Inside insight

I am going to write one last meandering about the characteristics of the followers of Jesus that I found to be outstanding in the account from Mark. I found 9 characteristics. Today's discussion is on characteristic # 9.

Characteristic 9: (S)He seeks to understand God from lessons of nature or from interactions that people have with nature. This understanding serves as inner enlightenment for living.

Representative text from Mark: (Mark 4.10-12)

When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the 12 disciples and asked him to explain the parables. "You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others who are on the outside hear all things by means of parables so that

'They may look and look
And yet not see.
They may listen and listen
And yet not understand
For if they did, they would turn to God
And he would forgive them.'"

This last characteristic puts one on dangerous ground. Inner enlightenment can come for single individuals. It can come for a few or for a larger group. It can be reflected in one’s life or in written documents. It can come from flashes of mental thought or in interpretation of events. It’s dangerous ground.

Few people know that the early church had followers of Jesus in its midst that tried following inner enlightenment.But, between 70 AD and 200 AD, the orthodox church relentlessly ostracized it as a bad movement, a plague to rid itself of. It succeeded because few people know about the “Gnostic movement” that happened at that time.

Today, organized religion still does not recognize the value or place of inner enlightenment. It’s a threat mainly because one can worship and understand God and His son outside the scope of organized religion. That hits at the pocketbook of an organization that claims to be the legitimate successor and guardian to all of Jesus’ teachings.

However, if one were to read only the gospels, and not allow for Paul’s application or the Jewish interpretation of the Jesus movement in the early days after Jesus’ ascension, would he arrive at the same conclusion as the churches in the landscape of society today? The opposing side would readily point out that Jesus’ teachings were made in a context many times implied (understanding by those in the original context without having to have written it down). Churches can supply that context.

I get a different story. And I have had a dose of inner enlightenment to light the way. Even in Mark, Jesus asks his follower to be faithful to him and acknowledge his divine status. So, when the time in my life came in which there was a very definite, real and present danger of abandoning the family arrangement and all it stood for, I went on a trip with a friend. At the end of the trip, I climbed to the peak of a mountain. I could see God’s creation for miles. And He spoke to my mind by leaving an impression. He reminded me that Abraham had climbed a mountain many years ago, and he had had to trust God for supplying a sacrifice. Abraham’s job was to remain faithful. A ram in the thicket was provided for a sacrifce. My lesson also was to remain faithful for God would provide. Since that time life has not been kind. But, with each trying circumstance, God has provided a way through the storm—sometimes by sending the right people, sometimes by sending the right circumstance, and sometimes by providing just the right job opportunity.

In days since that mountain-top moment of enlightenment, it has not been what has happened with organized religion that has provided food for my soul. It has been songs written by Christian songwriters that have kept me faithful. It has been associations made with other Christians. It has been a circumstance in which I was truly needed to help show God’s steadfastness. It has been walking in the park where I converse with the Creator of the universe. It has been seeing the evil empire in all its power and knowing that I would do well just to hold my own. It has been having an experience in which I had to look death squarely in the eyes and tell God what I was going to do as I peered into the dark abyss. It has been acknowledging that I live in a fully dysfunctional world and family, and that I would still remain faithful. So when I read from Mark about Jesus’ life and teachings I get a whole other story than the one presented on Sunday mornings in auditoriums around the USA. Jesus came to leave his imprint with us—inside of us.

Mark 7.20-23
And he went on to say, “From the inside, from your heart come the evil ideas that lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly—all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”

It’s inner enlightenment. It’s the reign of God in my actions with my daughter, my colleagues. It’s the reign of God seen in my actions on the business trips I take or the personal ones. It’s the acknowledgment of Jesus as the son of God in my actions speaking so loudly that others with their dysfunctional lives can know that they too can be healed. Enlightenment outside any earthly system is something Jesus left for us.