Luke- One Final Post

Two months after it began, my study of Luke is finished. It ended up taking longer than I expected, mostly because I'm really good at starting things and not so great at finishing them. But I'm so glad I went through each chapter of Luke and explored what I thought God was showing me. I have been challenged by this study; I've been reminded of things I already knew but needed to hear again, and I've been made aware of things I had never realized before.

As I learn more about Jesus, the way he lived his life and the things he taught, one particular issue keeps coming up in my mind, and I feel like I need to write about it. I have heard many times in the last couple of years that some Christians are promoting nothing more than a social gospel, and that the real good news of Jesus is being watered down or overlooked. But as I have worked my way through the book of Luke, I've realized that- for me, at least- nothing could be further from the truth.

For a person who sees Jesus as a great teacher, or even a prophet, it would be easy to pick and choose from the things he taught, and it wouldn't be a big deal to accept or reject his teachings about how to live. It would be easy to then piece together a social gospel out of those things, all while missing the overall point.

But I do not see Jesus as just a great teacher or prophet. For someone like me, who believes that Jesus is God's son- God in the flesh- suddenly Jesus' teachings aren't just nice-sounding principles that we may or may not want to take seriously. They are the words of God, the heart of God, something that I feel I should take very seriously indeed. My strong belief in Jesus as God's son, in the significance of his life, death, and resurrection, in the good news of his grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness- this is the unshakable foundation upon which my belief in living out the kind of life and love Jesus taught and exemplified is built.

When I start with that foundation, in my desire to follow Jesus and live the way he taught, it is vitally important to me to focus on living out grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness in my own life. It is vitally important to me to try to humble myself, serve others, and make a positive difference in other people's lives. This, to some people, may appear on the outside to be a "social gospel." To me, it is following Jesus, not just because I like how he lived, but because of who he is and what he has done for me.