The Prescriptions of Christ

Often I write about following Christ, but what does this mean?  Not long ago I leafed through the New Testament, making notes on just what was it Christ said we were to do.  This exercise doesn’t take that long, and you may want to give it a try.  Here is a summary of what I came up with, putting things in my own words:

• Let your light shine; let your goodness be seen.  Who is it that is blessed and happy from God’s point of view?  The poor, the suffering, those who hunger and thirst for holiness, those who show mercy, the single-hearted, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted, those who are insulted for God’s sake.  The way God sees things can seem foolish to people.
• Don’t let your anger grow toward other people, or use abusive language toward them, or hold them in contempt.  It is okay to feel angry.  Feeling angry is neither right nor wrong, but we are not to feed our anger and therefore let it grown.  Don’t channel your anger into violence, either physical or mental.  Road rage is not of God.  Domestic violence is not of God.  Rushing to war is not of God.  Torture is not of God.  Any kind of abuse is not of God.
• Do not do to others what you would not have done to yourself.  This prescription sums up how we are to relate to other people.  We also can hear this prescription in these words:  Do to others what you would have done to yourself. 
• Go first and be reconciled with people, and then go to Church.  Lose no time in making up with your opponents.  Go quickly to the negotiation table.  It is more important to seek reconciliation than it is to go to Church.  Going to Church cannot make up for being an unforgiving, unaccepting or mean-spirited person.  Reconciliation is more important than worship.
• Do not look lustfully on other people, as if they were simply objects for your lust.  People are to always be subjects, not objects in the way we relate to them.  We are not to “use” other people.  We are not to use other people sexually, we are not to use or exploit other people to get ahead, we are not to use other people to make ourselves feel good, and we are not to use other people for “cannon fodder.”
• Do not divorce.  You must not separate what God has joined together.  Marriage in God is a communion of persons, a mutual partnership for the whole of life.  Marriage in God is not just a civil contract concerning an exchange of goods or services, but is the place we learn to love.  Therefore it is the place of mutuality lived in forgiveness, reconciliation and acceptance.  (Note:  not every marriage is ”in God.”  Many people get together in spite of God; God has not joined them — it is not God’s fault!)
• You should not have to swear an oath in order to be trusted that you are telling the truth.  Be truthful at all times, saying “yes” when you mean yes, and “no” when you mean no.  Be an honest person. We are not to be deceitful or tricky in any way.  In other words that warning “buyer beware” should not be needed when people deal with us.  A disciple of Christ cannot be less than honest in business deals, in relationships, or in politics!
• Offer no resistance to injury.  When a person strikes you on the right cheek, turn and offer him or her the other.  Do not seek vengeance to get even.  Let the violence stop with you.  Choose the cross and not the sword.  Choose Jesus and not Barabbas. 
• If anyone wants your shirt, offer them your coat, too.  If pressed into service for another, do more than asked of you.  Give to anyone who begs from you, and don’t turn your back on the borrower.  Lend to everyone who asks.  Lend without expecting any repayment.  Forgive debts, as you are forgiven your debts to God. 
• You have heard “Love your countrymen and hate your enemies.”  God says:  “Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors, and that’s how you show you are the children of God.  Do good to your enemies; bless those who curse you.  Give good things to others, especially your enemies.  Overcome evil with good.  I find it helps to remember that your enemies are God’s children, too.  They are our brothers and sisters.  They just don’t know it — yet. 
• Be compassionate as God is compassionate.  Do not judge; do not condemn.  Pardon others.  Be compassionate to all people, and to all of Creation, not only to those you judge to be “deserving.”
• Don’t perform religious acts in order to be noticed.  Pray in private, not making a show of prayer.  When you give, don’t have someone put up a plaque or name a building after you.  When you give, give anonymously if possible.  Don’t make a show of your giving.  Don’t act more pious than others around you — putting on a show.
• Forgive the faults of others in the same way you want to be forgiven by God.  Forgive the debts of others, as God forgives the debts you owe.
• Do not lay up for yourself earthly treasures, for then your heart will be taken up with money.  Do not be over concerned for “The Economy.”  You can’t give yourself to two masters, God and money.  The root of evil is the constant pursuit of wealth.  Do not be greedy.  Be content with enough.  Do not pile up more than you need.  As the old saying goes, if you have two of something and your neighbor has none, you have stolen your neighbors.  Do not worry about your livelihood, or worry about tomorrow — trust God.
• Stop passing judgment on people.  The way you judge people is the way God will judge you.  Stop putting labels on people, putting them in boxes that define them and keep them bound.  Stop calling other people names.
• Treat others in the way you would like to be treated.  You will be known by your deeds, so bear good fruit.  Since all people are created in the image of God, each and every person needs to be treated with dignity and respect.  Remembering to treat people with dignity and respect is especially important when they are most vulnerable.
• Only those who follow the ways of God as revealed in Christ can enter the kingdom of God.  It is not through prophesy, preaching, healing, the multiplication of prayers, the casting out of demons, or even through miracles that you prove you know Christ, but only if you are following the compassionate ways of God.  Entering the kingdom of God is the same thing as doing things in God’s way.
• Wisdom is proved in hearing and putting into practice the words of Jesus.  Only God’s way of doing things will prove to be the correct pathway to peace.  Doing things in God’s way is like building a house on a firm foundation.  Any other way to peace will stand for a moment, but will soon collapse and fall apart, like a house built on sand.
• Do not be attached to anything that keeps you from following Christ.  Even you family should not prevent you from following Christ, and doing things in God’s way.  Do not put off to tomorrow entering God’s kingdom.  Seek first the kingdom of God. 
• Go and learn the meaning of the words, “It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.”  No amount of sacrifice makes up for failing to follow Christ and doing things in God’s way.  God cannot be bought with sacrifices of money, lots of prayers, fasting, flagellation, etc. 
• The gifts you have received from God, give to others as gift.  All good things come to us from God.  We are the stewards of God’s gifts to us.  We are the servants who will one day say, we have done no more than our duty.  It is our obligation to give to others in their need, not simply our choice.
• Don’t plan ahead what you are going to say, but be guided by the Spirit of God in the moment.  Do not go to a meeting having plotted ahead of time in order to get your way.  Be a true listener of the Spirit.  Seek not your way, but God’s way.
• Do not fear those who can kill your body, for they cannot kill your spirit.  Do not be afraid.  Do not deny Christ like Peter, but endure unto the end.
• Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ.  Whoever will save his or her life will lose it; whoever loses his or her life for God’s sake will find it. 
• Unless you change and become like little children, making yourself lowly, you will not enter the kingdom of God.  The greatest among you will be the one who serves the rest.  There is to be no status seeking, no dominating of others, no putting people into classes, no dominating hierarchy.  In Christ there is no racial divide, no gender divide, and no economic divide.  All people are to be treated equally in Christ, with equal dignity and respect. 
• Not all people enter this world equal in ability, in fortune or in opportunities. These are the little ones who will always be with each generation.  We are to accept them as we accept Christ.  We are to have a preferential option for their care.  The good news of God’s kingdom is meant especially for them.
• Forgive others seventy times seven times.  Those who follow Christ become experts in the forgiveness business.
• Go and sell what you have and give it to the poor, and follow Jesus.  Avoid greed in all its forms.  When you have lunch or dinner, don’t invite those who can repay you, but invite “beggars” and those living with disabilities.  Be free of your stuff; don’t be possessed by your possessions.  In every community of Christ there should be no one with too much, and no one with too little.  Each person with more than enough is obligated to give to those in need.  It is nearly impossible for the rich person to do things in God’s way; it is nearly impossible for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom. 
• What people think is important, God holds in contempt.  The ways of God are not the ways of most human beings.
• You know how those who exercise authority lord it over others, and make their greatness to be felt?  It is not to be like that with you.  Those who exercise authority are to be like children, as if they had no power over others except the power to persuade, exhort, encourage and lead by example. 
• Who is it that inherits eternal life?  Those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, welcome in the homeless, give drink to the thirsty.  Every nation will be judged by whether or not they cared for the poor, the widowed, and all the little ones in their midst.  Only those nations that truly care for the little ones are “under God.”   For God the only greatness of a nation is the care and compassion that nation shows to people.  God cares nothing for the wealth, power or prestige of a nation.

And God says:  anyone who desires to come to me will hear my words and put them into practice.