Theology Made Simple

The Concerns of Jesus, Part 5

T.R. Fehrenbach is a historian, cultural expert and excellent writer. In a recent article, he described the difference in what he called the "religious left" and the "religious right". These descriptions are apropos to our discussion of the concerns of Jesus.

In his words, "Conservatives (the religious right) are largely into the old-time religion faith of their fathers, when sex was private, adultery a serious no-no, abortion and pornography illegal and homosexuality unspeakable. They are into personal morality and believe religion cannot exist without strict standards to which believers must adhere. Their social approach is to save one sinner at a time, with no lack of candidates." In contrast he says, "The Christian left appears less concerned with personal salvation of sinners (sin may not exist) but is very much into the salvation of society through social action. It downplays private morality but stresses 'public values'... There is less emphasis on getting into heaven than ameliorating our various hells on earth. The catch phrase 'What would Jesus do?' is not a reference to the son of God, but to his rabbinical teachings in the here and now" (emphasis mine).

In this article, Fehrenbach points up the radical difference between those who believe in a personal relationship with God, and those who have only a generalized view of Him, and do not believe He is real and present in our world today. The ancient Romans and Greeks had this view of their gods, and as a result they had no sense of morality, nor any consciousness of sin. To save mankind from sin was the central concern of Jesus. He came to re-establish the relationship with God which existed in the Garden of Eden, and to do this it was necessary to eliminate sin which caused the separation. Any religious philosophy today which ignores sin cannot be called Christian, for this was the central concern of Jesus Christ.

There is no better place to find the concerns of Jesus than the Sermon on the Mount. Here He enunciated His prime teachings to His most intimate followers. In the first few verses, He mentions seven basic principles: humility, penitence, meekness, a desire for righteousness, mercy, purity and peacemaking. Each of these principles is an individual characteristic. They do not apply to organizations, groups, nor to society as a whole. Jesus was concerned with man's personal inner nature, in other words, with his spirit. This spirit is what is related to God, not the behavior of the human animal. God wanted a personal relationship with His creature...a love relationship...and so He sent His Son as a personal messenger of His love. Jesus was not a social activist. He was the Savior of the immortal soul of man.

No amount of benevolence, or good deeds, can pay for my sins. God does not hold the community responsible, only the individual. Even in the book of Revelation, when the message was sent to the churches, the cure for every failure was a change in the individual attitudes, and behavior of persons in the group. It is good for us to be concerned for our fellowman, and to show benevolence and social responsibility. However, our sins are what separate us from God, and they can be removed only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and our submission to Him as Lord of our lives.

A central theme of Christ's teaching, and that of the apostles, who wrote the New Testament, was moral purity. No amount of social concern and community action can make up for personal moral failures. The hippies of the 60s preached peace and benevolence, but they were a drug-ridden, sexually immoral, totally irreverent and undisciplined group of vagrants; hardly the kind of people upon which a solid society could be built. Sin is still real, and is the wall that separates us from God and the hope of eternal life. Our modern society may ignore it, and treat it as an out-of-date concern for people who are not abreast of the current real world, but God does not change. He still hates sin, and He will be the One to whom we must give account in the end.

In the atheistic realms of communism, the state is the most important. The individual is only incidental, and of value only as he serves the state. In God's economy the state exists only to serve the needs of the individual. The individual is the one created by God, and with him alone is God concerned. That's why He sent His son, not to the nations, but to individuals who were told to have faith in Him.

The central theme of the entire Bible is faith. When Jesus came, the ultimate message was to have faith in Him. John 3:16 "...that whoso believeth on Him might not perish but have eternal life". If we are to share the concerns of Jesus, we must reject the modern world's view of Him as simply a teacher of social justice and benevolence. The question He posed to the disciples, "Who do you say that I am", is still the question for us today. First and foremost He was concerned that we recognize and believe in Him as the Son of God. Everything else is secondary.

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