Right now, I'm struggling a bit.  I'll explain why in  a minute.  You may know that I have recently finished the final draft of "The Reasonable Person- Due Process of Law, Logic and Faith" and am presently seeking a publisher for the book.  The book is intended to accomplish a couple of things.  Most importantly, I hope it demystifies Christianity, especially for people who  didn't grow up in church.  And I hope that it provides a logical framework with which to analyze the claims of Christianity.  After reading it, you should be able to determine what you believe, at least as to God, and why you believe it.

I have a theory that, at least to some extent, modern Christianity has recreated a Pharisaical-like structure, as the faith has become increasingly organized.  In Jesus' time, the Jewish establishment, the Pharisees, had created an intricate and complex system of rules and requirements that had to be followed.  Or, at least all those claiming to be good Jews had to follow them.  They were the self-appointed gatekeepers to God.  The rules included requirements like ritual washing and bathing, in order to be clean enough to enter the  temple.  And they included the giving of alms and other similar rule, which at least in theory, gave one a better chance at Heaven.

Jesus came along and challenged the system.  He said that what was on people's hearts mattered much more than following rules.  He said that it was most important to love God, and to love your fellow man.  The Pharisees hated Jesus.  They constantly tried to trip him up.  The funny thing though, is that they never did.  They had studied the Hebrew Bible since childhood, were from the best families and had gone to the best schools.  Jesus was a carpenter from Galilee.  And Galilee was sort of the Appalachia of the Middle East.  Most civilized people thought that not much good could ever come from there.

In many of our Christian churches today, we've created similar systems.  You have to know when to stand, when to kneel and whether it's "trespasses" or "debts."   Some congregations prohibit musical instruments in worship.  Others require baptism.  And still others create new rules by throwing out all of the old ones.  You can spot these groups because everyone wheres bermudas and flip flops to church.  They've turned the rules on their end.  But like the hippies of the '60s, eventually the societal majority emulates these "rebels" and they become mainstream.  Think of the Beatles song "Revolution" as elevator Muzak. 

In any of these cases, the issue is that there are insiders and outsiders.  And the insiders want to stay insiders.  It's not that they are necessarily trying to prevent outsiders from participating.  It's simply more a case of they like things the way they are.  They don't want anyone to change their "system."  It's comfortable and they like comfort.

Which brings me to why I'm struggling right now.    As I explained at the beginning of this post, I've recently finished the final draft of "The Reasonable Person."  I've spent almost five years of my life working on it.  I've written it while working in a very demanding in-house practice and being a husband and dad as well.  The book has over 500 footnotes and I have painstakingly provided scriptural reference to every substantial assertion contained in the book.  I wrote the book for one reason and ironically, it's for the same reason that I wrote my first book, "Law School Labyrinth- The Guide to Making the Most of Your Legal Education" (Kaplan Publishing, 2d Ed., May 3, 2012).   I wrote Labyrinth to help struggling law students.  I wrote The Reasonable Person" to help non-Christians who are struggling with finding meaning in their lives, and to help Christians who are struggling with their faith.

I've asked two preachers in Nashville mega-churches to take a look at the manuscript.  I didn't ask them to review it.  I didn't ask them to endorse it.  I didn't even ask them to read the entire book.  I asked them to take a look at it.  I asked them to take a look at it for one reason.  I wanted a doctrinal perspective on the book.  In other words, I wanted them to look at the book and tell me whether the felt that it was built upon sound biblical doctrine.  I'm a lawyer and not a theologian.  The book is written from a lawyer's perspective.  So, I wanted to make sure that someone with clergy credentials had "blessed" it (in the vernacular, and  not as a pun).

The funny thing is, both had virtually the exact same response.  It was almost as if they were responding from a script.  Each of them said, "Thanks, but I've got too much on my plate right now."

And I struggle with that.  I  struggle with it because we've all got too much on our plates these days.  The secret is to figure out what is important and invest your time in it.  A person can run in hundreds of directions, chasing this and responding to that.  But a person who has an impact knows how to decide what their life's purpose is and do all that they can to fulfill that purpose.  I believe that God has a purpose for me, and I believe He has provided the Holy Spirit to help me accomplish it.  So, I spend a lot of my quiet time doing all that I can to hear Him and try to discern His will.  And I believe He wanted me to tell the story contained in "The Reasonable Person." 

"The Reasonable Person" is intended to demystify Christianity.  I feel that we have overcomplicated the subject, which really only deals with a couple of things.  God loves me and He loves you.  He sent His Son Jesus to live among us, teach us and provide an example for how He wants us to live.  He became one of us.  God was one of us.  And when that part of Jesus' mission was completed, God allowed Jesus to be sacrificed as payment, once and for all, for the sins of every single person.  It righted the cosmic scales forever.  The blood of God outweighed the sum total  of every sin that man could ever commit.  He paid for my sins and He paid for your sins.  It's what Christians call a "free gift."  All you have to do is receive it through faith in Him.  It's really not that mysterious.

I don't know, I suppose that there are people who would prefer that it remain mysterious.  There certainly were those people, the Pharisees, in Jesus' time.  The mystery preserved the status quo.  And it meant job security for them.  But God doesn't want gatekeepers.  Jesus welcomed everyone- sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and I suppose even lawyers.  God wants every single person to come to Him.

So, I suppose the book will have to go to print without being "blessed."  But I'm okay with that.  And somehow, I think He is as well.

Christian preachers and teachers, in their zeal to follow Jesus’ command to share the gospel[1], can seem at times to value conversion quantity over quality.   They
measure their spiritual wealth by their converts.  But these folks can become so focused on winning souls for Christ that they inadvertently may omit the spiritual fine
print.  They don’t tell you that you have to work at your faith.[2]  Their focus is entirely on convincing non-believers to accept Jesus and get saved.  

These evangelists characterize the Christian experience as a miraculous
transformation.  Typically, at the end of their message, they issue an invitation to their audience to pray a prayer and ask Jesus to come into their hearts. And to be fair, in many cases, that’s all it takes.  A person prays the prayer and their life is instantaneously, permanently and irreversibly changed.

 But some new believers expecting the process to be instantaneous are disappointed.  For these people, the change seems to be only temporary.  They still have problems.  They still struggle with sin.  They begin to question the validity of their conversion.   Things haven’t worked out as promised so they blame God.   But they were rushed into making a commitment that they really hadn’t  thought about.  They didn’t really  understand the prayer that they prayed.  
 
Their conversion was more akin to a  fast-food experience.   They  were told, “Pray the prayer, God comes into your life and all your problems go  out the window.  Pray the prayer  and God will do the rest.”  In a  sort of a get rich quick spiritual scheme, these new Christians are told to sit  back, enjoy the ride and be blessed by God
beyond comprehension.  But when life’s troubles arise as they inevitably do (and are scripturally  predicted), these people are disappointed, and perhaps embittered. 
Eventually they may fall away from their faith.   And they blame it on a god that failed
them.

 I believe that Christian conversion is absolutely miraculous. And I believe that it can be, but does not have to be,  instantaneous.  Or at least, the effects of the conversion may not be instantaneously visible.   And I also believe that we are saved by God’s grace which we receive through faith.[3]  

But Christian growth is a process.   You ask Jesus to come into your  heart, declare yourself to be a Christian and promise to follow Him.   The entire act of becoming a Christian takes a few seconds, at most.  But you spend the rest of your life  developing this relationship through a daily, if not hourly, step-by-step faith  walk.  You learn to give every  single aspect of your life to Him.   You stumble. And you begin  the process again. This is the  Christian growth process.

 To be fair, anytime that the Creator of the  Universe reaches out to mankind, then by definition a miracle has occurred.  Having a relationship with the Creator  of the universe is nothing short of miraculous. But an authentic Christian experience  is, in reality, also lot of work.   This is not to say that Christian salvation is based on our works.  It’s not.   We are saved by God’s grace; a free gift in the form of Jesus.  But faith that doesn’t turn into action  isn’t really faith.[4]  

God is ultimately responsible for the change that occurs in true  Christians.  But we have to  cooperate and at times simply get out of His way.   And letting God truly run our lives, giving it all completely to Him, is  a daily, if not hourly challenge.  
 
Humans want to control things.   Giving your life to God means surrendering all control over it, and it  goes against our nature.[5]  But the sooner you surrender, the sooner God can begin to change you into  a new creature- less worry, less fear, less temptation, less anger, angst and  all of the rest of the bad psyche stuff.[6]  
 
Christianity is a lifelong process of growth that occurs through the relinquishment of self to God.    Some Christian proselytizers avoid this fine print.   When their new converts realize that they still have problems, they may  simply give up and move on to the next thing.   The truth is that these folks  intended to lead others to Christ,  but led them only in the general vicinity of Christ.    This is not to say that  these new converts are not Christians and were not miraculously  transformed.  They were.  They were transformed by God into new  creatures as a result of their faith in Jesus.[7]   But as long as these new believers wait on a miraculous tangible experience, they will delay the heavy lifting and hard work that comes with the Christian process. Worse, they may  even give up hope waiting for that miracle and eventually abandon their faith.  
 
Jesus himself explained a long time ago that this would happen through his parable of the sower and the seed.[8]   People can hear about Jesus, but things in this life get in the way of a  truly fulfilling spiritual experience.   The truth is, you have to work at being a Christian.   You have to work at your faith.
 
 
[1]Mark 16.
 
[2]James 1-5.
 
[3]Ephesians 2.

 [4]James 2:14-26.
 
[5]Deuteronomy 10:12-22.

 [6]2 Corinthians 5.
 
[7]Id.
 
[8]Matthew 13:1-23

Christian preachers and teachers, in their zeal to follow Jesus’ command to share the gospel[1], can seem at times to value conversion quantity over quality.   These folks are so focused on winning souls for Christ, that they inadvertently may omit the spiritual fine print.   They don’t tell you that you have to work at your faith.[2]  The focus is entirely on getting non-believers to accept Jesus and get saved.  These evangelists characterize the Christian experience as a “miraculous transformation”.  Frequently, following an inspirational message, they will issue an invitation to their audience to pray a prayer and “ask Jesus to come into their hearts.”  And to be fair, in many cases, that’s all it takes.  A man prays the prayer and his life is instantaneously, permanently and irreversibly changed.

But some new believers expecting the process to be instantaneous are disappointed.  For these people, the change seems to be only temporary.  They still have problems.  They still struggle with sin.  They begin to question the validity of their “conversion” and blame God.  They were rushed into making a commitment that they really hadn’t thought about.  They didn’t really understand the prayer that they prayed.  They didn’t understand what they were asking for, or more importantly, what they were agreeing to. 

Their conversion was more akin to a fast-food experience.   They were told, “Pray the prayer, God comes into your life and all your problems go out the window.  Pray the prayer and God will do the rest.”  In a sort of a “get rich quick” spiritual scheme, these new Christians are told to sit back, enjoy the ride and be blessed by God beyond comprehension.  But when life’s troubles arise as they inevitably do (and are scripturally predicted), these people are disappointed, and perhaps embittered.  Eventually they may fall away from their faith.  And they blame it on a god that failed them.

I believe that Christian conversion is absolutely miraculous. And I believe that it can be, but does not have to be, instantaneous.  Or at least, the effects of the conversion may not be instantaneously visible.  And I also believe that we are saved by “grace, through faith and not works.”[3]  This is because for many people, including me, Christian growth is a process.   You ask Jesus to come into your heart, declare yourself to be a Christian and promise to follow Him.  The entire act of “becoming a Christian” takes a few seconds, at most.  But you spend the rest of your life developing this relationship through a daily, if not hourly, step-by-step faith walk.  You learn to give every single aspect of your life to Him.  You stumble.  And you begin the process again.  For a lot of believers, this is the Christian growth process.

At the same time, if the Creator of the Universe reaches out to mankind, then by definition a miracle has occurred.  And Christians believe that if you ask God to come into your life, He will do it.  Having a relationship with the Creator of the universe is nothing short of miraculous.  But an authentic Christian experience is, in reality, also lot of work.  This is not to say that Christian salvation is based on our works.  It’s not.  We are saved by God’s grace; a free gift in the form of Jesus.  But “faith without works is dead”.[4]  Certainly God is ultimately responsible for the change that occurs in true Christians.  But we have to cooperate and at times simply get out of His way.  And letting God truly run our lives, giving it all completely to Him, can be a daily, if not hourly challenge. 

Human nature is such that we want to control things.  Giving your life to God means surrendering all control over it, and giving absolutely every ounce of it to Him.[5]  The sooner you surrender, the sooner God can begin to change you into a new creature- less worry, less fear, less temptation, less anger, angst and all of the rest of the bad psyche stuff.[6]  And for many people, Christianity is a lifelong process of growth that occurs through the relinquishment of self to God.

Some Christian proselytizers avoid this fine print.  They tell people that all you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your heart and He will.  And once He does, all of your problems are solved.  When these new converts realize that they still have problems, they may simply give up and move on to the next thing.   The truth is that the folks intending to lead others to Christ, actually led them only in the general vicinity of Christ.   This is not to say that these new converts are not Christians and were not miraculously transformed; they were.  They were transformed by God into new creatures as a result of their faith in Jesus.[7]  But as long as these new believers wait on a miraculous tangible experience, they will delay the “heavy lifting” and hard work that comes with the Christian process.  Worse, they may even give up hope waiting for that miracle and eventually abandon their faith. 

Jesus himself explained a long time ago that this would happen through his parable of the sower and the seed.[8]  People can hear about Jesus, but things in this life get in the way of a truly fulfilling spiritual experience.  The truth is, you have to work at being a Christian.  You have to work at your faith. [1] Mark 16.

[2] James 1-5.

[3] Ephesians 2.

[4] James 2:14-26.

[5] Deuteronomy 10:12-22.

[6] 2 Corinthians 5.

[7] Id.

[8] Matthew 13:1-23

If you are not a Christian, you may be intimidated by the appearances of Christianity.  From the outside, everything looks so squeaky clean and everyone seems so together.  Perhaps you didn’t grow up going to church.  You decide to give it a try and walk in one Sunday.  You hear unfamiliar music and awkwardly walk down the aisle and find a place to sit.  Everyone seems to be looking at you and you just know they know how bad your life has been.   You are convinced that they, on the other hand, have lived unblemished lives.  You just want to get through the next hour, so that you can get home to watch the game.

But the truth is for most of us, life is messy.  And everyone has their story, even Christian “insiders”.  And if you read the Bible carefully, you will quickly learn that most of the principal players had very messy lives.  It started with Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the others, and only went downhill from there.  Heros of the Bible, people like David and Moses struggled with sin and disobedience.  One of Jesus closest friends, Peter, betrayed Him.  Another friend, Judas, turned him over to the authorities, and ultimately committed suicide.  The rest of his friends scattered and abandoned Him in His one time of need.  And although there are plenty of Christians who grew up going to church every Sunday, there are plenty of others like me. 

These folks have seen and done things that are rarely talked about in church.  Name a sin and these Christians have either done it or witnessed it first-hand.  And even the church-raised Christians have had their share of troubles.  In fact, if we were all completely honest with one another, you would probably realize that their “sin quotient”, relatively speaking, is not vastly different from yours.  God loves all of us, no matter what we have done.[1]

Further, I believe that we “other side of the tracks” Christians are actually pretty special to God.  We are an opportunity for Him to demonstrate his love, power and glory.  We are the before and after photos in the spiritual rapid weight loss commercial of life.  People know what we were like before God touched us.  And they know what we are like now.  And in a way, I feel sorry for folks who grew up going to church every Sunday.  They get use to it.  They might take God for granted.  Folks like me, who found themselves at the spiritual bottom, thank God every day for what he has done in their lives.  I’m not saying other Christians aren’t thankful.  But as Jesus explained in the parable of the prodigal son,[2] God really wants a radically changed heart.  It’s because when people like us change so radically, there is no other reasonable explanation for it.  God is the only reasonable explanation.  

Jesus didn’t hang out with squeaky-clean people.  He surrounded himself with the castoffs of Jewish society- the tax collectors, adulterers and sinners.  But all of these people had one thing in common.  They knew they were wrong and sorry for it.  And they believed that only Jesus could make it right.   Squeaky-clean Christianity is a myth.  We’ve all sinned. And we’ve all done what we knew was wrong.  You may be thinking that you’re not good enough for Christianity.  But no one is.  And that’s the point- God loves us anyway.

[1] John 3, 4.

[2] Luke 15.