Two thousand years ago Christianity arose.
We can debate how it arose, but it did arise.
It arose because Judaism was not meeting the needs of the people.
Nobody sat around two thousand years ago and said, “Hey, I think I will invent a religion that will destroy Judaism just for the hell of it.”
No, Christianity arose to fill a need.
A bright Jewish boy, let’s call him Jesus, loved the Jewish faith. He studied it religiously. He was very gung ho. He may have even been the best student at his yeshiva.
Then one day he left the school and was struck by a bolt of lightning.
Well, it wasn’t really a bolt of lightning; it was an epiphany.
He said to himself, “If my religion is so perfect, why is there so much disparity in wealth?”
Prior to this epiphany he had been very happy with Judaism. He thought it to be the perfect religion. He knew that if he followed every rule the rabbi gave him, he would advance to the top.
He had been excited to learn these rules and truths.
But then came reality.
He walked into the misery of humanity.
There was no denying it.
In short order, he concluded that the reason why this disparity of wealth existed was because human beings are imperfect. Not everyone is endowed with the same skills and strengths.
This disparity of wealth accompanying a “perfect religion” confused and disturbed Jesus, and so he traveled the world as it was known to him to discover an answer, an antidote.
What he finally concluded was that Judaism was paradoxically an imperfect religion because it was a perfect religion.
His solution was to create or add imperfection to Judaism so that it would match the imperfection of the real world.
He concluded that if people followed what he preached their economic lot would improve.
He saw himself first and foremost as an economist.
And so he articulated many phrases to convey his beliefs. These phrases included things like:
The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
You are not saved by works alone.
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Man does not live by bread alone.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
He wrote these things down in a book which you know today as the gospels.
And then he died.
But he did not rise from the dead as he wrote in his gospels. The rising from the dead was a metaphor to represent the transformation his preachings would have on your life.
He was hoping that people might see the economic practicality in following his preachings.
He knew that if people followed his advice their economic lot would improve.
But the world is not a perfect place.
Man has free will to do as he pleases.
Man has free will to become seduced by money, greed and naughtiness.
Which is where we stand today.
Cowboy Archer 