Father of the Inklings Father of the Inklings
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- Religion & Spirituality
Dedicated to the legacy of bold thinking Christianity through the writings of George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and Michael Phillips
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Command #85 - Do Not Doubt
We have spoken several times about Jesus’ use of hyperbole, exaggeration, and metaphor. We do not actually ”eat his flesh” when participating in a communion or Eucharist service. He does not really want his followers to ”cut off” their hands or ”pluck out” their eyes to rid their lives of sin. These are symbols and images which Jesus used skillfully to get his points across.
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Command #84 - Let Your Yes Be Yes and Your No Be No
Again we encounter Jesus making a point with overstatement. No one seriously expects us to go through life saying nothing but yes and no. Jesus himself did not do so either. Once more we gain further insight into his words from the Lord’s brother James, who gave this command in its more familiar form: Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. (James 5:12)
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Command #83 - Acknowledge Your Discipleship
It is easy to hear words such as, ”He who is ashamed of me and my words...of him will the Son of Man be ashamed.” (Mark8:38, Luke 9:26), and read ourselves right out of the text.
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Command #82 - Do Not Speak Carelessly
It continues to be astonishing, once we see it, how much of Jesus’ teaching concerned the simple things of life - such ”unspiritual” things. Where is all the theology and doctrine? Of course we can turn to Romans or Ephesians if we want that sort of thing. But where is it in the Gospels? It’s not there.
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Command #81 - Love Truth, Speak Truth, Do Truth
One of Jesus’ most familiar ”I am” declarations in John’s gospel is, I am the truth. To love Jesus, therefore, one must love truth.
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Command #80 - Give the World Its Due and Give God the Things That Are His
Many of the Commands of Jesus emerged out of free-flowing conversations with those around him. It can therefore be difficult to perceive his higher intent in the midst of a specific exchange.