Inside or outside

Yes, though we may loathe to admit it, there is a real insiders versus outsiders status in terms of Christianity. Not everyone, even very nice, or very smart people, or celebrities that we like, is a Christian, not even some very famous people who claim to be, or claim to have been, Christians.

No, just as Jesus had an inner circle, His disciples, apart from the outer circle of everyone else, ranging from those who hung on His words but were not prepared to follow, all the way to those who simply liked to be seen in His company, there are insiders and outsiders in Christianity.

The insiders know what the truth is when they read the Bible, know how to distinguish the authentic from the nonsensical in the tradition, and do not argue. The outsiders live by, in and for controversy, appearances and prestige. They gobble up or serve up ludicrous lies as food.

No, Jesus wasn't married to Mary Magdalene, but yes, He has a bride, as the Bible itself teaches. No, they never found His body, but yes, He has a body, and in that body He walks the earth from the day He disappeared in full view of His insiders. All myths and outsiders' gossip fall flat at His feet.

Papyrus fragments old or hot-off-the-presses new will never tell the insiders anything about the Lord that they don't already know. Bits of cloth or bone, or incised stones, even splinters of True Cross wood, cannot add to what insiders believe or who they know, but outsiders clamor for more.

Yes, everything we needed to know to start our following of the Lord was contained in His call, and following Him we never needed any proofs of this or that, nor had time to debate or even discuss the latest evidence pro or con. Inside or outside, where we stand, is shown by our walk, not our talk.