"WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE?"

“Jesus and The Good Life” Part II

John Dominic Crossan says that Jesus broke down the barriers of class, sex and race by eating with all sorts of people. Who we eat with, where we eat and what and when, says a great deal about social standing and relationships. “What we do at the dinner table serves as a map of economic, social and political differences.” Would Jesus today abolish clubs, fine restaurants and exclusive dinner parties in favor of egalitarian feasts? Would he favor clubs and organizations and neighborhoods and churches which tend to “exclude” the “undesirables,” however they might be defined? Do many people define “the good life” as celebrating the best with their own kind? Would Jesus?

In John 16:11, Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In Luke 12: 32, Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And in Matthew 19: 29, he says, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundred fold, and inherit eternal life.”

Some Christians say these passages promise prosperity and “the good life” to the true believer. Others say that God wants to make us prosperous, but we need to have faith to make it so. What do you think? Is it Jesus’ intention to make as many as possible wealthy and healthy and wise?

Jesus says he will tear families apart. Dominic Crossan says the “usual explanation is that families will become divided as some accept and others refuse faith in Jesus.” But the separation Jesus speaks of is “between the generations.” The attack, says Crossan, “is on the Mediterranean family’s axis of power, which sets father and mother over son, daughter, and daughter-in-law.”

Thus the family can be the setting for domestic violence and abuse of power. The Kingdom of God is to take precedence over family. The Kingdom is radically egalitarian.

Would Jesus oppose the “family values” movement of today? Is he against parental authority? Does “equality” mean “anarchy” or life without structure and authority in family?