I left you marinating in the thought that if we are going to take seriously our faith IN Jesus, then we must take seriously the faith OF Jesus. Have you thought it over for a while? Do you realize what that entails? It means that we must know what the faith of Jesus was and is in order to understand everything He said and meant when we read the words attributed to Him and written about Him. If all we know is from our view point as Western world Gentile thinkers, then we know little or nothing.
It is here that you will either want to read more or turn me off. You see, I believe that we have not quite interpreted things correctly for centuries and Christianity has a little bit of a biased view point on the Bible from a Gentile perspective. I may be wrong, but the last time I read the Bible I believe most if not all the writers were Hebrews. If that is so, then it should be interpreted from a Hebraic not a Gentile perspective. I do not want you to think that we have interpreted it wrongly, just not quite correctly. Let me give you an example to show you what I mean by that.
When I was growing up I wanted to take piano lessons. My parents knew nothing about music so they asked around and were told about a woman who played piano at her church and gave private lessons in her home. The price seemed affordable to my parents so they signed me up. When we arrived I found that I knew some of the other children that would come and go from their lessons at the same instructor. I studied under this teacher for 5 years and learned to play well enough to accompany our congregation at church. I can play almost anything from a hymnal and accompany myself to sing. While in college I signed up for private lessons on the piano to "hone" my skills. I was called into a piano room with a professor and he asked me to play for him. I proudly sat down at the piano and began to play a selection. When I was finished he said, "you do not know how to play the piano. You will have to start in the beginners class." I was heart broken. How dare he say I did not know how to play! So what was the problem? Were five years and all that money wasted? Yes and no. You see I did learn to play the piano, but not correctly. That teacher taught me how to play the correct notes with my right hand, but to chord with my left (make up chords that coordinate and not play what is written). She also taught me that whenever there are more than two sharps to convert them to flats, so I never learned to play more than two sharps. What it comes down to is this: as long as I am playing alone I am fine, but if I am playing along with an organist or keyboardist, then I am in big trouble. They are probably playing what is written and I am not. I learned to play the piano, just not quite correctly and believe me there is a correct way to play the piano.
When it comes to the Word of God, do we want to learn enough to get by or do we want to learn it correctly. Most of us have been in a small country church where a pianist "bangs" out a hymn on a piano and then I would say that we have also been in a symphony where a concert pianist makes the melody of a hymn flow through the air. The difference is noticeable to even the most untrained ear. God expects our very best and we should never give Him any less. The blessings that come from learning the Word of God properly! Are you ready to start? Does this make you think about what you might have learned a little incorrectly? I guarantee you this one thing, the basics of your faith will not be challenged. The greatest thing is everything else will be, BUT your faith will grow stronger with each truth you re-learn. You will say, "WOW! GOD YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!!!" And you will never see things the same way again! Prepare to be amazed!
