A Thought For The Week Of September 4, 2017

"For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:16-17) I don't like to judge others or what they believe. Suffice to say that I openly share what I believe and allow others the freedom to do the same. Generally speaking, I don't pass judgement on those who claim to be Christians. If you call yourself a Christian, I'll accept that you're a Christian unless there's something obvious in your life that directly contradicts Jesus. But I do admit that privately there are things that I wonder about. How it's possible to claim to be a Christian and yet to deny the resurrection of Jesus is one of those things. To me, the resurrection of Jesus is the centrepiece of Christianity; the bottom line of the faith. What's the point of being a Christian if you don't believe that Jesus was resurrected? It literally makes no sense to me. I get that people say that they follow the teachings or example of Jesus - "the Way." And that's wonderful. But does that make a person a Christian? Anyone can follow the ethical teachings and example of Jesus - without believing in him and perhaps without even knowing that they're following his teaching or example, because they're actually pretty basic ethical teachings that ground pretty much all faiths and that ground even humanism. If any one thing marks one openly as a Christian - as a true disciple of Jesus - it's belief in Jesus' resurrection. It was the resurrection that called the earliest Christian community into being and that gave those early Christians the courage to persevere in their faith and to bear witness to Jesus in spite of persecution. It's belief in the resurrection of Jesus that strengthens Christians in many parts of the world today to do the same. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead demonstrates that nothing can stop Jesus and those who believe in him from continuing his mission to the world. Without that passionate belief in the resurrection it's very likely that the Christian movement would have faded away quickly and quietly - and likely still would if the resurrection ever became an optional add-on to Christian faith rather than the vital centre of Christian faith. As Paul, said, if you don't believe that Jesus was raised from the dead then Christian faith is pointless; it's empty. For me, resurrection really is the bottom line. Christian faith makes no sense without it.