Every generation in every culture has a word to describe fearless persons with formidable skills who radiate confidence and get things done. They respectfully follow conventional rules but are not afraid to challenge them if they are unfair. They defend the oppressed, oppose the oppressor, seek neither fame nor fortune and willingly give their lives to save others. The historical record is full of such persons.
Jesus is the ultimate badass. He lived what He taught and backed it up with miracles. His teachings are so revolutionary that He lost 85% of his trained disciples who He had given power to do similar miracles. He had only one ask of His followers – that they teach others what He taught them.
Jesus’ initial followers tried. Later, religious leaders packaged and repackaged Him until He and His teachings are almost unrecognisable from the historical record preserved in the Bible. Today, most know Jesus as a helpless baby and a defeated man – not a badass. This is intentional.
JESUS’ WARNING.
One of the most ominous Biblical passages is Jesus’ condemnation of religious leaders. He accused them of: (i) keeping knowledge about God’s kingdom secret, (ii) not entering God’s kingdom and hindering those who tried to enter and (iii) travelling land and sea to win one convert and when he is won, making him twice a son of hell as themselves.
This should be distressing to every religious leader and convert. Religious leaders should ensure they are teaching what Jesus taught and are not hindering converts from God’s kingdom. Converts should compare Jesus’ teachings with those of their religious leaders and question accordingly. Jesus taught that He will judge every human at the end of the age; therefore, it is prudent for every human to read what He said.
JESUS’ TEACHINGS.
Jesus said that He came from God and explained: (i) who we are, (ii) why we are on this planet, (iii) why life is difficult and (iv) what awaits us after our brief life is over.
We are human. We were created separate from plants and animals but by the same Creator. This explains the similar basic design patterns in the biological record.
We are on this planet to: (i) grow into adults, (ii) train the next generation and (iii) learn to become responsible managers. Our management training includes: (i) our bodies, (ii) our habitable environments, (iii) events (formal and informal) and (iv) projects (that may require labour, materials and/or equipment).
Responsible management includes creating a culture of: fairness, respect, politeness, harmlessness, carefulness, forgiveness, competence, efficiency and commitment. This explains the fulfilment we feel after managing tasks well.
Life can be difficult because demons roam the earth enticing humans into harmful addictions to limit their progress. Jesus explained that His work included dispatching demons. He taught His followers to freely do the same. This explains why it is easy to be: lazy, careless, gluttonous, rude, wasteful, unkind, uncaring and harmful. It also explains the futility of addressing addictions without a spiritual component.
THE AFTER-LIFE.
Jesus explained that most humans were misled onto the irresponsible path that ends in their destruction. He taught His followers to compel them to get on the responsible path that leads to a satisfying after-life. That explains the uncompromising evangelists.
After this life is over, those on the path that leads to life will have an eternity of managing the stars. There are many trillions of them and lots of work to do. However, we are not fully trained for those responsibilities. Many humans had their lives shortened due to: war, famine, sickness, oppression and accidents. Therefore, Jesus will return and manage our training for 1,000 years before we are deployed. That satisfies our desire for fairness.
What qualifies us for this training is being forgiven. Every human has done wrong and no human knows the spaghetti of harmful consequences of their actions, even well-intentioned actions, so we all need to be forgiven by our common Creator. Jesus is the Messiah of all humans and sacrificed Himself to pay for all wrongs. Jesus taught that God will forgive everyone who asks, but only in the same manner that we then forgive those who offend us.
With this explanation, life may not seem fair, but it ultimately is. Our life is a precious gift. We should not treat it carelessly.
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