The importance of following Jesus

Do beliefs matter? Could we be condemned? Is there a literal devil? Or is the devil just a symbol for something within ourselves? Our ego?

I often find myself getting lost in speculations about this and that.

I believe that we get away from what’s important when we put too much emphasis on factual claims in the bible. Not that the factual claims are unimportant. If you take away certain beliefs, other things fall apart. And some things maybe need to fall apart, while others need to be preserved. I’m not going to go into detail about this here, but it could be worth considering.

The more I think of who Jesus was and what he taught, the more it strikes me how complete and timeless his teachings were. I’m not saying that the miraculous events in the Bible didn’t occur. As a matter of fact, I believe that some of them most likely did. I can even say this with some ease, as I know that the world is much more than what we can perceive with our five senses. But I don’t think that you need miracles or to believe in the whole narrative literally, to see Jesus as miraculous. We have become so accustomed to the many of the things that Jesus stood for, that we don’t even stop to reflect on how counter-intuitive they are to our animal natures. And they work. Not only do they work. They make our lives infinitely better. Because when we live according to our animal natures our lives will most likely suck. And the lives of those around us will suck too, if we have a significant impact on them. 

What I believe is that Jesus gave us an example of the ultimate potential that lies dormant within each and everyone of us. And I’m not alone in this belief. Thinkers such as C.S Lewis, Dallas Willard, Jordan Peterson and John Ortberg have said basically the same thing, with small variations. 

According to the Bible, we were all made in the image of God. But we are somehow fallen. I don’t believe that the fall from the Garden of Eden should be taken literally. I’m not ruling it out. But I don’t think that it’s what’s important. If you look at it a little closer it’s full of symbolism. What does, for example, nakedness symbolize? And no, I’m not talking about sex or shame around sexuality. I’m talking about vulnerability. When we’re naked, we’re exposed and vulnerable. 

Or take the idea that Adam walked with God before the fall. This means that we have the potential of living in- and feeling God’s presence. But as the Bible progresses, God becomes more and more distant. Less corporeal. 

And what does it mean that the knowledge of good and evil is what causes the fall to begin with? You can ponder that for a yourself, because I could go on like this forever and this is not really what this post is about. 

Coming back to the person Jesus, I believe that, together with everything else that he is, he is the perfect ideal. I would even go so far as to say that he is a perfect ideal that would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the human imagination to conjure up on its own. And as I said a few paragraphs ago, we have the potential within us to live like Jesus. There are no real physical or even psychological limitations. I even believe that what Jesus said about humans being able to perform miracles is accurate, because I know that lots of strange things happen inside us, that are not recognized by mainstream science.

But even if nothing limits us for real, each and everyone of us fall short of the ideal that Jesus represented. And yet, paradoxically, I believe that when all of the nonsense that we have turned into an identity over the years is removed, living like Jesus is really our natural state. When we completely stop functioning from the ego.

What do I truly believe in? What do I truly believe about Jesus?

I think that the broad question about what we truly believe, is quite an important one to ask oneself. Because otherwise, as with many other things that we don’t bring consciousness into, our beliefs risk running on auto-pilot. The idea here is that when it comes to lots of issues, there is simply no objective truth available. It doesn’t mean that there is no objective truth. But whether there is or not, we don’t have access to it. And when we don’t take time to make clear where we stand on different issues, it’s much easier to get swept away by what others believe. Or what we for one reason or another deem appropriate for the moment. Reasons that have nothing to do with our authentic selves, such as fears, cultural values or unconscious desires. 

Let’s get into one of the heaviest questions right away: What do I believe about religious truth? Well, I believe that the truth is to be found in the Bible. But probably not among the most common interpretations of the Bible. And I believe that some, perhaps many, important books were excluded from the Bible. Among those, I believe the Gospel of Thomas to probably be the most important one. 

I also believe that religion and spirituality is the most important, most fundamental aspect of human existence. And I believe that any religious faith that does not make someone hurt others is better than no religious faith at all. And I don’t believe that, just because I believe that one religious faith is the truest one, it makes all of the other faiths wrong and sinful. 

In some sense, I believe that the life and death of Jesus Christ constituted a shift for the whole of humanity. I’m not exactly sure what. I think that it’s pretty clear that his life gave us a perfect ideal to follow. But I also think that this ideal life, lived out fully, represented something more. I think that it may have something to do with that we are all connected on a deep level. There are serious theories about this within the realm of physics and I’ve had some personal experiences that seem to indicate that this might be true. 

This means that what one person does, has an effect on everyone. At the same time, I want to be clear that for me, this does not exclude Jesus as the only son of God. And somehow I feel that this is an important question. 

If the whole idea of Jesus being the son of God, who died on the cross to save us from our sins, is true, then blind faith, if this is something that we are truly capable of, would probably be the best response. In other words, if we don’t just delude ourselves into blind faith because we are afraid of the consequences of not having such a faith. Or worse, if we secretly gloat over the punishment that we believe awaits those that are not capable of such a faith. 

I know that I am not capable of such a faith. But since I believe that the question of the person of Jesus, and not just the example he sat, is important, this is something that I need to think about. But for now, this is as far as I come. I hope that it can offer some food for thought.