Mistakes of Jesus' Early Followers 

Peter persisted in making the mistake of trying to convince the Jews that Jesus was, after all, really and truly the Jewish Messiah. Right up to the day of his death, Peter continued to suffer confusion between the concepts of Jesus and the Jewish Messiah. Jesus was the world’s redeemer, the Son of God, the loving Father of all humankind, and not someone who would be an earthly king or sit on the throne of David for the sole benefit of the Jewish people.

The Apostle Paul, in his efforts to bring the teachings of Jesus to the favorable notice of certain groups in his day, wrote many letters of instruction and caution. Other teachers of Jesus’ gospel did likewise, but none of them realized that some of these writings would later be compiled in the New Testament and proclaimed to be the complete embodiment of the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus’ followers had been trained and instructed that the gospel they should preach was the following: God is the heavenly father of all who are thus spiritual sisters and brothers. However, at the moment of their spiritual ecstasy, when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared before them, all they could think of was the fact of the risen Master. And so they went forth preaching salvation through Jesus in place of his true gospel message. Peter unwittingly led off in this mistake on the day of Pentecost, and others followed him, including Paul, who created a new religion out of this altered version of the gospel.

But the greatest mistake was this: While the human Jesus was recognized as having a religion, the divine Jesus (Christ) almost overnight became a religion. Paul’s Christianity made sure of the adoration of the divine Christ. It almost wholly lost sight of the struggling and valiant human Jesus of Galilee, who, through personal religious faith, ascended from the lowly levels of humanity to become one with divinity. Jesus paved the new and living way whereby all mortals can ascend from humanity to divinity. Mortals in all stages of spirituality can find in the personal life of Jesus that which will strengthen and inspire them as they progress from the lowest spirit levels up to the highest divine values.

While Christianity does contain more of the Master’s gospel than any other religion, it does also contain much that Jesus did not teach. Aside from the inclusion of many teachings from the Persian mysteries and much of the Greek philosophy into early Christianity, two great mistakes were made:

1. The first great error was the effort to connect the gospel message with Jewish theology. This is illustrated by the Christian doctrines of the atonement – the teaching that Jesus was the sacrificed Son who would satisfy the Father’s stern justice and appease the divine wrath. These teachings originated in a praiseworthy effort to make the gospel of the kingdom more acceptable to disbelieving Jews. Though these efforts failed as far as winning the Jews was concerned, they did not fail to confuse and alienate many honest souls in all subsequent generations.

2. The second great blunder of the Master’s early followers, and one which later generations have perpetuated, was to organize the Christian teaching so completely about the person of Jesus. This overemphasis on the personality of Jesus in the theology of Christianity has worked to obscure his teachings. It has made it increasingly difficult for Jews, Islamists, Hindus, and other Eastern religionists to accept the teachings of Jesus. This is not to belittle the place of the person of Jesus in the religion that bears his name, but it should not eclipse his inspired life or supplant his saving message: the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

Jesus understood the minds of humans. He knew what was in their hearts, and had his teachings been left as he presented them, all nations and all religions of the world, Eastern and Western, would speedily have embraced the gospel of the kingdom. The well-meant efforts of early Christians to restate his teachings to make them more acceptable to certain groups, nations, and religions only made such teachings less acceptable to all other groups, nations, and religions.

There was an exception. An early leader named Abner, who lived in Philadelphia, taught the gospel according to the Master’s instructions. Unfortunately, Abner and his teachings were overshadowed and overtaken by Peter and Paul’s teachings, which appealed exclusively to the Western civilization of the Roman world. The teachings of Jesus, as Abner and his believers held them, would have been readily received by the various groups of Asiatic religionists if not for Peter and Paul’s overwhelming influence. The Western version, as put forth by Peter, Paul, and their followers, did not suit those in the Eastern world. Their older beliefs did not receive the spiritual upgrade Jesus so patiently tried to instill in all his believers. The purer version of Jesus’ teachings that Abner presented was lost in history, as was Abner himself.

The gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke retain something of the picture of the human Jesus as he engaged in the superb struggle to ascertain the divine will and to do that will. The gospel of John presents a picture of the triumphant Jesus as he walked on earth in the full consciousness of divinity. These first four books of the New Testament have inspired faith and spiritual growth across centuries and are also the source of great confusion in the minds of many who have studied them closely. Some students conceived of Jesus as entirely human, while others have thought of him as only divine. Throughout his entire experience, he was truly both human and divine.

At the time of the writing of the New Testament, all of its authors profoundly believed in the divinity of the risen Christ and also devotedly and sincerely believed in his immediate return to earth to establish a heavenly kingdom. This strong faith in his immediate return had much to do with the tendency to omit from the record those references which portrayed the purely human experiences and attributes of the Master. The whole Christian movement shifted from the human picture of Jesus of Nazareth toward the exaltation of the risen Christ, the glorified and soon-returning Lord Jesus Christ. Some in every generation since have proclaimed his second coming during their lifetime or at some future date, most of which are now long past.

The teachers of the religion of Jesus should approach other religions with the recognition of the truths that are held in common (many of which come directly or indirectly from Jesus’ message) while they refrain from placing so much emphasis on the differences. If a true brotherhood is to appear on the earth, then each individual must become familiar with the thoughts and beliefs of other individuals. Each nation must come to know the thoughts and beliefs of all nations.

To further remedy early followers' mistakes, it's crucial to understand that Jesus' message was not meant to be exclusive or divisive. His teachings emphasized universal love, spiritual growth, and the inherent worth of all individuals. Modern followers should strive to embody these principles by actively seeking to understand and appreciate diverse spiritual paths. This approach aligns with Jesus' inclusive nature and helps correct the isolationist tendencies of some early Christian communities.

It is also important to recognize that Jesus' message was one of personal transformation and social reform. Early followers sometimes lost sight of this dual focus, emphasizing personal salvation at the expense of societal improvement. Today's teachers should emphasize both aspects, encouraging spiritual growth alongside active engagement in creating a more just and compassionate world.

When all is said and done, do not become discouraged. Human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail.