The above sayings of Joshua directly address the three important concepts listed at the beginning of this article - self-pride, fear and selfishness. These three aspects of our human nature, Joshua addressed regularly in his teachings. For example, he addressed the concept of "fear" over thirty times in the four gospels. He addressed them so regularly because he knew how much they impacted how we live our lives out. In fact, if you think about all other "sins", I believe you will find that one of these three aspects of our nature is behind them.
Let us take a look at some examples of our limitations in order to understand the role that self-pride and fear and selfishness play in our lives.
Examples from the physical realm: Asking a physically blind person to look at a sunset and appreciate its beauty is irrational - they don’t have the capacity to do that. Asking a crippled person who cannot walk to please walk to the store and get some milk, is irrational - they don’t have the capacity to do that.
An example from the metaphysical intellectual realm: To ask a five year old child to read and understand Einstein’s advanced works on the theory of relatively, is irrational - they don’t have the capacity to do that.
An example from the metaphysical moral realm: Asking a person - who is bound up in bitterness towards another person who they believe has wronged them and is the source of their bitterness – to immediately forgive the offender, is irrational - they don’t have the capacity to do that.
Another example from the metaphysical spiritual realm: Asking a person to seriously and sincerely listen to Joshua/Jesus of Nazareth when they have not placed their faith in him, is irrational – they don’t have the capacity to do that. Oh, they can play a game in the intellectual realm and learn many things about Joshua in their mind, but they will not listen to him, nor believe him nor do what he says because they don’t have the capacity - faith. Unlike the physical limitation examples above, in this case, the capacity can be chosen or rejected by our free will…we have a choice.
We, as human beings, have limitations. More importantly, we have aspects to our nature that ‘cripple’ us or ‘blind’ us or make us far less than what we were intended to be. The three aspects to our normal human nature that bind us and blind us and seek to control us are self-pride, fear and selfishness. I challenge the reader to look at the conflict and human-caused wrongness in the world – including the conflict and wrongness that is occurring in your life with those you interact with or have relationships with – and find the root cause of the conflict or wrongness. If you do this well, you will arrive - in the vast majority of the cases - at self-pride, and fear and selfishness as the root causes of the wrongness or conflict or hurt.
If we cannot find a way to overcome those three things, we will be part of humanity’s problem rather than part of the solution no matter how much our self-pride will spur us to object to the contrary. Said another way, if we are guided by self-pride or fear or selfishness, we simply are not good people as Joshua defines a good person. Ironically and sadly, self-pride will usually prevent us from admitting this simple truth!
What is self-pride? It is believing at the person level, that I am more valuable, more important, more ‘enlightened’, more worthy or better than other people. Or, that I am a person who has most important things about life figured out better than most people, which results in an unwillingness to learn or consider new beliefs. Or that I deserve more good things than other people. Or that I am more worthy to get this thing – material thing, power, authority, etc. – than others. Here are some examples of how people - who are making decisions or treating others based upon self-pride - think or express themselves.
Of course, there are clever ways to soften or sugar coat the above utterances, but that cleverness or political correctness does not change the fact, no matter how ‘humbly’ those things might be stated.
What is fear? It is a perception that something I value is at risk of being lost, damaged or destroyed. Here are some examples of how people who are making decisions based upon fear think or express themselves.
What is selfishness? It is believing that my wants are more important than others…or stated another way, I am not going to take actions that cause me to lose something I consider valuable…my decisions are going to be based on what I gain or get out of it. Here are some examples of how people who are making decisions or treating others based upon selfishness think or express themselves.
These examples are merely a small sampling of statements and justifications that are thought and uttered billions – perhaps trillions - of times each day in various forms by the people of the earth. Perhaps you have made statements like these or have thought them?
Here are some examples of the Christian or biblians response to the disciple of Joshua repeating Joshua’s truths that the Christian does not agree with…
Example 1:
This is an example of the logical fallacy of appeal to authority. It is a pride based objection not based on reason. The proper reaction to hearing something different would be, “Oh, that is a real and interesting difference…I need to check that out”.
Example 2:
This is an example of the logical fallacy of appeal to expert opinion. It is a pride based objection not based on reason. The proper reaction would be to take one of the “truths” the disciple is stating, and provide reasons why it is wrong.
Example 3:
This is an example of the logical fallacy of argument from incredulity. It is a pride based objection not based on reason. The proper reaction would be to consider what Joshua of Nazareth said, find the quote to validate it is accurate and in context, and research the claim to see if it is true.
Self-pride and fear and selfishness oftentimes work together to keep us blind, in darkness and unable to advance on becoming a better human being. For example, if I am afraid to go on a boat due to my fear of drowning, I might say to the person who is offering to take me on a boat, ‘well, I really don’t care for that type of boat’. Self-pride prevents me from admitting my fear, and causes me to provide an excuse rather than admit the simple truth that I am afraid of drowning. The person might have a good reason to take me on the boat – perhaps to transfer me to an island where I could help people – but my fear causes my pride to provide an excuse for my selfishness!
Self-pride and fear and selfishness are ‘enemies’ of two very important aspects to human life – love and reason. All three work against our ability to love other people. And all three work against reason to determine what is true and right. And without practicing love, knowing truth and acting rightly, we are truly falling short of being what we were intended to be as human beings…we are failing at life itself!
The simple truth is that people who live according to their natural nature of self-pride or fear or selfishness are the reason and cause for most of the suffering, coldness, injustice, pain, neglect, discord, conflict, abuse and violence – in short, loveless-ness - that occurs in the world each day. I challenge the reader to think this through and consider the possibility that you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution…and then ask, ‘how can I overcome and be free of my nature of self-pride and fear and selfishness and the hurt that causes other people?’
Can you really experience this world and watch the news and say, “Oh, people are doing well”? Is your standard so low (or in reality you have no standard to judge such things), or are you in such a self-made bubble of self-pride and/or fear and/or selfishness that you refuse to see things how they really are? Perhaps your standard to judge how YOUR life is going is, “If I am comfortable, well fed and entertained, all is well in the world”. That kind of thinking is the epitome of a selfish life…a life with no consideration for others…a life lived in the darkness of self-pride and fear and selfishness…a life without any or very little true love…a ‘life’ that will lead to self-condemnation and destruction…a ‘life’ that forfeits Life everlasting.
Is that the kind of life you want to live? Do you really want to miss the most important aspect to human life? Are you really sure there is no one who will hold us accountable for how we live the life we are given? Are you certain that by ignoring and denying the Standard we were given you will be excused from being accountable? Do you really want to reject reason and thus deny the simple truths in this section? I urge you not to do that and instead have a truly open mind, meaning you are not afraid to consider new things…meaning that you are not afraid to look at the Light…
Please, enter into his Life and come, join the Peaceful Revolution!