How Then Shall We Live

So far in the building blocks series we have established three fundamental things that has given us a base upon which Christianity becomes relevant. First, we talked about Sin as the separation of humanity from God and the cause for creation to deviate from its perfection.  We then looked at the act of turning towards God by Repentance but determined that it was not in alignment with God’s forever perfection, but only temporal. Because of this, we established that the only way to be aligned with God’s forever Perfection was to have Faith in the Christ by accepting his Grace. In saying this, the next thing we need to look at is two resultants of that faith, Life during the “Now” and life in the “Future Perfection”. What we will be looking at in this post is what it means to have faith during the “Now” and why we call it Christianity. Then, in our last building blocks post, we will look at the “Future Perfection” and what Restoration really means.

When we go through the action of Repentance toward God in opposition to Sin and pledge allegiance to Christ by having Faith (believing) in him, we then seem to call ourselves “Christians”, but why? It wasn’t until the Church Fathers of the second century chose to repurpose this word as the primary identifier of people who associated themselves with Christ that it became a prominent title. The term Christian is used in the New Testament (three times in fact), but it is most likely a derogatory term at its time of use. The first part of the word is Christ; which we have already identified as the Greek translation of Messiah. Then, what is interesting is, the “-ian” part of that word is Latin. This means that at the time of it’s use in the first century, it would have been created by the Roman officiants by merging a transliteration of the Greek (or Aramaic, as they both sound the same) with a normal Latin suffix making a word that means “Belonging (origin) to Christ”.

The central birthplace of Christianity was in the world of Jewish culture. This included both their Religious and Political framework. The Jews term for other Jews that followed Christ was “Notzrim” meaning followers of the Nazarene (the place where Jesus grew up and started his path as a Rabi). This would have been a demeaning name as well, but they would not have included the term Christ in their title as the other Jews would not believe Jesus was the foretold Messiah and would not warrant that title to him or his followers. Struggling with both these titles, and the negative representation of them, may be the reason why Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:16, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” The people group that we call Christian in the first century did not have a title for themselves but simply said that they were “Followers of the Way.” It is from their opponents that we get a title and then it was the Early Church Fathers (mostly Ignatius and Polycarp) who take Peter’s Statement and solidified it into a recognized religious sect.

The people who had Faith in Jesus as the Christ may have been called Christians in a descriptive and diminutive way, but the cementing of that term throughout time has morphed its meaning. It has now broadened its scope to include anything that has to do with Jesus (and sometimes not). We have built complex ideologies around what we think a Christian should do or how they should act and have even at times completely debased its purpose entirely by building our own mental framework and tying it to the term just because we say that it is doing good for people “just like Jesus did.” But, if we want to accurately identify ourselves as Christians, then we need to narrow our definition back down to what the “Followers of the Way” identified as the essential framework the Jesus the Christ presented.

So, what is the “Way”? There is nothing significant about the word itself. “Hodos” is the Greek for this, and it is used over a hundred times throughout the New Testament and simply means a road or path or the progression along such. But there are a few instances of use that show that they borrowed this word for describing a mental framework and execution of that framework. We see this in such cases as Mathew 21:32, “For John came to you in “the Way of Righteousness” and you did not believe him” (a mental framework that drove people to repent) and in Mathew 22:16 has the disciples of the Pharisees saying to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach “the Way of God” in truth” (A mental framework that the Pharisees devoted their life to). It is not these frameworks that are being pursued, instead it is one particular verse that the Followers of the Way are tying themselves to and that is John 14:6. Prior to this verse, we see Jesus teaching his disciples the nature of God and the things to come and where he is going, particularly to be with God (the Father), but Thomas (one of his disciples) did not understand the metaphysical nature of what Jesus was saying and said, “Lord, we do no know where you are going, how do we know the way?” To this, Jesus responded in verse 6 with this statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” With this statement, Jesus (as the Christ) pronounced with authority that it was through his mental framework that he had established that we are able to be with God (the Father and the element of Truth Jesus is claiming) as well as have life (in this case, it is “zoe” meaning spiritual life). So, this framework of the Christ is what the Followers of the Way are attributing themselves to.

Now, let us not confuse the elements of the Faith/Grace structure with this framework. As we discussed in our third building block, it is simply Faith in the Christ by accepting his Grace that we are allowed to be part of the reestablished creation done in perfection (with newly perfected bodies). But part of the Faith to a patron was to speak well of him and to present him to others as your patron. This means that an element of faith we are being called to do is to tell others of what our patron is doing for us and what it is that he is presenting as a mental framework to live by while in his care. So, what was the mental framework that Jesus presented? Throughout his time on earth, he presented one consistent framework that established itself as the key framework of the Followers of the Way and what we need to pay closer attention to.

To understand the framework that Jesus is presenting, let us first look at how his time of teaching began. In the first century, the Jewish social structure had a very established education structure. As a young Jewish boy, Jesus would have been part of a “Bet Seffer” and under the tutelage of a “Torah Rabbi” from the ages of six through ten. By the age of ten, these young Jewish boys would have memorized the entire Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament and often referred to as the Law). For the students that excelled while in “Bet Seffer”, the next step would be the “Bet Talmud”. During this time of study from the ages of 10 to 14, Jesus and the other Jewish boys would continue to memorize the texts of Joshua through Malachi (the rest of the Old Testament) and would start developing the art of interactive questioning and answering (something Jesus would have been doing in the temple when he was left behind at the age of 12). The last stage of education, for those who showed their worth, was “Bet Midrash”. This was for the boys aspiring to be a Rabbi themselves (the highest position in Jewish society) and where they started to develop their own interpretation of the Torah.

The interpretation that a Rabbi develops becomes the “Yoke” of that Rabbi. It is through this Yoke that a Rabbi determines what was permissible or what was not (this was called “Binding and Loosing”). For a Rabbi to teach a new Yoke other then what was already established, he would have to gain the approval of at least two other Rabbis who had “Schema” (authority) and then he himself would have “Schema” for his Yoke. This is what Jesus became, a Rabbi who could speak with authority concerning a new Yoke that he was presenting to his fellow Jewish people. This Yoke is one in the same as the mental framework I was mentioning above. So, what was it that Jesus taught to the Jewish people claiming that “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mathew 11:30)? Well, let’s look at what Mathew is telling us about it.

Have you ever heard of the Golden Rule? This was that start of how Jesus established his new Yoke. In Mathew 5-7, we see a lot of framing of how this framework would play out in the social context of the Jewish people. In the first part, he shows the “Graces” one would receive as he became others focused (5:1-16) and delivered a harsh stance to the those who tried to hold their own stance within the Law (5:21-48). In the middle of those two segments, we see Jesus’ claim, “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.” The rest of the sixth and seventh chapter build more application framework, but it is in the middle of chapter seven that we get what we call the Golden Rule. “So, what ever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

It was shortly after this that Jesus brought to himself 12 disciples that he would begin to teach the full nature of his Yoke that he was establishing. But, shortly after bringing his disciples to him, he started to add some Messianic teachings to what he was publicly teaching (teachings that have to do with the Messiah/Christ). But he would still maintain his original yoke throughout this time. In fact, when he was challenged by one of the scribes to state what the most important command was, he replied with a statement summarized this way, “Love the Lord your God AND Love your neighbor as yourself, for all of the Law and Prophets hinge upon this” (Mathew 22:37-40).

It wasn’t until Jesus was about to solidify his Messiahship that he introduces this concept as an absolute. At the last Passover meal that he would share with his disciples prior to his crucifixion, he established a “New Command” (not new as in a new idea or new rule, but new as in a new framework to live by). “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” After this new command was given, Jesus was crucified, locking in the pinnacle of his teaching by showing the greatest display of love, dying for someone (everyone) else. But that wasn’t the end. His resurrection showed that he had entered his Messiahship (Kingship) role and was even the ruler over death. He would spend the next couple of months, prior to his ascension, teaching his disciples the Truths of his framework and its interaction with the rest of God’s creation. This was the process and timeframe that Jesus was using to turn his disciples into apostles (ones sent out). The ascension of Jesus, and the following distribution of the Holy Spirit, was the mark of a new phase for those who would claim Jesus as Christ (Messiah).

This is a lot, and it is also really focused with inside the context of Jewish culture. If you are like me, then you are probably not Jewish or live within those contexts. So how did this Christship come to us? How are we part of this faith established for the patron of the Christ? The origin of this event may have been inside of Jewish context, but it was definitely not limited to it. There are a few instances we see Jesus stepping outside the bounds of his Jewishness for the sake of those who came to him, but his focus was to establish his Yoke inside of Judaism. It was the task of his disciples to spread the Yoke of their Rabbi, the Faith of their Patron. Specifically, we have Paul to thank for the majority of expansion into the Non-Jewish world.

Paul’s main focus was to establish the fundamentals of a Christian life to the first century people while stripping away his very own Jewish nature from it. We can see this separation develop a freedom from the Law of the Jews but, more specifically, a mental framework to live life through. There is a point where the early apostles argued over what it looked like to live in this framework as a Non-Jewish Person and they came up with a short list of rules (Acts 15:22-29). In this list, they are called to abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what was strangled, and from sexual immorality. This list given was still culturally relevant as it was reflecting the prevailing idol worship that was taking place outside of Judea, thus causing problems for Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles (Non-Jews) to live well together. We really see the mental framework brought back to its simplicity through Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.

In what has been deemed the “Love Chapter”, 1 Corinthians 13 talks about the importance of Love and how everything without it is meaningless. It is at the end of this chapter that we see Paul’s capstone appeal. “So now Faith, Hope, and Love abide (remain) these three; but the greatest of these is Love.” You see, Faith is the framework we already worked through, the establishment of Jesus’ Christship that we are called to be part of through Faith; an event that happened prior to becoming a Christian. Hope, in Paul’s writings, is always referring to the hope in the resurrection. This is a future event that we look forward to with Jesus as the first example and will be part of the new creation framework. Lastly, we have Love, the framework of “The Now”. Everything simplifies down to these three, but it is Love that is significant in our everyday lives. Love for others just as Jesus loved.

It seems very rudimentary and cliché to boil everything down to Love, but that is what it is. In fact, the moment you transition your thinking from how our culture defines Love to the way that God, Jesus, and Paul defined it, you will see that it is no simple thing to carry out. Just as we defined Sin as Choosing something other then God (most often ourselves), we can equally define Love as Choosing others over ourselves. That means the moment we have any sort of selfish intent in how we treat others, we are acting against others in the very same nature that created sin when mankind acted against God. Ouch.

All of this sounds great if we have “Repented” from “Sin”, placed our “Faith” in the Christ, and now equally love others through our time on this earth. This framework is the bases for all who claim to be a Christian. Any person or doctrine that deviates from this (or adds more requirements to it) is building a different framework than what was intended for the Followers of the Way. Some teachings throughout time have helped people in the time that they were in. This is no different than the list of rules that was given to the Gentiles. This was an act supporting the “love of others” framework by directing them away from idol associated actions that were causing people to struggle with each other. It is when we focus on those rules instead of the framework that we get ourselves in a frustrating position.

So, this is what it means to live as a Christian, “To live in faith to the Christ (your patron) by loving others”. But What if you do not live in Faith? What if you have only Repented and have not chosen to continue beyond Repentance by aligning yourself with the Kingship of the Christ? What if you only acknowledge that you are separated from God by sin (or worse, deny your separation from God)? We will address what will happen in the end for both types of people and how the restoration of the Perfect will occur when we continue in our next, and final, building block.

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