“The Sermon on the Mount is the most important and most controversial biblical text”. The implications of this statement are simply staggering, as Bauman himself recognizes. The most important text is an enigma? That this could be so is deeply revelatory of the condition of the church in the modern world. We are scattered, wandering, and have no clear and comprehensive message for life because our most important text is an enigma. It does not function as the clear guide to life that its author intended.