It strikes me that "institutional Christianity" has erected filters, barriers and obfuscations to many of Jesus teachings and commands. Which of Jesus teaching do you reject in word, thought and deed. Not to mention through your personal theology?
Which of Jesus teachings do you reject, personally, socially, economically or politically?
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The year was 325 AD. Emperor Constantine had just legalized Christianity across the Roman Empire and church leaders from across the known world gathered in the city of Nika. What happened in those marble halls would reshape Christianity forever. But it would also begin a slow, almost imperceptible process of editing. not editing the scriptures themselves, but editing which parts would be emphasized, which would be quietly set aside, and which would be transformed into something altogether different.
Imagine walking into a typical Sunday service today. The pastor speaks of love, salvation, and eternal life. The congregation nods in approval as familiar verses are quoted. But what if I told you that some of the most radical, challenging, and socially revolutionary teachings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth are sitting right there in their Bibles, yet remain largely unspoken from the pulpit. These aren't hidden gospels or secret texts. These are words recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the very books that every Christian denomination accepts as canonical.
Yet, for nearly 17 centuries, many of these teachings have been softened, reinterpreted, or simply overlooked. Why? Because they're inconvenient. They challenge power structures. They demand a level of commitment that would empty pews and collection plates. The carpenter from Galilee spoke words that would make modern megachurch pastors uncomfortable, that would challenge the political allegiances of countless congregants, and that would demand a complete restructuring of how many Christians live their daily lives. These teachings remain hidden in plain sight. Tucked between the verses that get highlighted and memorized.
This is not a cover-ups in religious history. Not a conspiracy of evil intent, but a slow cultural drift away from teachings that prove too challenging for institutional Christianity to fully embrace.
Imagine walking into a typical Sunday service today. The pastor speaks of love, salvation, and eternal life. The congregation nods in approval as familiar verses are quoted. But what if I told you that some of the most radical, challenging, and socially revolutionary teachings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth are sitting right there in their Bibles, yet remain largely unspoken from the pulpit. These aren't hidden gospels or secret texts. These are words recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the very books that every Christian denomination accepts as canonical.
Yet, for nearly 17 centuries, many of these teachings have been softened, reinterpreted, or simply overlooked. Why? Because they're inconvenient. They challenge power structures. They demand a level of commitment that would empty pews and collection plates. The carpenter from Galilee spoke words that would make modern megachurch pastors uncomfortable, that would challenge the political allegiances of countless congregants, and that would demand a complete restructuring of how many Christians live their daily lives. These teachings remain hidden in plain sight. Tucked between the verses that get highlighted and memorized.
This is not a cover-ups in religious history. Not a conspiracy of evil intent, but a slow cultural drift away from teachings that prove too challenging for institutional Christianity to fully embrace.
I have one.
Heb. 12:6,
"For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom He receives."
The first word in the Greek is chasteneth, paideuo , 3811 in the Strongs. Defined as to train up, educate.
The second word in the Greek is scourgeth, mastigoo, 3146 in the Strongs. Defined as a Jewish scourging, a whipping.
Now I don't reject any of Gods words, but one like this, i kind of have a hard time understanding it while it's happening.
It is not a question of rejection, but of application. Jesus ministered to the nation of Israel in fulfillment of the prophecies for the nation. If we today try to appropriate everything for ourselves, we can find that it does not fit. For example, Jesus told the those who were faithful and would enter the earthly kingdom would have any request made of God in faith granted. This was because those would enter the kingdom would be changed by God to have the law written in their hearts and could be trusted that such a promised could be made to them. The gospel of the kingdom was for the nation of Israel. The gospel of grace given to Paul was for gentiles and Jews outside of Israel and today is the only path to God.
God granting every request is still available today.
Ephesians 3:20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
James 1
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
I have another one.
The tithes. Yes tithes, plural, there are 3 of them, 33%.
My problem is with scripture capping our giving at 33%. If we have the same spirit as those at Pentecost, which we do, I want to give everything, not just 33%.
Again , I don't reject this, just wish Gods word in this case was more harmonious with the true response to receiving His spirit.
God granting every request is still available today.
God was not even granting every request for those of Israel waiting for the earthly kingdom much less today.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Joh_16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
God was not even granting every request for those of Israel waiting for the earthly kingdom much less today.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Joh_16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Perhaps the "in plain sight" is not getting through.
I will kick it off. "It is harder for a richman to go to heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." By the way, that old dodge about a camel gate into Jerusalem is pure fiction. Jesus meant what he said. In Luke Jesus says "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." In Luke 14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.
Let's stick to the words of Jesus as we process this question.
I will kick it off. "It is harder for a richman to go to heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." By the way, that old dodge about a camel gate into Jerusalem is pure fiction. Jesus meant what he said. In Luke Jesus says "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." In Luke 14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.
Let's stick to the words of Jesus as we process this question.
If Jesus is our Savior, Teacher, and Lord, how can we possibly reject any of His teachings?
Now, some teachings may be more difficult than others for us to obey.
Many people think worrying is a rational operation that is entirely appropriate. They even think you are crazy to never worry about anything.
A mom worries about her daughter going out of state to attend college. An employee worries about being laid off in a bad economy. An elderly person in poor health and reduced strength worries about driving at night, falling on black ice, how dying will eventually occur. A believer in Nigeria worries about being imprisoned, tortured, executed.
Matthew 6
25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Ever wonder why virtually every religion compresses their deity, deities, into scrolls or books?
Every word that Jesus spoke was Truth and Good.. Like the Lamb on the day of Passover back in Egypt they had to consume it all, that symbolic act transfers to the LAMB of GOD whom we have to consume all His teachings to be able to say we are following the Actual LORD Jesus, not another jesus.. And yes they had to cover their door with the Blood of the Lamb, just as we must be covered by the Atoning Blood of the LAMB of GOD, by trusting in His sacrifice on the cross..
John 6:52 - John 6:58
(John 6:52-58) "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? {53} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. {54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. {56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. {57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. {58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."
I would agree that the change in what the church practices has been a slow drift, nor was there ever evil intent involved, at least not from the believers. But an intentional distortion I could support, not for evil purposes, but to keep the dangerous non-believers away from some points that were considered unfit for outsiders. Unfortunately keeping certain teachings for only the initiated proved the process by which even the initiated forgot them. Constantine merely intensified the problem by never truly converting but instead always keeping one foot in the pagan realm, and thus not being deemed trustworthy to learn some things. But never let Constantine know that.
The title of this thread raises the question of which teachings we reject.
So is there something you reject about Matthew 19:24... the verse about the camel and the needle?
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Well I will admit to having questions about the camel part. There is a single vowel difference, and similar sounding vowel, between the work for camel and the word for a hawser, or rope to tie off a boat. I tend to think that given how many disciples had been fishermen and the unlikeliness of camels around Jerusalem (in the desert regions maybe, but not mountainous Jerusalem areas) O prefer rope.
Ok Team, I will give you others: Tell me how many sermons you have heard entirely on these verses.
Matthew 5:31-32 31“It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 19:1-12 Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way. 9Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”
Mark 10:1-12
1 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts. 6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, 8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 10 In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this. 11 So he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
According to national surveys , evangelical Christians report a divorce rate of 26% after 10 years of marriage, which is lower than the national average of 33%.
Matthew 5:31-32 31“It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 19:1-12 Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way. 9Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”
Mark 10:1-12
1 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts. 6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, 8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 10 In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this. 11 So he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
According to national surveys , evangelical Christians report a divorce rate of 26% after 10 years of marriage, which is lower than the national average of 33%.
Religious culture puts a lot of emphasis on long-term decision-making. Like studying for good grades so you can make more money in the future. Or delaying marriage until old age to find the "perfect spouse", but there are so many scriptures against worrying about long-term decision making.
Luke 12:16-21
16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
Im saying this because I know Jesus' teachings to be true, at least intellectually. But this is extremely difficult for me to accept, by my nature I want to plan my life out because its "wise" by human thought.
Flories71:
This is the challenge of proof texts. I am attempting to confront all of us with Jesus perspectives. In a counterbalance to Luke verse 12:20 is Jesus statement about how to build a sustainable life: Matthew 7:24-27
I agree with you. If I look down the road of my life, I am not sure how things will work out.
But like Abraham, I just trust Gods and keep on walking with him, not knowing where I will end up.