Journal 3


1. Summary of the key idea of this section.
The key idea about the Morality of Jesus presented in this section is love of neighbor. In Jesus' Gospel message, he preaches about loving your brothers and sisters and helping them when they are in need. By helping and loving them, you are helping and loving God, himself. If there is any better way to grow closer to God than by helping him directly, I do not know what it is. Jesus also preached this message to all people, no matter what race or religion in an effort to bring the whole world together and love and care for one another. We grow closer to God by acting kindly towards those around us in the world.

2. Three memorable ideas from the section.
~C.S Lewis' idea of a Real Morality: Catholic apologeticist and author C.S. Lewis argued in the early chapters of Mere Christianity for the existance of a Real Morality. The Real Morality is the idea of what is really right and exists in everyone. It is what allows us to say that Christain Morality is better than Nazi Morality and that helping others instead of ignoring them is the right thing to do. It is the basis of all good vs. bad comparison. It is important because with this Real Morality present in each of us, we need to find it and listen to it in ourselves in order to follow a moral path.

~The Beatitudes: Jesus preached these during his Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Blessed are the Mourners
Blessed are the Meek
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Blessed are the Merciful
Blessed are the Clean of Heart
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Blessed are they who are Persecuted for Righteousness' sake

If ever there was an outline for what it means to be a Christain, this is it. We, as Christains, are expected to be each one of these in our lives of ministry to the needy. Jesus also puts out there that it will not be easy; people will be persecuted for Righteousness' sake. The closest description of what a true Christain is can be found in the Beatitudes.

~How countercultural Jesus' Morality was: Jewish Law was very strict and had rigid rules, most were very harsh. People were stoned or put to death for committing sins that were seen as unforgivable. Then along comes Jesus. He teaches love of enemy and about a forgiving God who does not condemn people for their actions, but loves them enough to take them back. Jesus loved the sinners, the poor, the crippled, and all others shunned by society. Doing what he did made Jesus a radical and an outcast in the eyes of the Jewish leaders and ultimately ended up leading to his death, but Jesus stayed the course because he knew what he taught was right.

3. One image that reminds me of the topic.


Thanks to transmet.org for the image.

For me, one of the defining moments in Jesus' morality was when he defended the woman caught in adultery.(Jn 8:1-11) He went against Jewish law and the high Priests, and responded to them by drawing a line in the dirt.

4. What is a Christian? Are you a Christian?
As I stated above, I believe athe best description of a person who is a Christian is a person who believes in God and lives out the Beatitudes. I try to be a Christian, but, being human, I fail at times. I am in line with parts of Jesus' morality, but not all of it. Well, I agree with it all, but I do not live it all. I do not live it all because living it is difficult and sometimes I take the easy road, the oftentimes sinful road. My morality is a mix of Jesus' morality, the Church's morality, and my own interpretations of life through my conscience. I cannot say that I always make the right decisions, because I do not, but I hope to strive to make the correct choise and be more in line with Jesus someday.

5. What can I do to make myself a better Christian?
The first step is to identify what is keeping me from being a complete Christian brother in Christ. Then, those things need to change to bring me more in line with Jesus' teaching and actions. Some ways to do this might be to clean up my speech towards and about others, pay more attention to the lowly who might need to be helped, and to think to myself before I act, "What would Jesus teach about this situation. These are a few simple things in my daily life that can change, and before i can help others in the world I need to help myself inside so that I am able to channel Christ though me.