Valerie Rae Hanneman
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
One of the things that I love about Easter and Christmas is all the hoopla around Jesus. Some of it is not good, like the secularists trying to remove Jesus from both holy-days. Most of it is great, like Jesus’ people coming closer to Him during these times. Of course, all the programs and theories about Jesus are trotted out again. There are all these attempts to “explain” Jesus. (I can “explain” Jesus - He is the Son of God Who died for my sins. He saved my soul and gave me eternal life. Further explanation unnecessary) Recently I read about two new “explanations” One of them was the newly discovered “Gospel of Judas.” In this Gospel, Jesus goes to Judas secretly and asks him to betray Jesus so that Jesus can be crucified, released from His physical body and return to the spiritual world. The “Gospel of Judas” makes Judas out to be a good guy not a betrayer. There are a couple of problems with this gospel though. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John rely on the eyewitness accounts of those who were witnesses to the life of Jesus. The “Gospel of Judas” was written about 200 years after Jesus. And the “Gospel of Judas” fails to answer some major questions. If Judas was doing what Jesus wanted him to do - then why the 30 pieces of silver, why did Judas state that he had betrayed an innocent man, and why did he hang himself? (I think I am going to stick with the eyewitness accounts.) The other new theory is about Jesus walking on the water. Just before Easter, this researcher came out with this “rational” explanation of how Jesus walked on the water. Two thousand years ago the Sea of Galilee was really cold, so cold that ice floes would form in it. So Jesus did not really walk on the water - He floated out to the ship on a chunk of ice. Here is one of my problems with that theory. The winds and the waves were severe - the ship was being buffeted by them (Matt 14). So how did Jesus get that chunk of ice to float out to the ship? Maybe the ice chunk was shaped like a surfboard and Jesus used the waves to surf out to the ship. (Close your eyes and imagine that one! I personally kinda like it) Do I think Jesus could have surfed an ice cube out to that ship? I do. I believe that if Jesus commanded the fish to form the Golden Gate Bridge for Him to walk across to that ship they would have thrown themselves out of the water, ecstatic to obey Him. But the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they did not see Him floating on an ice cube. Here is why I know that Jesus was not floating on a piece of ice. Peter said, “Lord, if that is You, bid me to come to You” and Jesus called Peter to come to Him. If Jesus called Peter to come to Him across the water, knowing that He had a chunk of ice He was floating on, and Peter didn’t, then He purposely intended for Peter to sink in that storm-tossed, bone-chillingly cold water. What a mean thing to do to His friend. And that is so not Jesus.
Here is the sad part - there are people who read these junky theories - and they believe them. Next month the movie “The DaVinci Code” is coming out. The faith community is all aflutter with worry that it is going to cause people to abandon their faith as the book did. There have been books written by prominent Christians debunking the theories presented in this work of fiction. Tracts have been developed for churches to pass out after each showing of the movie. There are many web sites that present the truth to the wild claims made in the book.
Why are believer’s faith shaken by “The Gospel of Judas” Or by the “Ice Cube Theory” or by “The DaVinci Code”? That is simple - if you don’t know what you stand for, they you will fall for anything. And Christian believers don’t know what they stand for.
Part of the problem is found in the Church. Too many of our churches are preaching the “feel good” gospel of acceptance of every faith, every lifestyle, every belief. This easy gospel fills the pews because it is what people want to hear. But it doesn’t bring anybody to their knees before Christ. The Church preaches the “Name it and claim it” gospel of material prosperity. People love this gospel - but it turns God into an ATM machine and prayer into an access code. If what you are hearing on Sonday is the gospel of “I’m Ok, You’re Ok, God wants to give you everything you want.” then you are not learning the doctrine that is the bedrock of our faith. If you do not know what to stand for then you are going to fall for any nutty theory that come by..
But the largest part of the problem is found in the individual believer. Too many believers show up for church on Sonday morning then leave - feeling that they have done their duty. If they are feeling really pious, they might even go to a Sonday class. If they brought their Bible with them, it is the only time all week that they will touch it. Too many of us spend three hours a day watching TV, and 15 minutes a day reading the Word. The cell phone is a permanent fixture on our ears as we talk endlessly to our friends, but the prayer line to Father has a sign hanging on it “For emergency use only” We recognize our friends voices immediately, but Father has to set a bush on fire for us to listen to Him.
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul tells the Corinthians that he had had to feed them the milk of the gospel because they were still infants in Christ and were not ready for solid food. You can almost hear his impatience as he tells them that even now, they were still infants. If we are depending on a half-hour sermon every Sonday to be our God-lesson for the week - then we will always be infants. If we are not in the Word, if we are not in prayer, if we are not listening for the voice of our God, then we will always be infants. And like an infant whose attention span is short and who is easily pulled from one toy to another, every diaper-Christian will be pulled from the truth by every new theory that comes along.
When I stand before Jesus I don’t want to be wearing a diaper with a “feel-good gospel” pacifier hanging out of my mouth. I want to stand before Him as a mature Christian. I want to recognize Him immediately because I know Him through His Word, because I have had conversations in prayer with Him, and because my ears were attuned to His voice. And while I am on earth, I want to be able to answer each new theory that “explains” Jesus with the truth. When somebody tries to tell me that the Israelites didn’t cross the Red Sea - they crossed the Reed Sea that was only a couple of feet deep I want to be able to say “Hallelujah for God! He did an even greater miracle by drowning the entire Egyptian army in a couple of feet of water!”
LORD Jesus, I want to know You better. Reveal Yourself to me though Your Word, through prayer and through Your voice. You are my God and I long for You.
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Posted by Valerie at April 21, 2006 06:49 PM