Getting Back to the Basics of What Jesus Taught

Photo Credit: Relevant Magazine

I've recently read three very interesting posts from two different online newsletters - two, from the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) and one from Rick Warren (Daily Hope).

Richard Rohr is the primary writer for the CAC online newsletter. 

He writes in one post, "We must be honest and admit that most of Christianity has focused very little on what Jesus himself taught and spent most of his time doing: healing people, doing acts of justice and inclusion, embodying compassionate and nonviolent ways of living." 

That is the main point Rohr is making. 

It's straightforward and if you look at the recent history of much of the U.S. Christian Church, I'd say it's valid.

How often does the Christian Church get in the news for doing acts of justice, compassion and nonviolence?

On a related subject, Warren pointed out the difference between a witness and an attorney. He said that Christians should remember this distinction. He defined the difference between a witness and an attorney by giving a clear example.

In court, if you're on the witness stand, testifying about a car accident involving a red car and a green car, you tell what you know. "I saw the red car run into the green car." That's it.

We can get into trouble when we over-explain and complicate the things Jesus did and said - which are actually very simple.

Photo Credit/Learned Religions

In another post from the CAC, Megan McKenna writes: "Knowing Aramaic, the language of Jesus, has greatly enriched my understanding of Jesus' teaching. Because the Bible as we know it is a translation of a translation, we sometimes get a wrong impression. For example, we are accustomed to hearing the Beatitudes expressed passively: 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.  

"Blessed” is the translation of the word makarioi, used in the Greek New Testament. However, when I look further back to Jesus’ Aramaic, I find that the original word was ashray, from the verb yashar. Ashray does not have this passive quality to it at all. Instead, it means “to set yourself on the right way for the right goal; to turn around, repent...'

How could I go to a persecuted young man in a Palestinian refugee camp, for instance, and say, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” or “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”? That man would revile me, saying neither I nor my God understood his plight and he would be right.

When I understand Jesus’ words in Aramaic, I translate like this:

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for you shall be satisfied.

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God.

To me, this reflects Jesus’ words and teachings much more accurately."

Maybe, the challenge for Christians in the U.S. is to realize what we are called, primarily, to be witnesses, not defenders of the faith. And focus on actions that promote active blessing, instead of being condescendingly self-righteous. 

Maybe, this combination - remembering what we are called to say and what we are called to do - could be a way to get out of the spiritual inertia present in much of 21st Century American Christianity. 

According to the Pew Research Center, the Christian religion is on the decline in the United States. Significantly so within the past decade. 

Perhaps now would be a good time for Christians to become more focused on what they do and say to help get back to the simplicity of how Jesus lived and what he taught.