How seriously should we take what jesus said?

Despite not being a christian, sometimes i do look into what the bible says
And, what i find seems puzzling to me... Or at least puzzling if i take religious zealots at their word. Presumably, people like mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, and Ronald Reagan take the bible... And particularly the words of jesus with utmost seriousness

Here is a quote from Matthew
20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" 21Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.…

It sems like jesus is plainly telling people to liquidate their wealth and give it to the poor.
Which republican politician has done that? And their donors... The people giving millions of dollars to these politicians... They have not done that. And the hobbly lobby folks... They have not done that... And all the rich televangelists and mega church pastors... They have not done that

So what am i to make of the clear contradiction between the instructions of jesus, and the behavior of the most self righteous of his adherents. Why is it more important to follow less clear instructions from Jesus about right to life or gay marriage.... But to ignore this extremely clear and specific instruction from Jesus about not acquiring wealth and giving it to the poor? Why is it more important to make sure your employees Health insurance does not cover birth control.... Why is that more important then selling your valuable company and giving the proceeds to the poor as Jesus clearly instructed? I really just do not get it

 

I don't think that Jesus, a Jewish teacher, actually intended the young man to literally sell everything. I think he was showing the young man where his priorities were. Money is not evil, it's the love of money above other values. I've no doubt that Jesus would have been happy had the man gone away and used his money to the benefit of others. He had the chance to put his property and money to good use for others benefit.
If a man has a business worth a million dollars and sells it. The business goes to another rich man, and the million dollars are a one off gift to the poor. If he is a successful business man and keeps the business he can make contributions to the poor for many years to come.
Reminds me of the Rabbi in the Middle ages who was asked whether healing on the Sabbath was wrong. He thought for a while and said 'It is better to heal a man so he can enjoy many more of Gods Sabbaths'.

 

So, apparently you do not take every word of the bible as literal truth, but rather subject to interpretation?
This despite Jesus other well known quote on the subject.... Where he discusses rich men, camels, heaven, an the eye of the needle....

Btw, i did not say wealth was evil... I was just quoting the bible
If ted cruz had enough money to loan his campaign millions
Theoretically he could have given that money to the poor instead!?

 

I think the more correct translation of that passage is "If you wish to be perfect".

The fellow had asked Jesus what it takes to make it into heaven ( Kind of the point of holding religious belief so - good question)

Jesus answer is (Follow the commands - don't kill, don't steal and so on) Interesting that this answer goes against the "Sola Fide" doctrine which is "Salvation by Faith alone" .. no works required ... "Just have Faith".

Then Jesus says but, "if you want to be perfect". Sell all your stuff ... Clearly then Jesus is not saying it is a requirement to sell all one's stuff and give it to the poor. He puts that out as the "Perfect Ideal" but in the context that perfection is not required for entrance into the pearly gates.

Incidentally - Faith is not a requirement either ! Just good works. Following the basic commands - message of Jesus. This is where the religious right really falls short as they rarely have a clue what the rock on which the message of Jesus was built. =

The Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have them do to you. If you do not want others forcing their religious beliefs on you through law - then do not force yours on others through law.

Restated numerous times: Judge not lest you be Judged, Love Neighbor as Self, Let ye who is without sin cast first stone .... and so on.

The religious right fundamentalists are "Anti-Jesus Message" in many respects such that it is a bit Orwellian Doublespeak that they call themselves Christians. More the Wolves in Sheeps clothing that Jesus talked about in Matt 7.

It is by their fruit that we can recognize evil bastards such as Cruz !

Matt 6

Tim Tebow and the fundamentalists come to mind. "Thank you Jesus ... Thank you for letting us win this game" Like God or Jesus care about the outcome of a football game such that they would have a hand in the outcome. Almost an insult to the intelligence of God really.

or Cruz holding up the Bible "God this, God that... bla bla lba" every time he speaks. What a clown God would think this guy is should she have a peek in to see what is happening from time to time.

This is a good one... again talking about these clowns

Matt 7

What ? What ? Chanting "Jesus Jesus" all day long to anyone within earshot will not get me into the kingdom ? OOOOHHHHHH NOOOOOOO ?!

Only those that do the will of the Father. The will of the Father as per Jesus is detailed in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) ... the above passage coming at the end of the Sermon.

In one sentence .. Just follow the Golden Rule - Do unto others.

Matt 7:

So there you have it: The Rule that "Sums up the Law and the Prophets". The rock on which Jesus bases his entire message on how humans are supposed to act towards each other.

According to Jesus .. this is what God commands and if you adhere to this rule you have a good shot of making it through the pearly gates.

Oddly enough - it is the religious right Fundamentalists that are some of the biggest violators of this rule !!

Instead of Rhino's they should be called Chrino's

 

If you're not a Christian, please explain why you think to even consider anything He'd said.....and as you stated with your title,
with the implication of some degree of seriousness?


Please don't be offended. I'm not being hostile here.....just want to understand where you're coming from?
Why do you read the Bible?

 

To give all you have to the poor is to become perfect, to take care of your environment and yourself you are loving God, to love your neighbors as your self you will create heaven on earth. That is what the Rabbi Jesus Christ taught.
Jesus said there is only one that's perfect, God the creator
Evangelicals follow the gospel of Paul who never knew or met Jesus (had a vision), the Jefferson Bible is a good read.

 

I'm agnostic. The Bible has good truths in it, and many errors and contradictions. Much is certainly open to interpretation BUT that interpretation must depend on a reasonable knowledge of the Bible as it was originally written, and the background to the stories.

I'm from the UK so although I've heard of Ted Cruz and his campaign I know only that the whole system in your country of selecting as presidential candidate is a waste of money.
Or should I say 'i believe it is a waste of money.'

The Persians used a similar phrase but substituted elephant for camel. With a different reference.

The other thing to consider is 'what did Jesus actually say'. If you remove the supposed miracles, and obvious Christian bias, you have a Jewish preacher who did a Billy Graham. He believed the Jews had gone astray and left the pathway, and he felt it his calling to bring them back to Jahweh. If you look carefully at the background to the story you can see what he saw. A simple religion had become bogged down with human rules, when really it was a simple belief to start with. Rather like the rituals, robes and rubbish in many churches today. If one believed that Jesus was divine and would return, he would find the same situation today.

I used to be a Christian in my 'teens and twenties' and spent years studying and preaching. Since then I have just studied.

This little story gives an explanation I think. And it's true. A minister made an appeal from the pulpit for money to help someone in desparate need. A little of widow offered an amount which the Minister knew she could not really afford. He quietly chided her, knowing her financial state. She replied 'Pastor, would you deny me the pleasure I have in giving'.
Giving can be reluctant. It can be out of duty. Or it can be given willingly.

Ooops. I'm rambling

 

Well, first....technically?


Jesus didn't say anything.


He was supposedly QUOTED by his friends. So in any assumption about the Gospels?...the FIRST and PRIMARY assumption is....that Jesus' "stenographers"...were being accurate and truthful.

 

My anecdotal assessment is that many that identify as Christian do so because it is socially expedient as opposed to buying the premise of the religion and doing ones best to walk the path of Jesus. I think there are a lot of posers in Christianity that give the religion a bad name.

 

The fact is that i was raised a christian
By very devote parents
So what is in the bible was inculcated in me for a long time

And, what i learned about jesus and the bible seemed to me to diametrically opposed
To what i have seen from various self righteous politicians, televangelists, media personalities and so forth
So
Occaisionally, some issue like this pops into my mind
Truthfully, i do not remember how i stumbled on to this page
But in seeing it, i was again perplexed by the contradictions of the christianity i learned as a child... Vs what i see as self proclaimed religious political champions

 

I tried to reconstruct my train of thought

So i saw a video about cruz early campaign funding
And the importance of a few very large contributions
And that one of those contributors was deeply involved in
The church of yawey
And i remembered my early christian teaching
That the rich should have some care for the poor
And thought it was ironic that this christian guy with lots of money was spending such large amounts in political donations
So that prompted me to do a web search on what jesus said on this topic
Which led me to this verse
Which led me to consider the more general topic of what it is that rich christians donate to.... It is a little hard for me to imagine jesus promoting political contributions in preference to giving to the poor... And i know that many of the televangelists have fairly large incomes and extravagant life styles... Etc

Let me be clear
Rich people are fully entitled to spend their money as they choose
But it also seems like there is an improbable nexus of wealth, politics, and self-righteous religious expedience... Which does not seem to correspond to the bible or the christianity that i was taught

 

Of course there are allagories and poetry in the Bible. That doesn't mean everything in the Bible is though. You have to read it in historical and textual context.

 

Every time I hear any politician quote a Bible verse I cringe. Romney was a Mormon...they might be decent people but its not Christianity. Ted Cruz and his dad are bonkers and believe in Dominionism(?) theology..... I seriously doubt if Jesus would approve of any power hungry politician.
.

 

Wasn't it Gandhi who said that he likes Jesus but despises Christians?

 

We're possibly the only industrialized nation that cares this much about religion. The true pity is that America was founded by intellectual humanists, many of whom despised Christianity (and rightly so), yet the religious fools have the audacity to call America a "Christian nation." It angers me how we've devolved into the very ignorance and superstition George Washington proudly boasted that America was free from in his day.

 

You're pretty ignorant or indoctrinated either one.
George Washington was very devout.We're the only industrialized that that's this good that cares about that religion.Are you even American? If so;You're probably some privileged kid that feels guilty about it and is trying to be a Social Justice Warrior.
I assume you've never heard of "Washington's prayer at Valley Forge"
If not for prayer.You would be speaking French right now.We would all be typing French.

 

Evidently they didn't do a very good job or you wouldn't be so hateful.

I am going to explain this so even you can understand it. The money that you say Ted Cruz spent on his campaign? It wasn't his money. It was given to him by people who wanted him to run for president. He has bills to pay related to the campaign - just debts. He can't spend it on just anything he wants, that is stealing. That is more like a Bernie Sanders/Hillary Clinton thing, take money from one person, buy votes from another.

So...Jesus doesn't give people permission to steal or otherwise break the law, you are all wet on this one.

 

I don't know about 'what Jesus' supposedly said especially given the chronological timetable and the number of 'contributors'.

If you're looking for some wise philosophical words of wisdom the Dali Lama is a good, if not better bet!

 

Hateful? Up to this point, with only very minor exception, people posting have been respectful about the christian message. They have questioned the motives and depth of people in the political spectrum of christianity, but they aren't demeaning the religion itself.

I don't disagree with your answer to the OP. Several other posters made statements about the specific scripture being quoted as not an absolute law of christianity.

 

Well, I question the motives of self proclaimed non-believers who presume to tell believers what to think and do, or how to interpret scripture. This one comes up all of the time.

Yes, you may be called to give away everything you have - as long as it's really yours. However, most people are mortgaged up to here, and that's not exactly a secret. You can't give it away if it's not yours to give. That's one thing. The other thing is that Jesus was not Robin Hood.

 

You shouldn't really wonder too much at people questioning the behavior compared to the message. Some non-believers have read the bible and can comprehend the message.

That said, the OP is not a perfect example of scriptural understanding.

I agree that Jesus was not Robin Hood, but he did expect faith to be accompanied by acts. Its hard to miss his message about love and compassion for other human beings, and there are pretty stern quotes from him about people who fail to care for others.

 

Not by a long shot. Jesus was talking to one person there, not everybody. He was trying to make a point. Taking something out of it's context is a pretext, which is a confidence trick used by cultists and prosperity gospel preachers. God's people know His voice (that's in there, too) and they know what they are called to do. They don't need laymen to tell them.

 

Money is the new God, and Trump is the new savior.

All hail Trump!

I say that in half-jest, but there does seem to be a movement among a number of evangelicals to rationalize the love of the accumulation
of money.

 

Do you think God is calling them to act without compassion to others?

 

No.

We are not a country because of a religion. We are a country because men and women fought and died to make it so. God didn't do anything, and if he does exist and was involved, it was from the stands as a spectator. The American Revolution wasn't a holy war, it was a war for independence fought by men and women who wanted to be in charge of themselves, who wanted the country and the land they lived in to be ruled by the people who live there, not by a King across an ocean. It was their sacrifices, their blood, their loved ones, and their victories who we have to thank.