What began as a simple project has turned out to be a Pandora's Box. The deeper I dig in my research, the more I am finding needs to be dug after, the bigger the cobweb of information is spreading. Not only that, but the project is getting bigger. Before the book even comes out I have lecture series planned in different churches where I will be presenting my ideas and giving people a better way of interacting with individuals today. What started as a book is turning into something much bigger.
My hope is that as I write this blog, do lecture series, and finish and publish this book, Christians everywhere will gain insight in how Jesus interacted with people in his day, and how we should interacted with those kinds of people today. My idea is basic: Jesus treated those who were not part of his group and those who were part of his group with love, mercy, and grace without concern one bit for their background. There was only one group he treated with contempt and criticism, the religious leaders of his day.
I hope you will continue to follow this blog as I write about my progress on the book and some of the difficulties I face along the way. Of course I will also share some of the information I find that might be useful to those following along.
God Bless,
-Brandon
This sounds like a great book, and I'm looking forward to reading it. It seems that, throughout history, Christians often get focused on the punitive part of the Bible (forgetting that the only true Judge is God), and less on the loving aspects. I guess it's because being negative is easier than being positive, judging is easier than loving. And pointing out the flaws in others is often much easier than taking a hard, honest look at the flaws in ourselves.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this Brandon - I'll be following!
Thank you Leora. I appreciate your comment. It seems to me that people tend to focus on how Jesus responded to the religious leaders of his day, and grasped onto that as the way to respond to sinners. But Jesus was not responding to the religious leaders as sinners, but as leaders who lorded their authority over the hurt and downtrodden. When we see how Jesus actually responded to sinners, we see a much different way of interacting, one of love and compassion.
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