A Universally Relevant Teacher

 

Claiming Jesus

“I consider the life, teachings, and wisdom of Jesus to be universally relevant, regardless of one’s religious, spiritual, or philosophical, point of view. Christianity does not hold unique and absolute claim to Jesus.”

Jim Palmer (Inner Anarchy)

          Jim Palmer is an ordained minister, graduate of Trinity University's seminary in Chicago, author of five books, and a Humanist. He has been called “one of the greatest spiritual writers of our times,” and “a rebel with a cause.” In an essay posted on Facebook, an excerpt from his book Inner Anarchy, he describes Jesus not as a pacifist, or a gentle saint, but as an outspoken critic of the established church of his time. Palmer believes the views of the modern Christian church are the antithesis of what Jesus stood for and taught. He reminds me of progressive Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, who just died. Spong once decried the pomp, pageantry, and wealth of his own Episcopal church, saying they should “process down to the river and throw it all in.”

          The teachings of Jesus are simple. He encouraged people to love one another, to take care of each other’s needs, to be kind to everyone, including people who are different from you, to feed the hungry in both body and spirit, and to love the God of Life with all your heart. The sermon on the mount was his basic message and he told stories to illustrate the principles he valued so that people who were not educated could “see” what he meant. His stories painted pictures of good Samaritans, of honest vineyard owners, of shepherds caring for their sheep, of widows giving their last coin to be allowed to pray in the temple. He felt angry at the church of his time because they excluded people who could not pay the temple tax, and he did everything in his power to undermine that system. So much has been added to what Jesus said and did that it’s hard to get to the real man or his authentic teachings, but basically, he called upon us to be decent human beings—to everyone.

          Jim Palmer says, “Organized Christianity has probably done more to retard the ideals that were its founder’s than any other agency in the world.” Which is the sad truth. I think the church universal means well enough, but power corrupts people and organizations are made up of people. You cannot serve the spiritual needs of human beings while also pursuing power. The church is meant to serve those who are on the bottom rung of society. The outsider, the fringe, the leper, the homeless, the helpless—all of God’s creation, nothing excluded. Not for power or money, but because it tries to follow the example and teachings of a righteous man who had the courage to speak truth to power and was killed because of it. Killed, not so he could bleed for our sins, but because he had the audacity to tell the truth. If we want to call ourselves Christians, we should do the same.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane