able to do everything else Jesus tells us to do. This is true of many of Jesus’ commands. For example if we were able to always forgive people who trespass against us, then we would also be able to do everything Jesus tells us to do, And if we were able to give to all who ask of us and ask for nothing in return this too would make us able to do all that Jesus tells us to do.
The command to “sell all that we have and distribute to the poor”, does not refer only to material possessions but also refers to every ability we possess, to every bit of energy we possess, and to our lives themselves. We are to sell every thing we have for the poor. One person may be able to help the poor most by accumulating material wealth and then selling that wealth and distributing to the poor, while another person may be able to help the poor most by dedicating his or her life to the service of the poor. Selling all that we have means that we are to develop whatever abilities in us are most valuable, and then use those abilities to help the poor. otherwise we will only have sold part of what we have. Many people can help the poor most by creating new things that will help the poor and by giving these things to the poor. For example creating a high quality free library near where poor people live, can often be the way in which a person can give the most to the poor. So also can writing a book that helps poor people learn how to live wisely and giving copies of this book or internet access to this book to the poor, or creating a work of art that helps poor people learn how to live wisely. Protecting our natural environment is another way of giving to the poor. These ways of giving to the poor will often also help people who are not poor, because the elements of a good life are the same for all people. If they do this, then this is an added benefit. They must help the poor, though, if we hope to follow Jesus’ command, and if we hope to receive rewards Jesus tells us of, and avoid punishments Jesus tells us of. Whether or not this is the way in which a particular person can give the most to the poor depends on the abilities that person has been given, and depends on the circumstances of that person’s life. Jesus says to us, “To whoever much is given. Much will be demanded of that person.” This tells us that our abilities determine what Our Creator expects of each of us.
Our world’s culture of violence originates in the interactions between parents and children and the interactions between teachers and students. Most parents expect children to be irrational beings and treat them as such allowing their primary mode of interaction with children to be rules, intimidation, yelling, threats, and violence, (all the tools of the jailer), and most teachers treat students in the same way. Then most people meet the expectations parents and teachers have of them by allowing themselves to become irrational beings who will respond only to rules, intimidation, yelling, threats, and violence, and this sort of person becomes the rule in our society rather than being the exception such people would be in any society that was contributing to the advance of human development and to the realization of human potential, and then most people will only be prevented from hurting other people by the tools of the jailer, when in a society that advanced human development most people would treat other people well for reasons they have freely accepted for reasons they discern through rationality, and only a small minority of people who deviated from that society’s norm would only treat people well when controlled through intimidation, yelling, threats or violence. Most people in a society based on force rather than rationality, (including most people in most if not all societies in our world today), will see the world as an irrational struggle that often erupts into violence, in which most of these people will only chose to refrain from criminal behavior because they know that engaging in criminal behavior makes them more likely to become victims of violence, but will instead engage only in the government sponsored violence of military and police forces, rather than believing that the legal code their society has chosen should be followed because they believe that code fosters human development and the realization of human potential, and because they believe that code is the result of a process that is designed to change and improve it whenever it does not promote these things. Currently our society is caught in a destructive cycle that will only lead to ever greater human suffering until eventually all our descendants either flee that society, kill -themselves, or enact a difficult revolution that will reverse the basic foundations of society, that will be much easier for us to enact today if we do not shirk our responsibility to create a society conducive to human development for our descendants to live in.
Jesus warns us not to create a society based on force rather than rationality when He tells us not to resist evil (Mt 5:39-48 & Lk 6:27-38), and when He tells us to use persuasion but never to use force by saying to us, “If your brother trespasses against you, first tell him his fault in private. If he will not hear you, then go to him again and bring some witnesses with you. If he still will not hear you, then tell it to the church. If he will not hear the church, then let him be as a stranger to you.” (Mt 18:15-17), and these are just some of the negative consequences we suffer from not living as Jesus tells us to live.
Our failure to live in this way is in part a result of the fact that raising children to be rational beings requires more time, energy and mental effort than yelling at those children, and because most parents are overburdened in a society in which both parents in most families work at least 40 hours a week and are forced to spend most of their “free” time preparing for their work, or traveling to and from their place of work, and in which most teachers are forced to spend most of their time baby-sitting a large number of (between 10 and 40) unruly students who because they are used to being yelled at, intimidated, threatened, and sometimes being the victims of violence, will cause serious trouble if an adult does not regularly do these things to them. All people will always be faced with obstacles to happiness though, and if these obstacles disappear new ones will arise. If we overcome these obstacles, then we will be remembered as the heroic first generation that in a meaningful way tried to give their children a better life than they had. We all know this is true because we all know that only changes within a person can truly give that person a better life in any meaningful way, and we all know that the material advances that people in the past have often claimed would improve the lives of their children, have not given those children better lives unless those children have also lived more wisely than their parents did. In spite of the great material advances that have taken place in our world there is no evidence that people alive today are any happier or any more content than people who have lived in the past, and in fact it is likely that at many points in the past people have led much happier lives than most people lead today.
If we realize the importance of healing our world, we will make great efforts to do this, and will make great changes in our world and in our societies. The first way we will do this is by increasing our emphasis on writing, and on detailed discussions of writing by all people who want to improve our world, and especially by all people who want to be teachers or students. We will increase this focus because writing is the only way we can develop plans that will allow us to improve our world. Each of us will also devote the time in our lives that we currently devote to college education, to developing plans to reform at least part of our world, and to discussing these plans with other people and starting on a course to implement them. This is already supposed to be one of the primary focuses of collegiate education, and would be the primary focus of collegiate education if we analyzed Jesus’ teachings and realized how far our world is from the way it would be if any significant number of people followed Jesus’ commands. If we realized this, the attitude of reforming our world that is partially present during these years, would not die away throughout the rest of our lives, as we tried to make ourselves more and more content with our world as it is, but our focus on reform would only grow stronger as our years grew more advanced. If many people’s plans for reforming part of our world, end up being similar to each other, that will be a good sign because the changes our world needs must each take place hundreds of millions of times in each different part of our world to be able to transform the hearts, souls, and minds of every person in our world.
Section 16.)
We can only get any thing if we first admit that we do not already have that thing.
This is most important to us with regard to our attempts to obtain the goodness that comes from truly trying to follow Jesus’ teachings. We can only obtain the goodness that comes from truly following Jesus’ teachings if we first admit that we do not already have this goodness, (if we first admit that we are evil beings, not good beings.) Though this seems so obvious that we would think all people would always realize it, sadly this is the primary obstacle to people gaining goodness or wisdom. It is even more important that we admit this about communities we belong to, than it is that we admit this about ourselves as individuals, because most of the evil we do, is done because we follow commands given to us by people who belong to the same communities we belong to. This is most true of nations and states we belong to. For many reasons it is most important that people who belong to the nation the United States see their nation as it truly is and are willing to admit the truth about their nation. The most important truth about the United States of America is that from the time the United States became deeply involved in Vietnam up to and including the present time the United States has been the greatest force for evil in our world. For a time the Soviet Union may have tried to do as much evil as we have done, but was never able to do so. Since the United States became deeply involved in Vietnam, (In the mid 1960s), The United States has been the aggressor in every fight and conflict we have been involved in. This is easiest to see with regard to the fights the United States is currently involved in. For over 20 years before September 11, 20001, the United States had been giving overwhelming Military support to the undemocratic government of Saudi Arabia, which this government then used to suppress any popular attempt to create a government responsive the people of Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden came from a powerful Saudi family, and if not for the United States, would certainly have devoted his energies to matters closer to his heart, as would most other members of Al Qaida. So it is clear to all people that by giving overwhelming military aid to the Saudi royal family The United States started its fight withy Al Qaeda just as the United States has used similar methods to start many other fights, all around our world. The only reason most residents of the United States have failed to see this, is that Bush has been so bold in his lies that residents of the United /states have been debating Bush’s lie that Al Qaeda supported Saddam Hussein, while ignoring the fact that We started our fight with Al Qaeda. Each star in the flag of the United States represents an orb of the fiery evil we have spread throughout our world, And most of the evil committed by most Americans has come from support most Americans have given to the United States government, and especially to the United States Military. I try to love every member of the United States military, just as I try to love all people, and I pray for every member of the military just as I pray for any member of a violent gang. That is one of the reasons I speak honestly about the dangers and about the unchristian nature of the United States; for the sake of all the people who take part in United States sponsored evil, as well as for the sake of their victims. I am also honest about thus because I an always honest; even when I cannot see directly how it will help people because I have faith that honesty will always help people who are honest and people their actions affect, more than it will hurt those people, in the same way that I have faith that trying to follow Jesus will always help people who try to follow Jesus and people their actins affect, more than it will hurt people.
So should we ignore the United Stats as a land hostile to Jesus and try to establish a Christian society elsewhere. No we should not do this for a number of reasons. First because over 300 million people, (including me), live in the United States, and if we do not live as Jesus teaches us to live, our suffering will be great and our rewards small. Second because like the United States, all nations are evil because all nations are based on coercion and for this reason are hostile to Jesus. and because all people are evil and are hostile to Jesus. And third and fourth because The United States due to it’s great power should be able to become the first nation to overcome the fear that keeps all of us from following Jesus’ command not to resist evil, and due to it’s great wealth and it’s location, is the place where the different cultures of our world will be most likely to come together to form a new culture that will be stronger than any currently existing culture, and that is the pinnacle toward which all human history has been building. The only difference of any significance that currently exists between eastern and western cultures in our world is that western cultures have developed religions (including Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Islam) that focus more on ways in which Our Creator is separate from our world by focusing on commands Our Creator gives us, while eastern cultures have developed religions (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto), that focus more on ways in which Our Creator is a part of our world by focusing on more closely observing our world , and by assuming that all we need to know about our world will be discovered in this way. Each type of religion focuses on one important aspect of the reality of our world, and both of these focuses will be needed in the culture that will be represent the highest progress of our world. Joseph Campbell taught me about this difference between religions. What our world most needs is the combination of these two focuses, and the realizations that will come from this combination that the closest observation will only be of value to us if it helps us learn what Our Creator wants us to do, and that we will only be able to earn what Our Creator wants us to do through close observation that will almost certainly require us to stand in fundamental opposition to the culture of whatever society we live in when we most want to go along with that culture, because the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth will almost always be fundamentally opposed to all human cultures, and are without a doubt fundamentally opposed to all cultures that exist today, and are most clearly opposed to these cultures in their frequent practice of violence and of intimidation that will often lead to violence because the subjects of intimidation will inevitably sometimes resist that intimidation and then intimidators will fight with their victims, and in their emphasis on getting as much as one can for oneself instead of on providing ourselves with treasure in the heavens by selling what we have and giving alms, and on giving to all who ask of us and not asking for anything in return. (Lk 12:33, see also Lk 18:18-25, & Mt 19:16-24) and (Lk 6:30 (27-36), see also Mt 5:42- 48).
The oldest cultures in our world were established in East Africa, and the oldest cultures with writing in our world were established in what is today Iraq, and since this time most civilization in our world has spread out from this point in opposite directions forming related but slightly different cultures that will come together on the opposite side of our world to form a culture that will be stronger than either eastern or western cultures are separately, and that will be the crowning achievement of our world’s history.
The dividing line between historically eastern and historically western cultures is the line that we currently call 67 degrees east longitude. Areas west of this line have been the birthplace of religions that have focused on how Our Creator is separate from our world by focusing on commands our Creator gives us, while areas east of this line have been the birthplace of religions that have focused on how Our Creator is part of our world by focusing on more closely observing our world , and by assuming that all we need to know about our world will be discovered in this way. This line may be one of very few lines that can accurately divide our world into western and eastern hemispheres, because Balkh, (The home of Zoroaster), lies just west of this line, and because Karachi, (a city that is clearly part of the South Asian civilization that Includes Bangladesh and includes most of India and Pakistan), lies just east of this line. This line should be used to divide our world into eastern and western hemispheres. One reason this should be done is that this line would come as close as possible to dividing our world into two hemispheres with equal populations, while still respecting the traditional borders of historic civilizations. (And if current demographic trends continue then about 100 years from now this line may actually divide our world into two hemispheres with equal populations due primarily to projected population growth in Africa, (while the line we currently use to divide our world into hemispheres, will never in the foreseeable future divide our world into hemispheres of equal population but was instead chosen as a way of pandering to British conceit.)) Because there is some debate about where Zoroaster lived, it may be possible that the line that best divides historically eastern and western cultures is slightly west of the line we currently call 67 degrees east, but under no circumstances will this line lie west of the line we currently call 61.75 degrees east, because east of this line we find areas that are so fully a part of Persian culture that they must be considered a part of the western section of our world. The reason we should change the way we make maps, is that using the line we currently call 67 degrees east longitude (or a line just west of this line), as our Prime Meridian will help us see where eastern and western cultures will be most likely to first come together to form the culture that all history has been building toward: a culture that will be stronger than either eastern or western cultures are separately. While these cultures could first come together in any part of our world, geography and distances do show us where they are most likely to first come together. The most logical place to look for this to happen is close to 180 degrees from the line that best divides historically eastern and western cultures, at a point that is equidistant from the historical centers of eastern and western cultures. Because the historic centers of western culture are more northerly than the historic centers of eastern culture, and because the historic centers of both cultures are located in our world’s northern hemisphere, the historic centers of western culture are closer to this line than their eastern counterparts. To find a city that is equidistant from historic centers of eastern and western culture we must go to a point approximately 9 1/3 degrees west of the line that is 180 degrees from the historic dividing line between eastern and western cultures (the line we currently call 67 degrees east longitude), and that is slightly south of most of Europe, and is north of most of Asia. Here the city we find that is equidistant from the historic centers of eastern and western culture is Seattle, U.S.A., (Though Los Angeles and Vancouver are also extremely close to being equidistant between the historic centers of traditionally Eastern ad Western cultures. And all large English speaking cities on the pacific coast of north America, Tijuana, Mexico, and inland cities up to 150 kilometers from this coast, are close enough to being equidistant from east and west, to be very likely locations of the point at which eastern and western cultures will first come together. Because of a greater historical percentage of settlement from the east than Seattle or Los Angeles have had, Vancouver may be even more likely than Seattle to be the center of the first coming together of the now separate cultures of our world. In truth all of these cities will probably be important centers in the coming together of eastern and western cultures, and the Salish Sea (also known as Kh Whulch, and as the Whulge), which borders both Seattle and Vancouver, will probably also serve as a mixing bowl in which the currents of eastern and western culture will come together.) History indicates that Honolulu, though it is much closer to the historic east than to the historic west will probably also play a leading role in the coming together of eastern and western cultures, due to the fact that it has been settled by large numbers of people from both east and west.
One of the greatest sins of the United States government has been the restrictive immigration policies directed especially at people from Asia, and the long history of other anti-Asian actions, that have kept millions of people of Asian descent away from Seattle, and away from the rest of the United States, and that has led to our current condition in which only approximately 10% of the people living in the Seattle Metropolitan area are of Asian descent. The fact that this problem can be ameliorated is clearly shown by the fact that just 200K away from Seattle approximately 25% of the population of the Vancouver metropolitan area is made up of people of Asian descent. If all people had been allowed to move freely, on average we would expect that as a whole the metropolitan areas that are so close to being equidistant between the historic centers of western culture and eastern culture would be populated roughly equally by people with western ancestors and people with eastern ancestors. And this will probably happen through the normal course of people freely moving about our world as they choose to move, as soon as barriers to movement raised by governments, are removed. It is important to remember that for any group of people to be able to contribute to fruition of world history that will occur when historically eastern and historically western cultures come together, that group of people must be eager to come together and work together with all people with clear minds and good hearts, regardless of what culture those people come from, and regardless of what part of the world those people’s ancestors have come from. A part of the reason this is so important is that the inclusion of people from many different cultures will help all people in any organization, see beyond superficial differences between people, and focus on the common goal of that organization. People in organizations in which most people share superficial cultural similarities will be more easily distracted from the goal that initially brought them together, by these superficial similarities or by superficial differences between them and other people, and such organizations will be more likely to deteriorate into mere social clubs in which people focus on superficial traits. Organizations without cultural diversity may sometimes be able to contribute to the advancement of civilization in our world, if people in them overcome this tendency and stay focused on the goal of advancing world civilization, but it will be harder for these people to do this.
Most of the cities that are closest to being equidistant between the historic centers of eastern and western cultures, will truly start to become centers of the realization of the stronger culture that will form when eastern and western cultures come together, as soon as the United States government stops restricting immigration from the rest of the world. Our great wealth makes the United States, a beacon that attracts people from the rest of the world even more strongly than the wealthiest part of Europe, (most of Europe north of 42 degrees, and west of the line we now call 17 degrees east, and just east of this line most of Sweden and all of Finland), and more strongly than Canada, though this is starting to change because of the evil of the United States government. The lack of Asian settlement in the West Coast of the United States is a measure of how hard people of European descent have fought to keep people of Asian descent out of this region. Thankfully though, this area is still sparsely settled because advanced societies have been in this area for only about 150 years, (or for less time in many areas), and for this reason, the dearth of settlement from Asia in these areas can still be reversed. This problem is not only a problem in Seattle, but is instead a great problem everywhere in the United States. Even in the San Francisco Metropolitan area people of Asian descent make up just under 20% of the population. In Los Angeles and San Diego people of Asian descent make up approximately 10% of the population, and everywhere else in the United States, (except for the New York City metropolitan area which also has about 10% of it’s people being of Asian descent), the percentage of people of Asian descent is even lower.
Most of us have a very poor sense of distances in our world, because we usually see a distorted projection of our world in the maps we use. It is important for us to correct this because a large part of the story of our world’s history is determined by the geography of our world, with certain cultures spreading to certain areas, in great part because they were closer to those areas, than other cultures were. In spite of the great advantages in mobility that traditionally western and especially European cultures enjoyed in the historic period in which they spread their culture through colonization, The spread of their culture was still greatly influenced by the fact that Europe was closer to most of the areas its culture spread to, (including South America, Africa, and most of North America), than were areas of traditionally eastern culture, including especially the area of Northeast Asia, which is historically most analogous to Europe, because with regard to written civilization, and with regard to organized religions that have many followers today, it is the youngest area of historically eastern culture in the same way that that Europe is the youngest area of historically western culture, and it has inherited these things from people from the older area of historically eastern civilization, in the same way that Europe has inherited these thing from the older area of historically western civilization. The greatest exception to the rule that most areas settled by people from western cultures, are closer to historic centers of western civilization, is the cultural area of Australia and New Zeeland. Though it is important to remember that Australia and New Zeeland are extremely far away from the historic centers of east and west, as on average Northeast Asia is located nearly 8,000 kilometers from Australia, (a distance almost as great as the average distance between the historical centers of eastern and western cultures). In the area that is nearly equidistant between the historic centers of east and west we again find settlement more from the historic west than from the historic east, so far. But it is important to remember that both Australia and New Zeeland, and northwestern North America, are still sparsely settled compared to most of the world, and that the trends of settlement to this point in history could still be easily reversed.
We should not try to make distances on our maps accurate by making directions inaccurate on those maps, though many people have tried to do this. We should instead make both distances and directions accurate by using sinusoidal equal-area projection maps with longitude lines drawn on them. These maps can be accurate because they will not try to show the surface of our globe as a rectangle, (a practice that will always lead to inaccuracy), but will instead show the circumference of our world becoming smaller the farther we get from the equator until it finally becomes 0 at the poles, and in this way will show our world as it truly is. This is achieved by sinusoidal maps because this narrowing is described by the sine function (hence the name sinusoidal), as the circumference of our world does not get smaller at a constant rate as we move away from the equator, but instead gets smaller at a slower rate at first, with this rate increasing as we get further from the equator. If we want north and south to be straight up or down on our maps, as often as possible, more than we want maps that show our world as being as connected as a flat map can show it, we can achieve this by making our maps interrupted projections that show blank spaces between different sections of the map, though we will not need to do this to see what direction is north or south at any point, so long as we draw enough longitude lines on our map, and always remember that north and south follow these lines, and that on our map north and south follow curved lines, just as most of these lines will also be curved if our map is an uninterrupted projection. The desire to straighten these curved lines is the desire that has led us into the error of drawing rectangularly shaped maps.
World maps should usually be drawn with the line that we currently call 113 degrees west, (or a line just west of this line), as their center line, to focus our attention on the point 180 degrees from the line that best divides historically eastern cultures from historically western cultures, that should be near the place where these cultures will first come together to form a new culture that is stronger than either eastern or western culture can be separately. If we choose to make our maps interrupted projections of our world with the line that we currently call 115.785 degrees west as their center line, then the first two interruptions we make should occur at the lines we currently call 33 degrees west and 163 degrees west, because these lines pass through oceans and through sparsely populated arctic areas, and because they come closer than most other lines that do this, to dividing our world into three parts of equal area.
17.325 and 19.23 degrees north, or from a point between the line we now call 117 degrees west and 115 degrees west, and between 17.325 and 19.23 degrees south. Distances from points between these lines, that are located the same distance from the equator as each other, and that are located 180 degrees longitude from each other, define exactly the same areas by choosing areas closer than a certain distance to one point, and further than approximately 20,000 Kilometers minus that distance from it’s antipodal point. This will be true of any two points that are antipodal to each other. Antipodal points are pairs of points that are located farther from each other, than any other point on the surface of our earth. And they can be found by finding two points that are located the same distance from the equator, and that are located 180 degrees longitude, away from each other. If we move from one of these points, we will be moving closer to it’s antipodal point, regardless of what direction we move, so long as we stay on the surface of the earth. This is so for the same reason that a person at the North Pole cannot go north, but instead will be heading due south, if that person stays on the surface of our earth. The North and South Poles are a pair of antipodal points. And this helps us see why we cannot move further away from our antipode, unless we leave the surface of the earth. Any point is located almost exactly 20,000 Kilometers from it’s antipode, and the average distance of any point from it’s antipode is exactly 20,000 K. This is no accident. The length of a kilometer was chosen so that this would be true.
I am uncertain of exactly which points are the points from which distances, best divide our world into older and younger regions, but I believe the exact points that best do this, are the point that we currently call 64.215 degrees east, 19.23 degrees north, and the point that we currently call 115.785 degrees west and 19.23 degrees south. I believe that these are the exact points from which distances, best divide our world into older and younger regions, because these points are exactly the same distance from two cities that have been especially important in the development of civilization in our world, and because these points are nearly this distance from two other cities that have also been important in the development of world civilization.
The two cities that are the same distance from these points are Beijing and Roma. Both cities are just over 5,459 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, and are just under 14,541 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees south, 115.785 degrees west. The two cities that are nearly the same distance from these points are Djakarta, and Harare. With Djakarta being located just over 5,441 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, and just under 14,539 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees south, 115.785 degrees west. And with Harare being located just over 5477 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, and just under 14,531 K from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees south, 115.785 degrees west. No other places in our world are located so close to the same distance from these four cities, and very few places in our world are located so close to the same distance from any four major world cities. The line that is 500 Kilometers from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, is also very important because approximately half the people in our world live inside this circle and approximately half the people in our world live outside of this circle. And based on current demographic projections, this will continue to be the case. Approximately half the people in our world, will live less than 5500 k from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, and approximately half the people in our world, live more than 5500 k from this point. I hope that we always call this point 19.23 degrees north because changing this would mean that we would have to change where we place our equator. What I believe we should change, is our name for the line that we currently call 64.215 degrees east. I believe that this line be the prime meridian of our coordinate system. In other words I believe that it should be called the line of 0 degrees and should be used to divide our world into eastern and western hemispheres. This line would come as close to dividing our world into two hemispheres with equal numbers of people in them, as is possible without separating areas that are parts of one historic cultural area. The only line that would come closer to dividing our world into two hemispheres with equal populations, would be a line that is less than 10 degrees east of this line, that would separate area that have historically been part of the South Asian culture. Regardless of religious differences, Nearly all parts of India and Bangladesh, and most parts of Pakistan, are part of the Desi culture. Using this line as our prime meridian also puts areas that are most similar culturally in the same hemispheres. There are only minor differences between different cultures in our world, but what few differences there are between cultures, occur primarily between cultures east of this line, and cultures west of this line.
Not only does the line that we currently call 64.215 degrees east longitude, come much closer than our current prime meridian, to dividing our world into Eastern and Western hemispheres with equal populations, but the line that we currently call 19.23 degrees north latitude, also comes close to dividing our world into northern and southern Hemispheres with equal; populations. And if current demographic trends continue, then at some point in the future, this line will divide our world into northern and southern hemispheres with equal populations. At present significantly more than half the people in our world live north of this point. This line also does a better job than any other line we could choose, of dividing our world into regions of historically northern and southern cultures. While the Equator divides our world geographically, culturally, a line drawn at 19.23 degrees north, is for all of these reasons, much more meaningful.
The distances that best divide our world into older and younger regions are the distances, 3,750 Kilometers, 5,500 K, and 9,500 K from the point currently defined as 19.23 degrees north, and 64.215 degrees east. The oldest civilizations of our world, with regard to the development of writing and the development of the religions that are practiced by the largest number of people today, are located less than 3750 k from the point that we currently call 64.215 degrees east, 19.23 degrees north, (Nairobi is just inside this line). (Exactly the same area can also be defined as the area that is more than a distance nearly equal to 16,250 k from the point that we currently call 115.785 degrees west, 19.23 degrees south). Distances from these two points define areas that are the home of the oldest civilizations of our world, with regard to the development of writing and the development of the religions that are practiced by the largest number of people today, with fewer exceptions, than we would have if we divided our world by distances from any other points. The next oldest area of civilization in our world is the area that lies between 3,750 and 5,500 k from the point that we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east. The third oldest area of civilization in our world lies between 5,500 and 9,500k from this point, and the area of our world with the youngest civilizations is the area located more than 9,500 k from this point. Maps that we use, will be most helpful to us as tools that help us understand human history, if we draw these lines on these maps. This is easy to do on the intrernet by using a free service provided at the web address http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators and by then using the feature entitled, “draw range rings around a point”, that is located at the bottom of this page.
Because civilizations in older areas, (as defined by distances from these points), are older in terms of the development of writing and of religions that are practiced by large numbers of people today, these civilizations have been able to support denser populations from an earlier date than civilizations in younger areas. These developments allowed these civilizations to support denser populations than other areas, because these developments allowed people to work together more effectively than people could work together without these developments. This difference between areas is still evident today in the fact that the older areas, as defined by distances from these points, still have significantly greater population densities, than younger areas, (as defined by these distances), have. This difference is especially great between areas closer than 5500 k from the point we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east, and areas further from this point. Areas closer than 5500 k from this point include less than one sixth of the surface area of our earth, but contain over one half of the people living on our earth.
Knowing which of these regions any area falls in, will tell us much more about civilizations in that area, than knowing whether that civilization has been more influenced by traditionally Eastern, Western, or Southern cultures, will tell us. Older civilizations, whether they are historically eastern, western, or southern, are more like each other, and younger civilizations, whether they are historically eastern, western, or southern are more like each other, than younger civilizations from either east, west, or south, are like older civilization from the same area. When look at regions of older and younger civilizations, and see that Western Europe, most of Northeast Asia, most of Africa, and nearly half of Indonesia all lie within the region of younger civilizations, we realize that civilizations in these areas generally share the characteristic of producing people who are much more willing to take part in rapid and fundamental changes in their societies, than are people from the older civilizations of our world, while people from older civilizations are more likely to focus their thoughts and energies on truths and principles that are slow to change, and especially on truths and principles that will apply in all times and all places. A part of this focus is the unquestioned assumption that rapid and fundamental social changes will seldom occur, while people from younger civilizations expect rapid and fundamental changes to occur much more often in any society . And when we see this, we realize that this difference does much more to determine the nature of life in these societies than do any differences between historically Eastern, Western or Southern civilizations. The fundamental desires of all people are the same, and the ways in which different people try to fulfill these desires are determined primarily by whether they live in younger or older civilizations. In younger civilizations, people are much more likely to try to satisfy these desires by taking part in rapid and fundamental societal change, while in older civilizations, people are much less likely to take part rapid and fundamental societal change, and are much more likely to resist such change if people from outside their society try to impose it on them. The failure to see this fact has led to the worst foreign policy mistakes in the history of our world. In the recent history of the United States, two prominent examples of this, are mistakes the United States government has made in Iraq and Vietnam. People in older civilizations are also generally more resistant to rapid and fundamental change, whether foreign governments cause that change, or whether economic factors cause that change.
While most of those of us raised in younger civilizations will never be able to develop a sense for what would feel comfortable to a person from older civilizations, and while the converse of this is also true, we can all avoid great mistakes by taking this difference into account, when we make decisions.
To this point in our world’s history the area of the youngest civilizations in our world, (the area that is more than 9500 kilometers from the point we currently call 19.23 degrees north, 64.215 degrees east), has been more influenced by western civilizations than by either eastern or southern civilizations. This may change in the future, as this region will be a region of coming together of these cultures. These civilizations share more similarities than differences, and this is especially true because these civilizations become more similar as they are transferred to this youngest part of our world. Most of the differences between East, West, and South, are superficial differences, and these superficial differences are left behind in older areas, because these superficial differences depend more on place, than the similarities between these civilizations, do.
Growing up in places that experience great changes in the amount of time between sunrise and sunset, throughout the year, or in places that regularly experience other great climactic changes, further increases a person’s expectation that fundamental change will occur often, and further increases a person’s willingness to take part in fundamental change, while growing up in places that do not regularly experience great climactic changes, increases a person’s tendency to seek out and focus on things that are either unchanging, or slow to change. The most significant example of the effect of the amount of time between sunrise and sunset, on personality, is the example of Europe. This is so because Europe is located so much further from the equator than all other densely populated lands. The cold weather that usually exists this far from the equator usually prevents these lands from supporting dense populations, but the warming effect of the Atlantic Gulf stream, makes Europe an exception to this rule. This effect accentuates the effect of Western Europe being a younger civilization, and lessens the effect of Eastern and Southeastern Europe being older civilizations.
The points between 17.325 and 19.23 degrees north, or from a point between the line we now call 117 degrees west and 115 degrees west, and between 17.325 and 19.23 degrees south, are also close to being equidistant between corresponding centers of historically eastern and historically western cultures, and are also close to being the same distance from corresponding centers of historically southern culture, but no large cities that might be sites for the coming together of these cultures can currently exist near these points because these points are located in the oceans of our world, far from land. (They are located respectively in the north Indian Ocean, and the southeast Pacific Oceans). That these points are close to being equidistant from these historical centers of culture, is illustrated by figures presented after this text.
Whatever line of longitude is determined to be the exact line on which the point is located, distances from which best divide our world into areas of older and younger civilizations, This line of longitude will be very close to the line that best divides our world into civilizations that we have historically called either eastern or western (the line that we now call 67 degrees east), and thus will be very close to the line that we should use in the same way that we currently use the line that we call the Prime Meridian. This is the primary reason that a point on this line, is the point from which distances best divide our world into older and younger regions.
Most importantly, we should use either the line that we now call 113 degrees west or a line just west of this line, as the center line on most of our world maps, and should use the line of longitude located 180 degrees from this line, as the line of 0 degrees in our spatial coordinate system, in the way that we currently use the line that we call the prime meridian. It should probably not surprise us that the line that we currently call the Prime Meridian, was chosen to pander to British conceit, rather than to reflect significant historical divisions in the cultural development of our world, because this line was chosen by British geographers, and because most other people would also have probably pandered to local conceits, if they had been in their place. We should change our maps and spatial coordinate system now, though, so that these systems illustrate significant facts about world history, rather than being drawn to pander to the conceits of any people.
Other than changing the line that we use as our prime meridian, no other change in our spatial coordinate system, will help us to better understand the history of people in our world. It would be easier to use our spatial coordinate system, if this system were a decimal system, with the total number of degrees that make up our world, adding up to some exponent of ten, instead of adding up to 360 as they currently do, but we would only want to make this change if we made a similar change in our mathematical systems, and because so many people have used our current system for so long, we may not want to do this. This change would be very similar to the change that most of our world has made to the metric system. This system is easier to use, but does not help us better understand the history of people in our world.
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Also
-15.65, -110.595, 12,778+ k from Tokyo, London, and Lagos, 13,677.498 k from Kinshasa
15.65, 69.405 also equidistant from Tokyo, London, and Lagos. Very close to just under 7,222 k from.
Pts equidistant from Cairo, and Dhaka include
app. 22, 60.57, app. 3059 K from,
a bit northeast of this a pt also equidistant from Khartoum. (Al Khurtum)
A pt. probably a bit southwest of this pt. is equidistant from and closer to Addis Abeba, Yerushalayim, and Kolkatta.
-- Pts. Equidistant from Shanghai, Rome, and Harare include app. 66.4+, 19+, (also close to the same distance from Lusaka – slightly farther from)
Pts. equidistant between Tokyo & London, located between the lines that we currently call 40 degrees west, and 175 degrees west.
49.2805, -122.775, 7,592+ k, dt V , 49.2805, -123.12564,
47.611, -122.21, 7,722+ k, dt S 47.611 -122.337, app. 12,008 k to Lagos, app.
45,5, -121.545, 7887+ K
45, -121.4, 7927- k
39.9, -120, app. 8,332 k +
37.8, -119.5, 8500 + k
35.6875, -119.01 app. 8671 k
34.05101, -118.648, 8804- k, - dt L.A.. to Lon 8783.233 k, L.A.. to T 8832.92 k, , dt L.A.. to Lag 12430.835 k, dt L.A. ,
32.7, -118.365 app. 8913 k
6.4524, -113.906, 11,057- k, 12,928.699 k to Lagos
0, -112.955, 11,574- k, 12,933.94 k to Lagos
-10, -111.475, app. 12,353 k, 12,861.922 k to Lagos, 13,924.494 k to Kinshasa
-15.65, -110.595, 12,778+ k from Tokyo, London, and Lagos, 13,677.498 k from Kinshasa
-21.5, -109.635, 13200 k
-23.015, -109.38, app 13,306 k from Tokyo, London, and Kinshasa
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We should say about Jesus, whatever will lead us, and people we influence, to try hardest to live as Jesus tells us to live. At least for most of us who have been raised in western societies, and probably for all of us, this means we should say whatever will lead us and people we influence, to try hardest to follow Jesus teachings, because trying to follow Jesus’ teachings, will give most of us who have been raised in western societies, and will probably give all of us, our best chance of learning how to live as Jesus tells us to live. For this reason we should often praise Jesus, because we often try hardest to follow individuals we admire, and for this reason we should also often find fault with and try to reform churches that call themselves Christian churches.
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flag construction
0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233,
116.5
58.25
233*55 Green (bottom)
116.5*89 Red (upper left – touching flagpole)
58.25*89 Yellow (upper middle)
58.25*89 Blue (upper right)
full rectangle 233*144
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large screen version and print version, sections 1-11, top margin .80, side margins .70
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I am sending you this essay because I hope and believe you will want to help heal our world and will want to help spread the knowledge of what actions will hurt us and what actions will help us, and because I believe we can all do more to help accomplish these goals by living as Jesus teaches us to live, and by helping to spread Jesus’ true teachings by joining or supporting a church of human weakness, than we can do in any other way, (even if we learn how to live as Jesus teaches us to live, from someone other than Jesus, who does not talk about Jesus, and who does not try to follow Jesus, and even if we do not say we follow Jesus. Other teachers often teach some of the same lessons Jesus teaches, and people who follow other teachers often learn and do more of what Jesus teaches us, than do those of us who say we follow Jesus. This includes teachers we call religious teachers.) I tell why I believe these things in the essay I have attached to this email. I believe that after you read this essay you will agree with me.
When you have read enough of this essay to understand a good part of the meaning of the church of human weakness, and when you want to either join this church, help this church, or learn more about this church, please email me at gpelly.bosela@gmail.com. Right now I do not have a telephone number that I can be reached at. There is a chance that I will get the number (440) 647-5182, and if I do, then I would be eager to receive calls at this number. On occasion I will also probably be able to make phone calls from another line, and in order to facilitate conversations about ideas put forth in this essay, I will often be eager to do this.
I have sent this essay to you as an attachment to this email. This attachment contains many formatting commands that make this essay easier to read, that would have been lost if I had copied this essay into the main text of this email. Many of you may be reluctant to open this attachment for fear of viruses. Let me assure you that this attachment has been checked for viruses by a highly respected anti-virus security program that google mail uses to check all attachments that are sent with it’s mail service. If this program finds any cause for concern in any attachment it simply won’t send that attachment, so there is no reason to fear that there might be a virus in the attachment I have sent you.
This essay can also be found along with later sections that are not included in this email at http://howwecanheal.blogspot.com . At this website these later sections are included as a separate blog entry. Refer everyone you know who might want to help heal our world, to this web page. When you want to print this essay either from this attachment or from this website you may have to press the paper feed button on your printer periodically. Again the attachment has formatting commands that the website version does not have and will print in a way that will be easier to read.
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I can be reached at gpelly.bosela@gmail.com . Right now I do not have a telephone number that I can be reached at. There is a chance that I will get the number (440) 647-5182, and if I do, then I would be eager to receive calls at this number. On occasion I will also probably be able to make phone calls from another line, and in order to facilitate conversations about ideas put forth in this essay, I will often be eager to do this.
The full essay, a part of which I have just sent to you, can along with later sections that are not included in this email can be found at http://howwecanheal.blogspot.com . At this website these later sections are included as a separate blog entry. Please refer everyone you know who might want to help heal our world, to this web page. When you want to print this speech you may have to press the paper feed button on your printer periodically.
I have shown you this essay because I hope and believe you will want to help heal our world, and because I believe we can all do more to help heal our world, and can do less to harm our world, by living as Jesus teaches us to live, and by helping to spread Jesus’ true teachings, by joining or supporting a church of human weakness, than we can do in any other way. Now that you have read this much of this essay, I believe that you will agree with me.
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