The Task of Christianity

The task of Christianity

195:9.1 (2082.6)Do not overlook the value of your spiritual heritage, the river of truth that has continued to flow through the ages, even into the barren times of a materialistic, secularist age. Take care that in all your praiseworthy efforts to free yourself from the superstitious beliefs of past centuries, you hold on to the eternal truth. Be patient, however! When the present revolt against superstition is over, the truths of the gospel of Jesus will continue to gloriously illuminate a new, better way.

195:9.2 (2082.7)But paganized, socialized Christianity is in need of a new contact with the uncontaminated teaching of Jesus: it is languishing because it lacks a new vision of the Master's life on earth. A new, fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is meant to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and overthrow the world domination of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia now stands trembling on the threshold of one of its most amazing, exciting epochs of social reordering, moral revival and spiritual enlightenment.

195:9.3 (2082.8)Even though the teaching of Jesus was highly modified, it has survived the mysteries at the time of his birth and the ignorance and superstition of the dark Middle Ages, and is even now slowly triumphing over the materialism, mechanism, and secularization of the twentieth century. And such times of great trial and impending defeat are always times of great revelation.

195:9.4 (2082.9)Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who dare to rely solely on Jesus and his incomparable teaching. If Christianity continues to neglect its spiritual mission while it remains preoccupied with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance will have to wait for the arrival of these new teachers of the religion of Jesus, who will devote themselves exclusively to the spiritual renewal of men. And then these souls born of the spirit will soon provide the leadership and inspiration needed for the social, moral, economic and political reorganization of the world.

195:9.5 (2083.1)The modern age will refuse to accept a religion that is not true to fact and not in harmony with its highest conceptions of truth, beauty and goodness. The hour has come for a rediscovery of the true, original foundation of today's distorted, compromised Christianity - the real life and teaching of Jesus.

195:9.6 (2083.2)Primitive man lived in superstitious bondage to religious fear. Modern civilized man becomes terrified at the thought that he could be controlled by strong religious beliefs. Thinking man has always been afraid of falling into the grip of a religion. Whenever a strong, moving religion threatens to control him, he invariably tries to rationalize it and make it into a tradition and an institution, hoping thus to control it. By this procedure, even revealed religion becomes a man-made and man-controlled religion. Modern, intelligent men and women shun the religion of Jesus because of their fear of what it will do to them - and to them. And there is every reason for such fears. Indeed, the religion of Jesus controls and transforms its believers, for it demands that men devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven, and it requires that the energies of life be unselfishly placed in the service of the brotherhood of men.

195:9.7 (2083.3)Selfish men and women simply will not pay such a price, even for the greatest spiritual treasure ever offered to mortal man. Only when man is sufficiently disillusioned by the grievous disappointments associated with the foolish, deceitful pursuit of selfish ends, and when he has discovered how unfruitful formalized religion is, will he be inclined to turn sincerely to the gospel of the kingdom, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth.

195:9.8 (2083.4)The world needs more first-hand religion. Even Christianity - the best religion of the twentieth century - is not just a religion about Jesus; it is largely a religion that people experience secondhand. They accept their religion entirely as handed down by their accepted religious teachers. What an awakening the world would experience if it could see Jesus as he really lived on earth and learn firsthand his life-giving teaching! Descriptions of beautiful things cannot move as deeply as seeing them, nor can the words of a profession of faith inspire man's soul as much as the experience of knowing the presence of God. But expectant faith will always keep open the door of hope of man's soul, so that there the eternal, spiritual realities of the divine values of the worlds above may enter.

195:9.9 (2083.5)Christianity has dared to lower its ideals in the face of the challenge of human greed, war-mongering, and the desire for power; the religion of Jesus, however, stands firm as the unstinted, transcendent spiritual call that asks the best in man to rise above all these legacies of animal evolution, and by grace, to reach the moral heights of true human destiny.

195:9.10 (2083.6)Christianity is in danger of slowly dying because of formalism, overorganization, intellectualism and other non-spiritual tendencies. The modern Christian church is not the brotherhood of dynamic believers to whom Jesus instructed to continually bring about the spiritual transformation of successive generations of people.

195:9.11 (2083.7)So-called Christianity has become both a social, cultural movement and a religious belief and practice. The river of modern Christianity draws its water from many an ancient pagan swamp and many a barbarian wetland; many ancient cultural catchments drain into the cultural stream of our time, in addition to the high plains of Galilee which are assumed to be its source area.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book