2000 years is a long time. To me it is anyway. I’m sure some historians and scientists wouldn’t say so because they are used to thinking in terms of millions of years, but for the average Joe on the planet, 2000 years is slightly further back then we can remember. 2000 years ago the Roman Empire was the dominant force in the world and now Rome exists only as a city in Italy. Technologically, we’ve come further in the last two hundred years than we have for the entire time of human history before it. 2000 years could quite easily span over 70 generations of human families. All this to say that a lot can happen in 2000 years.
As I’m sure you are aware, it was about 2000 years ago that Christianity was born. Some followers of a Jewish Rabbi whose name was Jesus, were so devoted to Him that they began teaching others about Him after his departure from this world. They taught that he was the “Christ,” (meaning “anointed one” or “messiah”). Among the leaders of this early movement were men named Peter, John, Saul (who later was referred to as Paul because he lived mainly among Greeks), and James, the half-brother of Jesus. There were many other profoundly important figures in the early Christian movement like Barnabas, Timothy, Matthew, Mark, Stephen, James (a different one), and Silas but the four I mentioned first, were the major influencers of the time, Peter and Paul in particular.
These men, and others, began teaching and writing and recruiting and ultimately, defining what it meant and looked like to be a Christian. Some of the things they wrote demonstrated an almost supernatural quality to them that was able get inside your head and heart and change you at the very core of who you were. Because of this, some of these writings began to be looked at, as God-inspired scripture even while the authors were still alive. We know these writings as The New Testament and scholars and theologians and pastors and reformers and even average Joe’s have been discussing and deciphering these writings now for almost 2000 years.
Over those 2000 years, many conclusions have been drawn about these writings. Theories and dogma have been derived all citing passages and books of the New Testament as evidence of their validity. Calvinism, Armenianism, the TULIP principles, millennialism, amillennialism, election, eternal security, pre, mid and post tribulation theories, and the Trinity are all deep and complex issues that have been discussed over the last two millennia. But we haven’t stopped there. Social propriety and practices have also been discussed and debated. Polygamy, sexuality, slavery, abortion, war, response to the poor, appropriate forms of greeting, dancing, genres of music and other arts, hair length, dress, the role of men and women in the church and home, marriage, divorce, child rearing, and work habits have also found their way into our discussion of the text. What’s funny is how often the conclusion of one Christian directly contradicts the conclusion of another. The bottom line is, Christians have talked a lot over the last 2000 years.
I don’t want to disparage this practice at all. It is through these discussions and debates that we can learn and grow. In our examination of these writings we sometimes find an eternal truth we did not know before. We find answers to questions. But I think that if we are doing it right, the answers we find will also bring us more questions. And so goes the peeling of the endless layers of scripture and the discovery of ultimate truth that is found in God. Personally, I love the debate and discussion. But sometimes I wonder if, in our zeal and desire to dissect every letter of Scripture, we loose sight of the big picture.
At the center of our faith and worldview as Christians is a man named Jesus. An obscure Jewish rabbi who took a small group of people and taught them that God loves them and because of that they should love others. The point was never supposed to be knowing when the rapture would happen or knowing whether or not someone can “lose his or her salvation.” Before any of that mattered, there was Jesus. Plain and simple. And sometimes I think we get so caught up in our own teaching about what scripture says that we forget Jesus.
As I’m sure you are aware, it was about 2000 years ago that Christianity was born. Some followers of a Jewish Rabbi whose name was Jesus, were so devoted to Him that they began teaching others about Him after his departure from this world. They taught that he was the “Christ,” (meaning “anointed one” or “messiah”). Among the leaders of this early movement were men named Peter, John, Saul (who later was referred to as Paul because he lived mainly among Greeks), and James, the half-brother of Jesus. There were many other profoundly important figures in the early Christian movement like Barnabas, Timothy, Matthew, Mark, Stephen, James (a different one), and Silas but the four I mentioned first, were the major influencers of the time, Peter and Paul in particular.
These men, and others, began teaching and writing and recruiting and ultimately, defining what it meant and looked like to be a Christian. Some of the things they wrote demonstrated an almost supernatural quality to them that was able get inside your head and heart and change you at the very core of who you were. Because of this, some of these writings began to be looked at, as God-inspired scripture even while the authors were still alive. We know these writings as The New Testament and scholars and theologians and pastors and reformers and even average Joe’s have been discussing and deciphering these writings now for almost 2000 years.
Over those 2000 years, many conclusions have been drawn about these writings. Theories and dogma have been derived all citing passages and books of the New Testament as evidence of their validity. Calvinism, Armenianism, the TULIP principles, millennialism, amillennialism, election, eternal security, pre, mid and post tribulation theories, and the Trinity are all deep and complex issues that have been discussed over the last two millennia. But we haven’t stopped there. Social propriety and practices have also been discussed and debated. Polygamy, sexuality, slavery, abortion, war, response to the poor, appropriate forms of greeting, dancing, genres of music and other arts, hair length, dress, the role of men and women in the church and home, marriage, divorce, child rearing, and work habits have also found their way into our discussion of the text. What’s funny is how often the conclusion of one Christian directly contradicts the conclusion of another. The bottom line is, Christians have talked a lot over the last 2000 years.
I don’t want to disparage this practice at all. It is through these discussions and debates that we can learn and grow. In our examination of these writings we sometimes find an eternal truth we did not know before. We find answers to questions. But I think that if we are doing it right, the answers we find will also bring us more questions. And so goes the peeling of the endless layers of scripture and the discovery of ultimate truth that is found in God. Personally, I love the debate and discussion. But sometimes I wonder if, in our zeal and desire to dissect every letter of Scripture, we loose sight of the big picture.
At the center of our faith and worldview as Christians is a man named Jesus. An obscure Jewish rabbi who took a small group of people and taught them that God loves them and because of that they should love others. The point was never supposed to be knowing when the rapture would happen or knowing whether or not someone can “lose his or her salvation.” Before any of that mattered, there was Jesus. Plain and simple. And sometimes I think we get so caught up in our own teaching about what scripture says that we forget Jesus.
I’ve had this urge lately to sit down and read the four gospels and be taught by Jesus. To read them over and over and over again until His words sink into my head and heart and penetrate through the 2000 year conversation that my brain and faith has been exposed to. Maybe if I knew more about Jesus and His teachings, the rest of The New Testament wouldn’t be so full of commentary. Maybe if I really let what Jesus said and did and demonstrated saturate my being, all the theories and commentary and dogma and doctrine would begin to get less fuzzy. For 2000 years we’ve been talking about scripture. What if we stopped talking about it and began living like the One who inspired it? What would that look like? I’m not sure really, but I bet it would be beautiful.
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