The Christian faith is really very simple. Jesus did not give us complicated doctrines to affirm, rather he had a very simple message. Repent and follow me. It is more personal than intellectual. Those two commands, repent and follow, are connected. We are to repent from living our own way, from being our own master. The word repent, “metanoia” in Greek, means to change the way you think, which implies a change of direction of your life. We think we can fix ourselves, that we can change ourselves and while that might be true in a limited and temporary way, fundamentally we cannot change ourselves, because to change we need an inner transformation. The way we think needs transformation from what comes natural to us to what is supernatural and foreign to us. To put it another way. We need to learn a new language that no one can teach us but the Spirit of Jesus. To embark on that path, we need to repent.
While repenting is a one time action, following takes a lifetime. Jesus called men and women in the past and calls men and women now to follow him, not to learn doctrine and theology. Unless by theology, you mean what theology actually means, the study of God, following Jesus to learn and understand what he reveals about God so that it can transform the way you think and in turn change your life. Some turn theology into an end in itself, by acquiring more and more information, but never seem to realize that the purpose of theology is to know Jesus and let that knowledge transform you.
Today many believe that Christianity is a religion. A religion is a belief system that requires following a set of rules and practicing a certain set of rituals. Religion is a human way to understand God. A human effort for men and women to “improve” themselves so that they can make themselves acceptable to God. Christianity is not a religion, anymore than a friendship or marriage is a religion. The concept of religion is fundamentally flawed, that is why we need a savior, someone who will put us on a different path. Someone who can do for us, what we are helpless to do for ourselves. Jesus claims to be that person, which leads us to a decision. Believe Jesus and change or stay on the same path we’ve always been on. We can continue putting band aids on our bad behaviors, which is why the world is filled with individuals identifying themselves as “recovering ‘you fill in the blank’”, but no one is “recovered”. We can discipline ourselves to appear humble, generous and benevolent, when we know in our heart of hearts that hidden ulterior motives are lurking. We are what Jesus called the Pharisees, outside they appeared all clean and gleaming, but inside they were nothing more than tombs carrying around death. The only way to enter into the “recovered” category is to humbly accept what Jesus offers to us and let him teach us that “new language”, a new way to think. To put it another way, we let him transform our thoughts and life one layer at a time. The choice is ours.
David Freitag 