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written by Dries Cronje

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” – Mark 1:14-15 The Message (emphasis mine)

Okay, so here, in the first instruction Jesus gives in the Gospel according to Mark, we hear that we need to believe the Message. ‘Believe’ is a verb, just like ‘know’ is a verb. The two are very different verbs… Many people today think of believing in much the same way as knowing. They think you believe something if you are certain of it, with or without any concrete proof or deep understanding. This isn’t wrong. It’s one of the nuances of faith or belief. However, it leaves little room for healthy doubt. We need to wrestle with what we believe…

We have glimpses of the Message of Jesus. We hear stories and parables, accounts of miracles, and questions rather than answers. Perfect stuff for faith. Not so for knowledge. One of the most important things we need to do is to wrestle with this information, to question it, to doubt it, and misunderstand it on our way to some deeper understanding. That’s faith or belief, and a more complete picture of what it truly means to believe. If you just know something, no wrestling or questioning is required.

Listen to what Pete Rollins had to say about this in one of his video teachings.

So, what’s this message that we’re called to believe? Even if I could, I would refrain from giving you the short, three-sentence version of it here. I can’t. Over time I have received light on some parts of the Message, as I’m sure you have. But my mind is too human to comprehend the full truth of it.

Why would I refrain to share it if I could? Well, simply sharing my understanding wouldn’t encourage you to search and wrestle for yourself. And that’s what you need to do.

As we progress here, we’ll be looking at glimpses of the deeper meaning of Jesus’ Message as I have come to understand it, but for now we need to realize that to believe the Message does not primarily mean to blindly accept it without doubts or uncertainties. Just like the 12 disciples of Jesus, we need to ask questions, humbly show our lack of understanding, make mistakes, and wrestle with the true meaning of this important message… if we’re going to make progress, that is.

If you want, you can start spending some time in Mark with me. As you read this very first account of the life and teachings of Jesus, ask yourself if it seems to you that Jesus came to establish a system of belonging. Ask whether you think Jesus came to earth to launch Christianity. Do you think it’s possible He rather introduced us to a way of life that brings about transformation and higher levels of consciousness to true Reality? Did He maybe come to introduce a system of transformation?