I'm not scared

   Sometimes I take the title from what I write and other times the title comes to me first and I craft a post around it.  This is one of the latter.  In the last couple of days I've taken a stand against fundamentalism and I firmly expect to be rebuked for it.  I'm not scared.  Jesus was not a Christian.  Period.  He was Christ, but he was a Jew.  Here came this guy who spoke with absolute authority preaching things like "turn the other cheek" and "being a peacemaker" and he downright infuriated other Jews, even to the point that they hammered nails into him and hung him on a cross to die.  I am no messiah, I am not a pastor, I am a humble servant that is learning as I go along but certain truths have struck me from my reading. 
   Perhaps that is because I am an infantile Follower of the Way and I haven't had years of dogma to cloud the Bible.  Maybe it is just inspiration.  I don't know, maybe I'm just plain wrong.  None the less I have stood up and made my voice heard, and I am not alone.  I am discovering just how many of us there are out there.  People who don't let phobias and prejudices rule our lives.  People who can read the scripture and see that salvation doesn't come to us through hate.  It comes through love and joy in God.  There are others out there who feel this, I see them struggle with it but they are scared, and why not?  They are likely to be attacked mercilessly for their views but this isn't the first time a Disciple has been attacked by members of their own faith for a disillusioned opinion, is it?  History is full of them, martyrs, poets, scientists, you name it.  All people who weren't afraid. 
   I am planning a couple of diatribes this weekend, one is about verses in the Bible that we wish would go away and how we emphasize parts of scripture and hide from others.  The other is going to be my interpretation of Romans 14 which I think is an allegory telling us all to accept that each sect of the Body of Christ is different, can be different and we don't need to attack each other.  I also want to write about canonization, especially the closed canons that have lead us to the Bible we have today but I don't know that I'll have enough research in place to get it done yet.  I think the first and last are going to stir up a bit of debate, but thanks be to God for leading me to a church where that debate is encouraged and healthy.  God bless you and thank you for reading my stuff.  People are telling me that I am inspiring their faith and I can ask for no greater praise.  Don't take what I say as Gospel, instead let it guide you to the scripture and other wonderful inspired books and choose for yourself.  No matter what faith you belong to, no matter who you listen to, your faith is yours.  Please do your best to honor it, listen to it and learn it.