The wisdom and guidance of Jesus have been around for centuries. Therefore, we humans have had plenty of time to make His simple, elegant words as confusing as possible. Too much emphasis is often placed on the wrong things, so that we never get a clear picture of what Jesus wants us to do...or become.
One of the primary activities of a New Age Christian is to seek the Truth in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Let's get back to the essence of this ancient wisdom, so that we can understand it better.
First, Jesus taught in various ways. Sometimes He was straightforward. Other times He used symbolism, poetry and parables. Using parables was brilliant. A parable is like a pool of water. You can gain wisdom by just dipping below the surface, and you can gain much deeper wisdom as you develop spiritually.
Let's look at one of the best examples. Luke Chapter 15 contains three parables; this is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. The third parable is The Parable of the Prodigal (or lost) Son. (Tim Keller's book Prodigal God is required reading on this, and my source.)
In the story there are two sons. The younger son dishonors his father by asking for his inheritance, which was basically saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.” Amazingly, his father gives it to him, and the son leaves to experience a hedonistic lifestyle, until he has squandered all that he has. After much suffering, he gets the nerve to return home to his father to ask for a job as a farmhand. His father immediately forgives the son and throws a huge party to celebrate.
Most people would see the sentimentality of this story: how sweet that the father forgave his son. They would assume that this is a story about forgiveness, which if you dip just below the surface, it is. And that's an important lesson. But there is much deeper meaning. And this deeper meaning is a core theme of the teachings of Jesus, and what it means to be a Christian.
Some of this deeper meaning is actually found in what Jesus left out of the story. In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus first tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep, where a shepherd leaves 99 sheep to find one that is lost. Then comes the Parable of the Lost Coin, where an old woman diligently sweeps her entire house to find one lost coin. In the third parable, when the younger son leaves (or becomes lost), his older brother does nothing about it. There is no mention of the older brother looking for the prodigal son. Instead, he judges his brother as unworthy of his father's love and birthright. He becomes angry when the prodigal son is forgiven. Because of this, we see that the older brother is the one who is truly lost. He separates himself from his father and family.
Jesus is creatively telling us that while welcoming sinners or outsiders into our Christian family is important, searching for them or reaching out to them with love, compassion and acceptance is also a major aspect of being a true follower.
This is just one example of the life lessons found in Scripture. Reading and meditating upon the gospels is a good first step to understanding the many messages. I'm sure it took Tim Keller many readings of Luke Chapter 15 before he became totally immersed in the deeper meanings. He also studied the history and culture of time to better understand the context of the parables.
The First Spiritual Discipline of a New Age Christian is immersion in Scripture, primarily the four gospels.
