Playing Ping Pong With Jesus
Monday, December 12th, 2011 by admin | Posted in Unconventional Thinking | Comments
The holiday season that is now sparkling all around us is exceptional for many reasons, not the least of which is that it prompts us to put aside our work as the days get ever closer to December 25th and to think of family, friends, priorities and our place in the universe. It is warming, genuine and truly profound.
And it all eminates in the name of one man, Jesus. Through the millennium, war, peace, love, hatred, kindness and cruelty have been levied in his name. In all cases, those taking action in his name do so based on a personal
interpretation that may or may not jell with the “Christ”-mas spirit. Or with the true beliefs of Jesus. He is, in a sense, a Rorshach test: people see in him what they want to see and act in his name based on a personal bias that his philosophy is aligned with theirs.
Which makes we wonder how Jesus would see it all now: the world in the midst of the Christmas of 2011. What better way to find out than to imagine a casual game of intellectual ping pong with him, asking a series of questions that unlock the views of Jesus– not from scribes and “holy men”– but from Jesus himself.
Here is what I would ask him as I paddled ideas and questions across the table and waited for his returns:
- Billions use your name in the cause of peace but the world is tangled in war after war. Why does this happen?
- Are you a pacifist? Do you believe in war when property and/or liberty are threatened? Should we always turn the other cheek? Is war ever holy?
- You appear to be anti-materialistic but people love to acquire things: homes, cars, jewelry, stocks, bonds, boats. And for many, the more, the bigger, the better. Is this selfish? Greedy? Is it wrong to pursue material things? Why are houses of worship often decadent palaces? Do they get a pass?
- Is dashing into mobs at Wal-Mart to amass gifts in the Christmas spirit or does it defy it? Denigrate it?
- Are you happy with the state of mankind or saddened by it? If the latter, what went wrong? What do we fail to see?
- The most religious people are often the most intolerant of other religions. Is that a strength or a weakness? A blessing or a sin?
- There is a widely held belief that there should be a separation between church and state. Do you believe this is correct or is it a rejection of all that you have preached?
- Should members of the clergy be held to a higher standard than all others?
If so, why?
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December 12th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
You should read Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsh. You would get some potential answers to many of the questions here. And then you can choose if you like and agree with them.
December 12th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Intriguing post… Left me wondering how ‘your’ Jesus might have answered these questions.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:08 am
I love your writing style and the scenario of playing ping pong with Jesus to get your questions answered. You must be a great interviewer as well as curious for answers. When you ask questions do you have an idea or thought about the answer you might receive. I’d love to hear your answers if so.
What if Jesus said, “I don’t know Mark, what do you think?” And then whatever your response, he spoke up and said, “Okay. Let’s run with that!”
Having majored in Organizational Behavior in college I recall the term “groupthink”. Groupthink is a tendency to avoid a critical evaluation of ideas the group favors. In this post it reminds me of a person who is especially good at critically evaluating various ideas that occur. This is one reason I enjoy reading your posts.
Best Regards & Holiday!
Bryan Westra
December 14th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
This pinged me to the first book I read on Kindle – “Imaginary Jesus” by Matt Mikalatos. Wish there were easy answers to these questions, but then I read in the NLT that there are not supposed to be (long thoughts). Matt’s book = good read.
December 14th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Very thought provoking questions Mark.
I think, no matter what Jesus says, people will believe what ever they want to believe. After all, that’s free will… right?
Even if Jesus was play verbally ping-pong with you or any one of us, he might serve up an answer we don’t like so we ignore it and continue bashing things and people. Without the right to own and speak an opinion we would have no media.
Hey maybe Jesus is disguised as the media!? Now there is a ping-pong question.
December 17th, 2011 at 7:47 am
Thanks for following me on Twitter! As for this article, I love your metaphor of ping pong with Jesus. To me, we are all playing ping pong with Jesus everyday- although I think my game with him is yo-yo. Depending on how our day goes or what happens in our life, so many of us judge him by the mistakes we make as an individual or a group, and place the blame on him rather than taking responsibility for our own actions. He gave us free-will to decide, but I also feel that he is there in the background observing and waiting for us to “make things right” with his help- if we ask for his help. I look forward to reading more of your articles.
December 28th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
What I like most about your post is that the questions are more than just ping pong challenges but REAL! Thus, deserving real answers. I’m sure that Jesus, as seen in the scriptures, would greatly enjoy engaging you in convo! He sought real talk with people; consistently responding outside of what would be thought of as the old testament box.