Manipulating Jesus

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Over the Easter weekend, politicians and journalists tried to leverage the thought of Jesus Christ to advance their own aims. They do not care what Jesus would do. If they were really interested in what Jesus would do, they have their answers- Jesus would lower our taxes to 10% and ask us for a "generous fast offering". He would ask us to follow his example and go about serving everyone he met, regardless of their wealth or influence, something most liberals would never do.  Don't coopt a man you denigrate at every chance.

The mission of Jesus was one of service and love. Jesus also warned against sloth, infanticide, and injustice. Yet, the Democrats use guilt, bribes, and manipulation to force people who are moral to fund and otherwise support things they find morally irreprehensible (partial-birth abortions, contraception, wars in foreign lands, etc. depending on your Faith). What the Democrats ask of us does not serve us or show love. Under their rule, we do things not because we feel like it but because government forces us to. That sounds a lot like the plan of Lucifer- to force everyone to be happy, harmonious, and holy. Jesus was not concerned with what men did as much as he was concerned with what they became. Remember that the Pharisees kept the law of Moses. Doing wrong things better doesn't make you a good person. Practice of bad habits doesn't make you perfect- it makes bad habits permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

These efforts are all attempts to manipulate Jesus to fit a political end. The rest of the year, these closet Christians clandestinely conceal any vestiges of Christianity with which they happen to be imbued. It's because their piety is a play. Beware when politicians paint themselves as moral authorities and talk in sweeping gestures of Judeo-Christian principles, for they generally do so not because they mean to be virtuous but because they know that you do. Politics and economics reward people, not for their virtue, but for the advancement of their interests.

What did Jesus really represent? He represents the road to true happiness, one which leaders political, economical, ecumenical, and ecclesiastical have attempted to counterfeit for centuries. Actually, true and lasting happiness is a fruit of the spirit. People who try to live like Christ frequently get caught up in the Commandments. They think that they've managed to accumulate quite a positive sum in their favor if they manage to keep the commandments some majority of the time. Perhaps that's why people look down on Christians so much, not just because they aren't very good at keeping the commandments, but because that's not actually the Christian way.

When Jesus was on the earth, He taught men and showed them what was required of them as his followers. He set the standard fairly early on on the Mount Beatitudes. The Beatitudes ought to be the highest guide to moral living because they were taught by Christ as the higher or new testament to His disciples, and hence infinitely more ‘christian’ edicts than the law given to Moses. Whereas the Commandments tell men what to avoid, the Beatitudes tell people how to be. It follows then that to really live like Christ means more than keeping the Ten Commandments- it means a great deal more.

A man who claims to follow Christ who adheres only to the Old Law of Moses is not really a good follower of Christ. Whereas the Commandments teach us how to avoid hell, the Beatitudes show us how to get into heaven. Just as avoiding a punishment is much different from receipt of a reward, one can avoid the devil without coming anywhere near the Savior, at least for now. For those of my own faith, having a Temple Recommend doesn't mean you are a good person; it only means you are not a bad one. We become Saints through association with the Savior, in His Service, His presence, and eventually because His substance also becomes ours.

This is also the fallacy of the world at large. Whereas most people are focused on avoiding evil, very few focus on being and inviting good. It's why none of the utopian models of economics, politics, or even religion have succeeded. They are focused on avoiding excess and sin but not on the search for and acquisition of righteous traits. It is why all the Great Societys of modern America and Enlightenment Experiments of the pilgrims have failed to establish a utopia on earth. They tried to establish one without the assistance and substance of Heaven.

In order to establish any ideal society, it requires people to be what is right. Ideal societies focus on ideals and principles rather than on semblance and rhetoric. It is not enough to avoid what is wrong; to be ideal, to really be happy, you must also do what is right. Happiness is a fruit of the spirit. Don’t spend time trying to be happy or find happiness. The only way to truly be happy is to have the Spirit with you. That’s why happiness is linked to righteousness, because the longer and more purely we live in accordance with the gospel of Christ, the more frequently and deeply we will be able to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost in our lives.

The more we live like the Savior and "be" as He taught us, the happier we will be. While you might not be giddy and frolic and sing gaily the songs of yore, people will see when they look into your eyes that you are happy. When you live according to your beliefs and are true to yourself, it invites into your life the bliss that allows you to hold your head high, sleep well at night, and confidently choose. Then shall your confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and you will see the Savior as He is for you will be like Him, which is the point of all of His ministry. He came to make bad men good and good men better, and it's time we focused on being better by being what He taught on that Mount.

What was the bottom line of the Gospels? Jesus went about doing good and increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Joy to the world- let earth receive her king. Like Herod, that tyrant of old, these people would slay him in the manger if they could, and they will use him to serve their own ends, just as Herod repeatedly did the treasures and observances of the temple. Before you trot out anyone who is dead to support your edicts, ask if they would respect your intent. If you truly desire to serve the Savior, find His intent and follow it.