I can’t believe that Jesus’ message is dead. I think that, rather, what Christian churches have done with it may be dead. Churches and church services are not necessarily what Jesus’ message is all about. I say this as a Christian minister.
I’ve recently been reading carefully the Gospel of Matthew, focusing on Jesus’ words. Jesus is about looking at the heart. Jesus is about spiritual values, not materialism. Jesus is about forgiveness. Jesus is about opening up to foreigners and outsiders. Jesus is about helping those less fortunate. Jesus is about healing. Jesus is about love. Jesus is about connection with God. I can cite chapter and verse for these assertions.
Is our society opposed to these messages? I don’t think so. I think that society basically would agree with these ideas.
What kind of world would oppose ideas like this? It would be, one by one, a society that doesn’t look at the heart, that only looks at outward acts, that wants only more and greater status symbols and material goods, that lives for revenge, that hates foreigners, that only cares about one’s friends and family and no one else, that cares nothing for the poor, weak, and orphaned, that hurts instead of healing, that hates, that disbelieves and cares only about self. Is this the world we live in? Maybe. But I hope not.
It is true that the world sends us messages, largely through TV commercials that run counter to Jesus’ message. Expensive car commercials show people who are superior to others, or are superior by some standards. That is a dual message: 1) buy an expensive car; and 2) be better than everyone else. There are many movies whose plots turn around revenge. It’s not “good guys versus bad guys.” Rather it’s more and more, “You killed a loved one so I’m going to get you.” So there are messages in the world that run counter to Jesus’ message.
But driving around town, I see a lot of Hondas and Fords on the road, so it’s not true that the world is populated by ubermenschen driving expensive cars. I think most of society is people living with a beloved partner, or a circle of friends, going to work and coming home and trying to do the right thing. Then there’s the issue of God.
A lot of people, I think, don’t have much room for God. It’s not that they disbelieve, it’s that they have no time for God, no need for God. You can’t separate God from Jesus’ message. Maybe that’s why it may look like Jesus’ message is dead. It’s certainly true that self-sufficiency is a strong drug. Making it on your own; self-made man or woman. Top of the heap. Number one.
Then there’s the issue of church. I think about young people clubbing to those insipid songs with pounding rhythm, overpowering bass tones, monotonous melodies. Then I think about the 17th and 19th century hymns that we typically sing on Sunday. And the notion of sitting still for an hour listening to me pray, read from the Bible, and preach. It’s not surprising that some people would have other things to do. And none of that is a necessary part of the Jesus message. It is true that Jesus taught in synagogues and read the Scriptures in them. And I think that Biblical literacy is important. But that doesn’t mean the traditional church services that have evolved over millennia. Nor does Christianity mean the vocal, politically-motivated proselytizing, self-righteous right-wing form that seems to get all the attention and would define all Christianity by their own style. Indeed, all religion.
I think that society has been shaped by Judeo-Christian values. We think that soup kitchens, Habitat-for Humanity, health care, minimum wage, friendliness, doing a good turn daily are good things. While there are counter-messages to the Jesus message, I think that a lot of people would be attracted to what Jesus says, if they read His words freshly and without the lens of tradition and church. While some churches exclude unbelievers, Jesus included everyone He contacted. He even dined with a Pharisee on at least one occasion. While churches are dwindling, I still think that Jesus’ message lives.
David Fekete 