Jesus: the non-conformist

Jesus.

Here was a non-conformist if their ever was one. He took the book that his ancestors had revered for centuries and turned it on its head.

“Let he without sin cast the first stone.”

“Blessed are the peace-makers.”

“Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”

“You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But…If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

“You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

[Then again, he also said, "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." But how many one-eyed Christians do you see walking around?]

Leaders and prophets such as Jesus, rather than living in the ancient past, updated the tenants of their people to resonate with a more modern society. He lived in a time when prostitutes were stoned to death. He recognized this as wrong, even if the god-given laws of his time proscribed it. And he did something about it.

If Jesus were alive today…

It’s a question Christians ask all the time. No one has the answer.

Part of Jesus’s power was his unsurpassed ability to incorporate new understanding, new knowledge, and new philosophies into old religious and legal structures

If the prophets and religious leaders from thousands of years ago–whom we admire as the non-conformists of their day–came to our time, would they ignore the scientific discoveries and the technological innovations that have occurred in the past thousands of years? Would they brush aside the tools that allow us to see parts of the universe they never saw? Parts of the human body and human genome? parts of the smallest elements that create our world? The tools that have allowed people in the recent centuries to make judgments and predictions based on information unavailable to the people alive at the time of the prophets?

Or would they shake Creationists awake and say “God gave you this knowledge! Use it!”

The reason for the seasons. The substance that makes up the stars. The discovery of planets. The power of the microscope and telescope. The periodic table. The discovery of fossils. The ability to see bacteria and germs. The carbon-dating of artifacts and bones.

Would these prophets preach that the world was created in six days? That humans have always been shaped exactly as they are? That the earth is the center of the solar system?

Or would they see the power of God within each new discovery. Would they see the terms “God” and “Truth” as interchangeable. The search for one is the search for the other.