I was talking to this guy the other day about faith, spirituality, and life and he told me that he didn’t ‘believe in Christianity or any organized religion because all they do is brainwash people.’ After we parted ways, I thought about his answer for a while and it really struck a nerve in me. I mean, maybe he has a point. Many kids who go to church are taught to memorize Bible verses. They sing songs to a God that is “up there” in the sky and they close their eyes and talk to someone who is listening and sees everything. We indoctrinate people and kids and they grow up being taught what they believe. More often than not, they either walk away from it all or they become the next version of their parents and repeat the cycle.

I often question if I wouldn’t be a devout Muslim if I were born in Iran, or if I was born in Japan whether or not I would succumb to Taoism. Maybe if I was born in England I would be an Atheist; who knows for sure. All we can do is speculate. But what that guy said to me made me think that if Christians are supposed to be imitating Christ, is the way we are talking about him the same way he talked about himself? Is the way we are teaching the same way he taught?

If you read through the Gospels you will see that Jesus was asked a ton of questions. Everyone was asking Jesus questions all the time. Some were asked out of spite and some were asked honestly of him to see if he could help them along on their journey. All in all, he was asked 183 questions. He was asked 183 questions in scripture to which he answered 3 of them. Anyone who is at least slightly educated about the Bible and the life of Jesus knows of the stories about how Jesus often answered questions with a question. He would never give direct answers. Jesus utilized something most people call the Socratic Method, but how he used it was slightly different. The Socratic Method often involves an answer that someone is trying to guide you to. What Jesus did was simply asking questions and making you own it. Maybe he didn’t want to give you the answers, maybe he wanted you to wrestle with these topics. Jesus asked 307 questions in scripture, 307! That means that he asked 100 questions for every 1 he answered, why is it that we do the opposite of that, especially those who are teaching about Jesus?

What led Jesus to asking so many questions was his mastery of Situational Ethics. He knew that some things in life weren’t black and white but that some things were very much so in the grey. He knew how to use those grey areas in life to make people learn how to color outside of the imaginary lines that they drew. An example of this is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. If you haven’t heard of it before you should go check it out in Luke 10:25-37. What happens is that a guy is robbed and beaten to the brink of death and left to die. Then, three people pass by him in sequential order. The first is a priest and he passes by him. The second is a Levite and he passed by him also. The third was a Samaritan and he stopped and put the man on his donkey and took him to a nearby inn to take care of him. Now this story on face value shows us that everyone is our neighbor and that we are to love and care for everyone. That is a great lesson and something we need to take to heart and put into practice. However, this story is so much more than that and is a prime example of Jesus showing his mastery of situational ethics. If you study Jewish culture from that day and the Old Testament, this story takes on a whole new life. The path that the priest and Levite were on was the path that took them to the Temple to worship God. How often are we in such a hurry to get somewhere that we miss things along the way? But wait, there’s more. The path that they are walking on, is on the side of a cliff and is about 4 feet wide. So in order for them to pass ‘on the other side’ of the guy who was beaten, they most likely stepped over him, literally. Ouch. And if you read the Old Testament laws, specifically Leviticus and Numbers you will find out that if they were to touch the man who was beaten to the brink of death they would have then become unclean and would have been unable to worship God if they followed their current beliefs. You see, it was their high standards and ethics that kept them from being able to help the man. But Jesus, the Master of Situational Ethics, is asking the question of what is more important? Keeping the letter of the law or caring for your neighbor when it may not be so convenient for you?

Jesus didn’t go out and tell the answer to the people asking him the question. He made them wrestle with the topic and find the answer themselves. Maybe it’s because if you own it and find the answer yourself you are more likely to hold onto that belief and that answer. Maybe if you’re just told the answer with facts you’ll change your mind when better facts present themselves. Or maybe it is because the same thing can be the right thing to do today and the wrong thing to do a year from now. Maybe the right thing for you to do is the wrong thing for me to do. Maybe everything isn’t black and white, maybe some things are grey. Jesus didn’t brainwash people into believing in him and following him and his followers grew like a wildfire. Maybe we can, and maybe we should, learn from how Jesus did things.

If someone tried brainwashing you to follow Jesus and that made you want to have nothing to do with them, that’s fine. However, don’t turn around and take that out on Jesus. I can guarantee that is not what He would want. Give Jesus a shot. Give Him a read. Maybe you have been brainwashed already and you need to go through a period of deconstruction in order to be able to reconstruct in a much better way. I know I went through a time of deconstruction where I had to unlearn what I was taught growing up to be able to find out what I believe for myself and not what I was told to believe. And if you are teaching Jesus, maybe it shouldn’t be all about knowledge, but maybe it should be about the journey. Teach people how to wrestle well, not how to answer well. Think back to your school days. I remember that I used to know all the presidents in order. I memorized all these dates but those things passed when I found more important things I wanted to learn. But the journey, the process of things I was taught has stuck with me. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, the brainwashing needs to stop and the teaching of how to wrestle well needs to begin.