WWJD?

'W'hat 'W'ould 'J'esus 'D'o? I heard this in a sermon recently, and it made me think. It made me think about things that I've thought a lot about lately.

We don't realize sometimes how much we have just "swallowed" since we were young. Like The Matrix, we aren't even aware that our version of reality may not be reality. Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, hopefully everyone figures these out, but what about politics, religions, etc.? Most people go their entire lives still "plugged in" at some level.

What would Jesus do?

Well...for the overwhelming majority of "Christians", He would attend a church service every Sunday morning; for some, the evening service too. He would pay his "tithe". He would teach a Sunday School class. On Wednesdays, he would attend a church service. He wouldn't cuss. He wouldn't drink alcohol. He wouldn't smoke.

He would always dress professionally. At church He would likely wear a suit and tie. His hair would be cut short and neatly trimmed. During election season, he would campaign for the Republican candidate.

He would never be found in a bar. He would never be found in a liquor store. He wouldn't attend the movie theater. He would only listen to Christian radio; no Beatles, no Led Zeppelin...

...or would He?

I'm not implying that Jesus would ever "cuss" or be passed out on a bar stool, but I am not convinced that He would manifest Himself today the way that many Christians would anticipate. With more consideration, I'm not even convinced that He would be allowed to preach in 80% of today's "churches".

Recently, I've started reading the book, Pagan Christianity, by Frank Viola and George Varna. I have experienced "first-hand" many times a quote from the book's introduction: "Such a statement short-circuits the minds of many Christians when they here it." What I am saying and about to say, many under the "church" roof will not even consider. They shut down. They glare at you with "heretic" pulsing through their mind.

I will explore this more in later posts, but this is really "what is wrong" with the church today. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't want to make sense. It doesn't feel the need to make sense. It holds tightly to traditions and dogmatic teachings at the expense of truth and true intellectual thought.

This is nothing new. Such a scenario has played out century after century. Institutions, governments, churches, societies, etc. do not like to have their "norms" rattled. The book mentioned above references Socrates and his method of finding truth by asking questions. Socrates would not tell people what to think. He often wouldn't even reveal what he thought. He would ask questions that challenged the warrants of for drawn conclusions. He was eventually executed by his government for his questions. His questions!!!

Obviously, I haven't been executed, but I have frequently had accusations leveled against me in "the church" for things I never said. "He doesn't think that one should pay tithe! He's trying to rob God. He doesn't think that people should attend church on Sunday! He thinks it is OK to get drunk! Etc., etc. ,etc.". When I hear these statements, I think back, Did I ever even say what I believed...no I didn't. All I did was ask questions that, actually, were never answered.

In upcoming posts, I will examine some of the disparities between what the church says the Bible teaches, and what the Bible actually teaches; what the Church says Jesus Would Do, and what Jesus actually did do. This is also what the book, Pagan Christianity does as well so I will spend time commenting on it.

Having been raised a Protestant with six years of Catholic education, I have experienced many different perspectives. Church history is something that has always interested me. In the ensuing posts, I'm sure this new book will be targeted as the agent for "corrupting my mind", but really all it will likely do is confirm things I have suspected and decided as I have matured, as I have researched and questioned.

Stay tuned for the "exciting" next leg of this intellectual journey. :-)