Jesus the Game Changer

To introduce the series, this episode establishes the historicity of Jesus, and, to a certain extent, the Gospels as accurate source material for His life and teaching. It also shows the centrality of Jesus’ place in the narrative of human history.

Jesus taught that each individual has inherent value – they are loved by God, and worthy of love and attention from other people. The teaching of Jesus and Paul the Apostle shifted people from being viewed as members of families, castes, cities or communities to being individuals of worth.

Jesus’ command to “love your enemy” is perhaps one of His best-known teachings. Jesus taught extensively about forgiveness and His words have echoed down the centuries to be some of the most significant ever spoken.

For His time, Jesus was radically inclusive of both men & women. On the whole, the Church has been a place where women have experienced greater freedom than in society.

Jesus is not often associated with having anything to say about democracy. Jesus did, however, teach about freedom, and many of His teachings had political implications that have been developed by Christians over the last 2000 years.

Though Jesus interacted with everyone, more than anyone else, Jesus ministered among the poor and marginalised and He taught His followers to do likewise. Christians’ willingness to obey Jesus has profoundly shaped our world.

Despite being the most influential figure in human history, Jesus did not follow conventional patterns of leadership. His call for His followers to serve one another with humility is one of the most powerful and enduring ideas from His life and teaching.

Social institutions, such as hospitals and universities, had their genesis in the Christian Church and were motivated by Jesus’ radical example of caring for those in need and teaching everyone, not just wealthy males.

Surprisingly, Jesus spoke more about money than nearly any other topic. Jesus challenged the prevailing wisdom of His day, and taught that all money was God’s, to be used for Him instead of for personal advancement.

Despite the popular stereotype that Christianity is anti-intellectual and anti-scientific, modern education, academia and science are actually rooted in large measure in the teachings of Jesus.