Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I'm sorry. Forgive my French. But this is just so damn stupid.

First, click here and read the article and watch the interview. Then, come on back and read my comments below...

I could care less if this guy took a swig of beer, apparently against the rules of his institution. I could care less who the guy voted for. Well, okay, maybe I do care who he voted for, but we live in a free country (and to say, as Dobson does in the interview, that our president-elect is the best representative of the teachings of Jesus is a questionable proposition).

What I think is so absolutely ridiculous is that this guy tried to "live like Jesus for a year."

So how did he do keeping God's Holy Commandments, every jot and tittle? He claims he kept the Sabbath (even says that it was one of the "easy" parts of what he did). But did he make it to the Jerusalem temple for all the required festivals and sacrifices? Oh, wait. There is no Jerusalem temple. Strike one.

Did he speak Aramaic? I doubt it. Strike two.

And I'd also like to see the holes in his hands and side which he got for living the way he did. Strike three.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Thanks be to God that Jesus lived the way he did to be our substitute. Not as a moral example for us to follow. Not to give us weight loss tips by going kosher. And not to tell us "what not to wear" or giving us facial hair fashion suggestions. He lived the perfect life that you and I could never live and died on the cross in our place, bearing our sins and shedding his blood to pay the price that we owe to God ... our very life. Now, through Christ's finished work at the cross, we are reconciled to God. By trusting in him, we have forgiveness and life everlasting. We are justified by faith. We are declared not guilty. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account.

If I try to live like Jesus did, I will always fail miserably, because I am a poor miserable sinner. But Jesus lived and died and rose for me. In my Baptism, I became united to Christ's death. And as St. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

And by the way, I know that word in the title of this post is not French. But I get pretty ticked off sometimes at the silliness that passes off for Christianity nowadays. And it is "damned" because people are going to hell if they do not hear the Gospel proclaimed clearly.

4 comments:

AshleyEffken said...

I wonder what he wore and where he slept("foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests..."). And why beer? Jesus didn't drink beer, it was wine.

How is it that people think that trying to approximate what a first-century Jewish man might have lived like has anything to do with what Jesus' mission on earth was? This man didn't live anything like Jesus because Jesus lived completely differently than any other human who has ever lived. Sinless. Perfect. Sacrifice for all the sin of the whole world.

This guy is full of it.

Anonymous said...

You are correct. Damn is a French word :-D

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=damn&searchmode=none

Anonymous said...

I posted my last comment before reading the full article and seeing your thought that damn isn't French. Your first instinct was correct. As the etymological link says, damn comes from Latin first, but then comes from French.

More apropos to the actual content of your post, an exchange from the interview was "What was the toughest part? Obeying Jesus' teachings." My instinctive reaction was "Duh!!! Really? You're not perfect? Yeah, me neither; I'm repenting all the time. Thank God for His Grace given to me by the Blood of Christ!"

Kurt Onken said...

Ashley wrote: "This guy is full of it."

Thanks, Ashley, for not adding another French word to our discussion. ;-)