DID GOD REALLY SAY?

I'm concerned about a trend I'm seeing among Christians. I'll introduce the topic by referring to a group that launched in 1985, calling themselves "The Jesus Seminar". 

This group of "scholars" was established to review all the words of Jesus in the Gospels and other writings, and decide which things are accurate and which were fabricated. After discussing each passage they would vote using coloured beads. Each delegate voted on whether or not,in their opinion, Jesus actually said or did what was recorded. This went on for years and the published results concluded that only 18% of the recorded words of Jesus, and only 16% of the recorded deeds of Jesus, were authentic.

Was there some new evidence that led to these conclusions? No. They just voted according to their opinion of what they think Jesus would have said or done. In other words, they decided what they liked or didn't like. It was an opportunity to re-create Jesus in the image that suited them best. They could keep the parts they wanted and throw out anything they found to be offensive or inconsistent with the image of Jesus they preferred. They kept the parts about being kind and loving one another, but discounted any of Jesus' teachings that would hold people to account. They also concluded that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah or the Son of God.

Now, does it strike you as somewhat ludicrous that someone could arbitrarily decide what Jesus really said or did based on nothing more than what they like?  Of course it is. Yet people are doing exactly that every day.

Just about everyone likes the "peace and love" parts of Jesus' teachings, but other things He said are becoming increasingly unpopular. For example, His claim to be the only way to God is highly offensive in 2016. The idea that lust in your heart is the same as adultery doesn't fly well in our sexually charged society. Jesus said lots of things that potentially infringe on people's desires, priorities, and lifestyles.

So if you like Jesus, as most people do, but don't like everything He said, you can do like The Jesus Seminar and simply dismiss it as not authentic. Or you can twist His words it so it sounds more like what you wish He had said. 

It's not just Jesus' words we might want to throw out. Letters written by Paul, Peter, John, and James are filled with things contrary to today's culture and to postmodern thinking. The Jesus Seminar tossed out 82% of Jesus teaching and I suspect most people today would be quite happy to do the same.

I should point out that there are legitimate differences in interpretation of what the Bible says or means, or how it relates to today's culture. Committed and intelligent Christians sometimes disagree on these things. Honest attempts at interpretation are not really what I'm talking about. I'm concerned more when differences in interpretation get stretched past the breaking point because someone is determined to make the word of God say what they want instead of what it really says.

It's not a surprise when non-Christians reject pieces of the Christian faith that they find hard or objectionable. It is surprising and alarming to see how much that's creeping into the church. More and more Christian people are ready to say "the Bible didn't really mean that" or "times have changed so that really doesn't apply anymore". There is a growing tendency to re-shape the Bible and in essence to re-shape Jesus into what we would like Him to be, rather than what the Bible actually says.

Way back in Genesis 3 Satan began his conversation with Eve with the words "Did God really say..."  That question has been building in recent times to the point where even Christians are paving the road to disobedience by questioning "Did God really say that?"

God is truth. He is perfect and unchanging, and He gave us the Bible as our guide for what's right and true. But the cry of postmodernism is that there is no absolute truth; everything is relative; everything depends on the circumstances: everything is up to me to decide for myself. Relying on our own imperfect and biased judgement rather than what God said is a dangerous path for a Christian to take!

When the society we live in gets to be diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches, as it is, the temptations and pressures to conform are enormous. I guess that's why Jesus said the gate that leads to life is small and narrow, and not many find it.

I suspect to some this blog entry may sound like a fundamentalist rant. I hope it's not that. Please consider it more as a couple of honest questions. 

• If we begin to pick and choose what we want to keep from the word of God, on what basis can we possibly make those decisions? Like the Jesus Seminar, it's inevitable that we will keep only what we like and what feels good.
• If we twist what God says and rationalize it to come into line with what we want, what will it lead us to? 

God never intended that His words to us be debatable or subject to change because of our own preferences or priorities. It's true that some of what He says may make us uncomfortable, or cramp our style, or run contrary to what we want. None of that gives us license to change God's words into what we want them to say. It's not up to us to put our words into God's mouth, or discount what God has said.