I personally, am not a religious person, meaning- I do not attend a formal church, nor do I subscribe to any specific denomination.
I do however read my Bible daily, and I read it from cover to cover, when I finish, I start over again..this has gone on for a number of years.
Until recently this has been sufficient and I have always felt strong in my faith.
I can't say specifically what has caused my need to reach out and try to bring others together, because I don't know, I'm not even good at it, but I feel it's necessary.
This is by no means a personal attack on anyone or any faith, I am honestly trying to understand.
which brings my first point.
Jesus said the most important commandments are "love God with all your heart" & "love your neighbor as yourself"
The reality around us is not love your neighbor, hardly at all anyway...as we would gladly kick the hungry off food stamps and label them lazy without any true knowledge of their situation or facts of their life. Also, we readily bomb our world neighbors in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc..not only ignoring Jesus, but also God's command that we shall not kill
you see what I mean?-the beliefs & the realty do not meet.
How can we change things so that our beliefs and our reality match?, I believe that if we can accomplish this- a more stable, equitable and safer environment for ALL can be achieved.
I have other examples but I think this will make a good start
You are a "religious person" because you read your Bible and are looking for answers. I prefer the term "man of Faith", but it is all the same. You don't have to apologize for it, by looking for Christ you are my brother and I personally am glad that you identified yourself as a brother in Christ.
This has been an excellent thread, one of the best and I really wish I'd been around for the whole thing instead of popping in at the tail of it. Thanks for posting.
This answer will probably be a little disjointed and will take some thought. I seldom have a short answer, and definitely not here.
There have been some pretty awesome answers to your questions here, but mostly hidden in the middle of long posts that have moved far away from your original questions.
Let's look a little at your examples: "as we would gladly kick the hungry off food stamps and label them lazy without any true knowledge of their situation or facts of their life".
Over the past few years I have seen Jesus put into politics, mostly by people who do not believe in Him, such as "Jesus would be for Obamacare".
The truth is, Jesus did not care for government. "Give unto Caesar" was showing disdain for the government, not showing respect. When he said that "you should take care of the poor", he meant as in individuals and his church, not the wasteful government confiscating money from citizens then throwing a few crumbs at the "poor". Both the Jewish government and the Roman government couldn't care less about those who could not take care of themselves.
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Who were the "poor" in Jesus' time? Widows, who had absolutely no status in society, could neither own property or inherit their husband's estate. If there was not a man to take care of them, they usually starved to death. Children were considered little more than animals, and orphans had to totally fend for themselves. (which is why it was such a big deal when Jesus told them to "bring the children unto me"...children were wretched waifs intended to be ignored, not honored by adults)
As far as men, the blind, those too crippled to walk, too insane to function in society, and those with "unclean" diseases such as leprosy, who were outcasts and were not allowed even to come into the city.
That's pretty much it. The poor were completely unable to take care of themselves. There was no such thing as "being down on your luck". If a man got to the point where he could not support himself, his family, or even just a child or two, he bound himself to a successful or wealthy person as an indentured servant...in other words he committed himself (or some or all of his children or even his entire family) into slavery, either temporary or permanent. Many of the "slaves" or "servants" found in the Bible are bound into slavery under these conditions. It was very common if you couldn't make it you indentured yourself and your family to some landed person for 10 years or so. You would know them by having a pierced ear, nose, or lip, which was the mark of indentured servitude.
And Jesus very seldom gave "a handout"....something for nothing. You were only healed if you believed. Read carefully Luke 6: 1-6. I prefer the NRSV's reading of it:
1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was *amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
(*amazed-surprised, shocked, disbelieving, dejected, devestated.....definitely not fascinated as we use the world "amazed" today)
If you didn't believe, you got no bennies..... no healing, no driving out of evil spirits, no blessing. Even when he fed the 5000, they had to walk a half day's journey, and sit and listen to him preach to get the free meal. A little later he even lays it out:
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" 26 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." 28 Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 30 So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " 32 Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Which leads into another point that should be made....Jesus was not concerned much about this world, he was trying to prepare everyone for the next one. That isn't free either, you have to believe. I personally think that isn't much to ask to get eternal life and all the good things associated with it, especially considering we don't deserve it, but that's just me....some people think that it is too much to ask and prefer eternal damnation. Go figure.
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As alluded to in another post but not stated, the commandment in its original Classical Hebrew reads "Thou Shalt not Murder", not thou shalt not kill. There is a distinct difference. There are wars sanctioned by God, Yoweh, Jehova, or whatever name they might be calling him at the time, throughout the Old Testament. The people we are fighting and killing are enemies of the state. (and of Christians too, but I do not think that God is going to call us out to destroy the descendants of Ismael, whom he also blessed, not only did he bless Issac) Our relationship with God is of a much more individual matter. I feel that you can support the war effort and not violate either God's commandment to Moses, or Jesus' commandment to us.
"Civilization" at that time was a fairly lawless, dangerous, unscrupulous place. If someone had something you wanted, you took it. If they tried to stop you, you killed them or they killed you in the process. If a warlord decided he wanted the property another warlord considered his own, he got together an army and attacked and killed all of the men in the warlord's realm, and made slaves of the women and children.
The Ten Commandments, the base for a lawful society, was a new concept, and some of the blessings that God intended his chosen people to share with the rest of the world. They were not chosen to be the only ones to receive his blessings, they were the people that he chose to bless the rest of the world through. And if you look at something as simple as the list of Nobel prize recipients that are Jewish, you will realize that they still are blessing the world.
Much of "loving thy neighbor as thyself" meant that you respected your neighbor enough not to attack him, etc. Now, when Christ challenged the apostles (and now us) with "Love each other as I have loved you", that does put a different perspective on it. I mean, the next day he would die for them, an act kind of tough to equal.
But I still don't necessarily think that loving thy neighbor means that you all have to have a big barbecue every third Saturday to celebrate how you love each other.
But yes, our country gets more Godless by the year. This was predicted in the Bible, and a warning from the founders, that the government was not capable of ruling a Godless people.
That's enough for now.
