Jesus' teaching

I heard a sermon recently where the preacher (Bruxy Cavey) was talking about the attacks of modern critics on whether Jesus was really a historical figure. One of his interesting points is that critics hardly ever challenge Jesus’ teaching itself. Most of the historical critics challenge the historicity of Jesus’ life (his virgin birth, the crucifixion, overturning the temple, etc.). (I believe there is quite a lot of evidence that those things actually occurred, as well, but that will be for another day). The fact that there is this huge body of teaching that is widely attested within a generation of Jesus’ life proves that there was a teacher.




The line that stuck with me was “the reason that the critics largely ignore Jesus’ teaching is that so do most Christians.” That is strong language used to make a point and I think there is some validity to it. As I speak to people from different locations around Ontario, within our trans denominational organization, the “spiritual things” that we talk about and debate tend to be either what we believe the various do’s and don’ts lists we all have. We don’t talk a lot about the broader issues of what Christ calls us to be and do.



For the next few blogs I want to do just that. I will put up a section of the Sermon on the Mount and I ask you to simply imagine what our organization would look like if we truly lived it out. I recently did this as an exercise at a staff retreat and it went pretty well. This is not meant to be an in-depth study of the text. We did that in previous blogs click here for those ( http://chdevotions.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html  ). So just read the passage and ask what your serving (not your co-workers) would look like if you truly lived out Christ’s words. Then what would we look like if we truly lived them out together. Please feel free to submit comments.


Matthew 5:1-16 (NIV)


1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2 and he began to teach them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Imagine if we truly live that out.

Mark Wallace