The #1 Crazy Thing that Christians Believe

          I wrote in an earlier entry about the top five crazy things that Christians believe.  My point there was to show that the fundamental issues of Christianity are still the most important topics for discussion today (relative to Christian beliefs).  These are the issues that have been discussed through the ages, from Paul to Augustine to modern day thinkers.  I am concerned that those foundational concepts are no longer considered or discussed, and yet there is heated debate about issues that are only relevant when they are grounded to those foundations. It’s analogous to arguing about advanced details of calculus when we haven’t agreed on the associative and commutative properties of mathematics.  Such an argument is a waste of time until the basic foundational principles have been agreed to.  My goal is to endeavor to focus on fundamental issues in this blog and not get caught up in issues that are irrelevant when they are untethered from their foundations.

          In my earlier entry, I left out the #1 Crazy Thing that Christians Believe.  I figured that issue deserved its own entry.  So, without further ado, what is the #1 Crazy Thing that Christians Believe?  Well, according to me, it is:

#1 - Jesus is alive today, and He is active and involved in people’s lives on a moment by moment basis.

          This idea follows directly from Crazy Thing #3 – that Jesus rose from the dead – and is made important by Crazy Thing #2 – that Jesus is God.  And no, He didn’t die again in 1882 or 1966 or any other time before or since.  So, therefore, He is alive today and, according to Christians, still just as present as He was in first century Palestine.

          Think about it.  Christians pray to God and expect that He hears them and actually responds to their requests.  Christians believe He cures diseases and fixes problems.  They believe He changes the course of history.  And, most importantly, they claim He has changed each one of them personally from the inside.  People all over the world report “supernatural” experiences with God.  We are not talking about experiences that happened 2000 years ago – we are talking about experiences that happened yesterday.  We are talking about experiences that are happening right now!

          I don’t see how any conversation of Christian beliefs can look too far past this key point.  I mean, it is either evidence of total delusion by a reasonably significant segment of the population or it is critically important to all of us on a moment by moment basis (because of its immediacy).  Is there a middle ground here?  Personally I don’t see it.  This #1 Crazy Thing is either utterly false and ridiculous or it is shockingly true and spectacular.  Is there a third choice???

          OK.  Before I stop for now, I’d like to try out an analogy – a story – and see if it helps to illustrate the situation.

Example conversation…

Let’s say I come in the door and say to you “there’s a lion roaming the streets.”  You say “we live in the middle of the city – that’s ridiculous – there’s no lion.”  And I might begin to try to convince you.  “No – I really saw it – it was walking around on the sidewalk downtown.” 

“Oh that’s ridiculous – it would be all over the news if there was a lion walking around downtown.”

“But I saw it clear as day.”

“It was probably just someone wearing a lion costume for some reason.  I heard there was some kind of parade downtown today.”

“No – it was really a lion.  I went over and saw the footprints in the grass.”

“Footprints could be anything.”

“I took a picture of the footprints – look – here it is.”

“That doesn’t look like anything to me – that could be someone’s shoe that made that.  Besides, how do I know that you didn’t just take a picture at the zoo?”

“Other people saw it.  I’m not the only one.  Don’t you want to talk to them?”

“No.  I don’t want to talk to them.  It’s all foolishness.  There was no lion walking around downtown.  Let’s change the subject.”

Compare that to the following conversation…

Let’s say I come through the door and say to you “there’s a lion roaming the streets. And…”

“What are you talking about – that’s ridiculous – we live in the middle of the city – there’s no lion.”

“…and – don’t move too quickly – he’s standing right behind you!”

What makes this the #1 Crazy Thing?  Well, if you can establish this one as fact, don’t all the others kind of fall away?  For example, why try to prove or disprove that Jesus rose from the dead if He is still around today?

There will be more to come on this particular issue because I really do feel that it should be at the top of the list for discussion relative to Christian beliefs.  For now, I will leave you to ponder whether you agree with my list of crazy things!