Jesus, worldview and lifestyle

Brodie has tagged me to take part in one of them meme things. Now I am by and large a good natured and co-operative person who is obliging (mostly) and accommodating (generally) so I’m going to do this. But I have to say upfront I don’t like the terminology (not Brodie’s choice) I am being asked to adopt. So what I’ve to list is

"The five things I dig most about Jesus."

I don’t dig anything much but the garden, the nether regions of overstocked secondhand bookshops, and perhaps I’ll have a dig here and there at opinions or behaviour which for some reason or other annoy me.  But Brodie has been courteous enough to ask, so apart from replacing the verb "to dig", I’m happy to list five things about Jesus that make a difference to how I view the world and live my life.

1. Jesus is risen – so the world is a place where resurrection, new life and hope are forever possible, where violence is contradicted, hatred absorbed into an act of God inexhaustibly redemptive, and where those who follow Him do so defiantly hopeful into God’s future for the creation.
2. Jesus welcomed children – so wherever children are loved he is present to bless, and wherever children are abused he is present in mercy, pray God.. and in judgement of those who cause the little ones to stumble, pray God.
3. Jesus laughed – I believe this though the gospels don’t say he did, and I believe Jesus laughs uproariously at those who use this argument from silence to suggest the One who was accused of being a winebibber and a glutton, never enjoyed a loud guffaw at the expense of the ultra-sober.
4. Jesus honoured women – I mean words like respect, include, listen, welcome, befriend, love, depend upon, converse with, take meals with, be touched by, cry with – I mean Jesus gave women their place at the table, their place at his side, and they were there for Him, at the cross at the end, and first at the tomb.
5. Jesus was the teacher par excellence – the Word clever with words, the Light enlightening the slow to see, the Truth made known in personality, illustrated in image, picture and story, and the Person embodying what he taught of compassionate love, demanding grace, astringent judgement, and God-oriented trust.

These are five things about Jesus that shape the way I look at the world, influence the way I try to live my life, discipline the way I think about other people…and keep me on the way, following after Him.