But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? -- Luke 10:29
In some ways, Christianity is much like Zen in its
teachings. Jesus doesn’t answer our
questions as much as He simply tells us what to do. I was reading Kierkegaard last night, and he
mentions this in relation to Paul’s statement in Romans 13:8 that love is the
fulfillment of the law. If someone asks,
“What is love?” the answer is not to feel good about someone but to act
righteously. There is no good
intellectual definition of love. It
matters what we do, not what we say.
Many times the unbeliever is like the lawyer who questioned
Jesus in Luke 10. A question may be a
legitimate quest for enlightenment, or, as appears to be the case here and with
the Rich Young Ruler, a way to justify avoiding doing good. We know what the rules are. We know, most of us, what the law says. Do it.
See what happens.
A few months ago, my No. 2 granddaughter asked me for a
favorite Bible verse:
When I think about it, this is the great leap forward of
science, the experimental method as outlined by Jesus.
Beware of getting caught up in debates and arguments,
questions and doubts. We are not going
to go to heaven because of our works of righteousness we have done. Yet the
person of faith is a practitioner of righteousness. There is no such thing as a theoretical
Christian.
3 comments:
Well said! Jesus also phrased His answers in such a way that those who really thirst for knowledge and wisdom, find the questions they should be asking themselves.
Or, another way to look at it is: Jesus held up a mirror when someone tried to be sneaky or trap Him, or looking for loopholes in the Law.
Christianity does resemble Zen, in many ways, although I believe it goes further than Zen. Still, Zen can be a useful tool under Christianity and God's authority. In the early 90's I read a lot of Thomas Merton, and he explored Zen and incorporated it into Christianity, generally speaking.
The best answers are usually the best questions that inspire us to transcend ourselves with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, Merton is one of those guys that recognized it. I think he had an influence on me, too.
"Do it. See what happens." Good point. After a bit of doing, then go back to books and they start to make more sense. Repeat.
An infinite do loop.
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