When fellow Christians bump into disagreements in doctrine and differences arise, it’s never over what Jesus said. Conflicting opinions surface over things Jesus did not say.
Everyone knows what Jesus meant when he told his disciples that when someone slaps them on the cheek, they should turn the other also. But is that for all Christians today? Is it for a future time to come? Is he teaching the ideal standard, but not expecting people to actually live up to it?
We know what Jesus said, and we’re not fighting over it. We’re fighting over everything he didn’t say.
In fact, some of the most challenging passages to interpret were not even spoken or written by Jesus. They were written by his followers—they were written by the apostles.
Every Christian that I have met cares about obeying the teachings of Christ. But when some lump Paul’s teachings on the head veiling, for instance, in with explicit teachings of Christ, we begin to wonder if that’s how God really meant us to understand Paul. Maybe it is; but if that’s one’s position, she has a framework of interpretation that justifies that as her position.
And that framework is where Christians differ. How we approach and understand scripture is what we fight over—not what scripture actually says.
What was Paul trying to address in 1 Corinthians? And did he intend every Christian everywhere to follow what he tells the Corinthians to do, or was he simply affirming a practice that already existed in Corinth?
Notice each of these questions have to do with issues scripture never talks about, much less Jesus.
What if it’s okay to get the things that weren’t clearly addressed wrong?
What if God isn’t expecting us to know all the nuances that arise when we consider the elements not mentioned?
And what if Christians could stop trying to hold other Christians to their understanding of those unspoken words?
While many try to parse out answers to things Jesus never talked about, many more are struggling to know if God is even real, if Jesus actually ever existed. It’s time we stop fighting over things Jesus didn’t say and start obeying the things he clearly did.
As we go throughout this series, I’d love to hear your feedback. Feel free to share in the comments below what you mean when you say you’re looking for life.
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