Tuesday, October 13, 2015

fail the test, pass the course









Bluto in Animal House, a movie that emulates my college career, states “7 years of college down the drain,” when the Delta House is forced to close.  We each went to college for a different reason, the main one being to get a degree, even if it took 7 years.  Some went to avoid the draft, some went to not have to go out on their own, their parents kept supporting them.  I’m not really sure why I went except it was the thing to do after graduation.  But we never really know why...until after, and not necessarily graduation.  After being a three strike student, three times a freshman then out, and losing interest, I had a boss at Coca Cola explain college is supposed to teach you how to find the answer.  While many study for an exam, read cram at the last minute, then forget it all, some never get that far.  College was that 7 year odyssey before adulthood, and going to work for their father.  Some went to hair school, some night school, some got a job with a trade, but in all cases we unwittingly lived the scripture “study to find yourself approved.”
I took a class at the University of New Mexico titled “the history of Christianity,” and being a young Christian hoped to enlighten my walk with God.  So did some other believers, and a friend who was a pastor, but it seemed the more saved, the harder the course.  Taught by a Mormon, whose religion doesn’t believe in he deity of Jesus Christ, and a Jesuit Catholic who believes the Pope is the final authority on all things holy, my mind got filled with heresy, and the Bible was rarely referred to.  What the course really was was the history of the church, and it was miserable, as the church’s biography is not very good.  Sadly many confuse the church with God, no wonder so many reject Jesus.  But I knew the truth...only my teacher’s didn’t.  And an interesting thing happened to all who knew Christ....
It was the final exam, and the Blue books were passed out.  The final was, in fact the only test we had all semester was simple.  “Name three events in the history of Christianity that changed the world?”  My mind was racing, my heart confident as I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.  I detailed scripturally the three most important, the birth of Jesus, his death on the cross, and his resurrection.  A+ here I come, the heart and soul of Christianity, if not the spirit.  And boy was I in for a surprise....
I had neglected to remember who my teachers were, the mislabeling of the course, and what the curriculum was about.  Christianity to them wasn’t about Jesus, and without Christ in Christianity, you had insanity.  I got a D+!  Study to find yourself approved?  Just not in college!  And so I argued, in vain.  Between the Jesuit and Mormon they wanted 3 important events in church history.  Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses on the door.  Joseph Smith receiving the revelation from the angel Moroni.  The history of the Popes.  But where was Jesus?  Found in the Bible, just not in any textbook for the course.  And  found that those of us who were saved did poorly, with the exception of the pastor, who got an A.  He answered the questions asked, his inspiration not from God as I learned later.  And I left disillusioned by the experience, but even though I failed the exam, I would pass the course, and no amount of studying world get me into heaven.  I found solace in the fact it takes a relationship with Jesus Christ, not religion to be saved.  That I may fail the test, but he will someday greet me with “well done my good and faithful servant.”  In heaven.  My name found in the book of life, not on any dean’s list.  And so I learned a lot that semester, not about Christianity, but about Jesus.  He had warned many will come in my name, but to separate the goats from the sheep.  To be as wise as a serpent, but gentle as a lamb.  To test the spirit to see if they truly are of God....and realized before I was even told, I had learned how to find the answer, and it was Jesus.  I could know everything, and get an A, but still fail at life without him.  I had learned to stay away from fools, because you will not find knowledge on their lips.  That Jesus Christ is as far from religion as you can get, and is the way, the truth, and the life.  I found out religion was binding, and separating at the same time, while Jesus was unifying in the spirit.  That I had made the right connection when I became a believer, and no amount of swaying from the truth will lead me astray.  Wrong beliefs are just that, wrong.  And even though I got a D+, I still passed.
Salvation is a pass/fail course.  Saved you go to heaven, lost you go to hell.  We are told to study to find ourselves approved, but not to be saved.  That takes Jesus, and the smartest man without him is still lost.  God doesn’t grade on the curve, he grades at the cross.  Where all victories were won, and sin defeated.  Where the right answer to life was hung, then resurrected, promising us the same if we only believe.  So I read my Bible not to learn as some do.  Or to be found approved, but to get to know God personally.  To confirm what his spirit ahs shown me.  To remind me that no matter how difficult the course, we win in the end.  There will be battles won and lost, but only Jesus saves.  The church won’t and cannot save you, so don’t be confused.  We are the church, we cannot save ourselves.  We need Jesus, and without Jesus there is no Christianity.  Only insanity.  Some pass the test only to fail the course of life.  Take a moment to see what course you are taking?
And so it went, and so it still goes.  Jesus is still the only way to the Father.  No religion can or will save you.  Do not be misled by any other offer other than from Jesus Christ himself.  40 years later I still know Christ as my savior, how many pass the test only to fail the course of life?  Take an open book test today with Jesus, and when you know the answer to life is someone rather than something, salvation is your passing grade, to heaven.  A test you cannot cram for, and only a one word answer to remember, Jesus. 
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com