© 2002 The Brotherhood of Man Library
That evening while teaching in the house, for it had begun to rain, Jesus talked at great length, trying to show the twelve what they must be, not what they must do. They knew only a religion that imposed the doing of certain things as the means of attaining righteousness—salvation. But Jesus would reiterate, “In the kingdom you must be righteous in order to do the work.” (UB 140:10.1)
The title for this article, “Being and Doing,” is derived from the above remark made by Jesus to his followers that later goes on to state that “being righteous, by faith, must precede doing righteousness in our daily lives.” (UB 140:10.1)
True religion is a living love, a life of service.
From The Urantia Book
No, I do not hate the enemy. The worse their behavior, the more I feel sorry for them.
From a woman who died from maltreatment in a prisoner of war camp in Sumatra in world war 2.
This innocuous looking remark is the catalyst for initiating some serious thinking. For one, what does Jesus mean by “being righteous?” The most common assumption is that it simply means “doing good deeds to others.” But that reverses Jesus’ priority which asserted that being righteous takes precedence over the doing of righteousness.
An insight into Jesus’ meaning for “being righteous” is found in a statement about his earthly mission: “Jesus refused to have his attention diverted from his mission. He ignored the civic, social, and economic realms. He told the apostles he was concerned only with the principles of man’s inner and personal spiritual life.” (UB 140:8.9) Hence, for those seeking to follow Jesus, this statement completely divorces “righteousness” from the arena of the material and transfers it to the domain of the spiritual.
Jesus informs us what we must seek is righteousness in our spiritual life. Confirmation occurs many times in the Papers with statements such as, “the goal of human self-realization should be spiritual, not material” (UB 100:2.6); “the only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual, and eternal” (UB 100:2.6); and “spiritual destiny is dependent on faith, love, and devotion to truth—hunger and thirst for righteousness—the whole hearted desire to find God and be like him.” (UB 156:5.7)
In other words we must transfer our concepts of what we must “be” completely out from the finite, material, secular world to the inner, personal and spiritual world in which we, as individuals, must seek to remake ourselves in the image of God. That is what this life is all about. And in case you are unconvinced, hear this:
“The Master fully realized that certain social results would appear in the world as a consequence of the spread of the gospel of the kingdom; but he intended that all such desirable social manifestations should appear as unconscious and inevitable outgrowths, or natural fruits, of this inner personal experience of individual believers.” (UB 170:5.12)
Is this asking too much of us? If it is our desire to have a career in eternity, we do not appear to have a realistic alternative. To seek to become God-like is the only destiny on offer. Naturally that is a long term process for which our immediate, earthly goal is provided by Jesus’ revelation of what it means to be God-like. But it is the only offer we have.
Unfortunately Christianity forsook whatever understanding it had of this reality when it evolved from being a small band of dedicated individuals to become an ecclesiastical organization governed by creeds, ritual, and a priesthood. Periodically, attempts have been made for a revival, the one most relevant for Urantians occurring 350 years ago when it arose from the ashes of English Puritanism under the leadership of one, George Fox.
The aim of this group was for a purely personal religion in which each individual was dedicated to living in accordance with a direct consciousness of what they called the “Inward Light”—in our parlance, the God-Spirit-Within. Known as the Quakers, the group operated without creeds or clergy, and firmly believed that their experimental approach to the discovery of the “Inward Light” would spill over to reform all of Christendom.
The role of the Quakers’ “Inward Light” is similar, perhaps identical to, the Thought Adjuster of the Urantia Papers. The hope of the Quakers for the reformation of organized authoritarian Christianity is also very close to hopes expressed in the Papers—such as: “What a service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name.” (UB 196:1.2)
Some for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote.
Edward Young
To know the world, not love her is thy point,
She gives but little, nor that little long.
Edward Young
In its early days, the Quaker movement achieved remarkable results. It led the campaign in Britain and the USA for the abolition of slavery, it achieved much needed reform to the ghastly prison systems of both countries, it championed a campaign for more humane treatment of the mentally retarded, it was a leader in the campaign for women’s liberation, and much else. But in the long run it failed. Why?
Some Quaker literature places the blame for their demise squarely in the lap of their over-involvement in worldly affairs at the expense of individual consciousness of the Inward Light—the result being that the path illuminated by that Inward Light was lost.
But Jesus, in his wisdom, has instructed his Urantian followers to concern themselves only with man’s inner and spiritual life (UB 140:8.9)—and to allow the fruits of the spirit to arise unconsciously (UB 170:5.12) as a consequence of what we must become. For Jesus, being righteous is a categorical imperative that must take precedence over merely doing righteousness.
But Jesus also foresaw that there is an accompanying concept urgently requiring comprehension.
The Papers inform us “that of all human knowledge that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.” (UB 196:1.3) The key to the value of this statement is because Jesus’ life is an authoritative revelation of the true character of God—in so far as that character is comprehensible and attainable by mortal beings such as ourselves.
Provided we have this knowledge, then the requirement that we must seek to become God-like becomes both a realistic and attainable possibility. But all efforts to remake ourselves in the image of God will fail to bear fruit if we believe its expression must be by the public demonstration of our newly found sainthood. Any effect we might have would be short-lived and transient because it would be the result of insincere play-acting, a staged performance that has little to do with our real self.
If we are to bear fruit where the Quakers failed, the demonstration of Jesus-like mode of living must first take place in the environment of those who know us best—our immediate family and our closest friends. Only they will be qualified to distinguish between our real spiritual rebirth and the pretend act that we might put on display in public. And because they will know that something remarkable and real has occurred in our lives, the possibility of it bearing fruit in their own lives will also become more real.
It appears to be highly likely that the only possible way for the true spiritual message of Jesus to penetrate to a significant proportion of Urantia’s population would be if it is experienced in early childhood through personal interaction with God-knowing parents. The evidence?—all conceivable altematives have already been tried and have failed—plus statements such as:
“The family is the fundamental unit of fraternity in which parents and children learn the lessons of patience, altruism, tolerance, and forbearance which are so essential to the realization of brotherhood among all men.” (UB 84:7.28)
And so, in accord with the cited evidence, we conclude that lives lived in the imitation of Jesus in a family-type environment Will be the real forerunner for the establishment of the brotherhood of man on this benighted planet.
Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun;
Now I may wither into the truth.
William Yeats
Now that my ladder’s gone,
I must lie down where
all the ladders start,
In the foul rag-and-
bone shop of the heart.
William Yeats