In October of this year, we will see the release of Rachel Held Evans\u2019s much I am waiting for someone to write part three of this trilogy, A Year of Living Like A Follower of Jesus.<\/em> But don\u2019t look at me. No way. I mean, can you imagine. If I tried doing that for a year\u2014or for six hours\u2014well\u2026I\u2019m getting a stomach ache just thinking about it.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t mean all that stuff you know you\u2019re supposed to take figuratively\u2014like cutting off your hand or gouging out your eye if they cause you to stumble. I\u2019m talking about all the stuff that you know<\/em> Jesus meant literally. The stuff he actually expected his followers to do if they wanted to be a part of his movement, what he called the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n Serve God without drawing attention to yourself;<\/p>\n Give your possessions to those who need them, even if you do, too;<\/p>\n Bless people who flat out hate you and want to destroy you;<\/p>\n Don\u2019t defend yourself at the drop of a hat;<\/p>\n Don\u2019t stand in judgment over others at the drop of a hat;<\/p>\n Respond to cruelty with kindness;<\/p>\n Truly believe that people who absolutely creep you out are of infinite worth, and then act like it;<\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry\u2014about anything;<\/p>\n Control your anger and make peace with others wherever you go\u00a0rather than perpetuate conflict.<\/p>\n If I tried doing even the first three on this list, I would pop a vein in my head before breakfast\u00a0and collapse.<\/p>\n Unlike most of the commands in the Old Testament\u2014don\u2019t eat camel meat, keep your bull out of your neighbor\u2019s property, banish someone with crushed testicles, and be sure to collect a dowry from your virgin daughter\u2019s seducer\u2014the things Jesus talked about are actually commanded<\/em> of his followers, with, if I may guess, the expectation by Jesus that they would form the pattern of our daily lives.<\/p>\n If anyone tried to do what Jesus said we needed to do, why, there\u2019d be little left of us by the end. A life oriented outward\u2014toward God and neighbor, with one\u2019s whole heart\u2014leaves little room for anything else. Mainly, it leaves little room for you. Heck, if you really lived like that, you might as well be dead.<\/p>\n Which, now that I think of it, may be Jesus\u2019 point.<\/p>\n Whoever does not<\/em><\/p>\n take up their cross and follow me<\/em><\/p>\n is not worthy of me.<\/em><\/p>\n Whoever finds their life will lose it, <\/em><\/p>\n and whoever loses their life for my sake <\/em><\/p>\n will find it.<\/em><\/p>\n So, no, Christian publishing world. Not that you asked, but find another author<\/a>. I want no part of this.<\/p>\n A Year of Pondering Quite Thoughtfully What It Would Look Like If I Actually Followed Jesus<\/em>, or A Year of Reflecting on How Some Others Seem to Have a Good Grasp on Living Like a Follower of Jesus, <\/em>that I can handle. But if you want the real deal, no.<\/p>\n Come to think of it, if I lived like Jesus I probably wouldn\u2019t have time or energy for writing a book about it anyway.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebiblefornormalpeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/YLB-1.jpeg?ssl=1\" "\\"YLB\\"")
<\/a>In 2007, A. J. Jacobs wrote the bestseller, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man\u2019s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible,<\/a><\/em> which recounted his attempt to live according to Old Testament law for a solid year. People loved it and it sold like syrup at a dry pancake convention.<\/p>\n<\/a> anticipated A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master,<\/a><\/em> where Rachel shows us what it looks like for a women to live by the Old Testament codes.<\/p>\n