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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Friday, April 25, 2014

The Gospel

the gospel is not primarily a set of facts but a way of seeing and a way of being in the world because of God.  Jesus speaks to the heart, saying (1) God is on your side; (2) God can be trusted; (3) the universe is safe and benevolent; (4) trust yourselves, one another and God; (5) there is no reason to be afraid; (6) it’s all heading toward something good! He does this primarily by touch, relationship, healing and parables.
                                                                                                   Richard Rohr
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a lot of people
talk gospel
they know verses
although often only a select and favored few

they know what they believe
which is generally created whole cloth
out of those few versus from the Bible they have chosen to focus on
overlaid with a thick frosting of cultural norms

their values are set by the culture of the world
with its focus on domination and power

Jesus came with plan for a new world
he sided with the oppressed
with the poor, but not just the poor
the destitute
the least of the least

Jesus assailed the establishment
that was what the Kingdom was all about
destroying the status quo, the culture of power and wealth

but then the church became the establishment
it became the power
it controlled the wealth
and the key teachings of Jesus on greed
non-violence
non-control
simply became ignored

very very ignored
and thus we have churches and pastors with immense wealth
taking wealth from the poor
we have churches giving away guns to bring people in the door
we have “Christians” insisting that the only way to have a “moral order”
is to legislate and impose that order through political power
we have “Christians” siding with wealth and power against poor and oppressed

and so Christian culture
has now become, extensively,  not the driving force for change
but the driving force for the status quo

it sides with the rich
looks down on the poor, and calls them lazy and moochers
it endorses the way of violence and guns
it stands for exclusion rather than inclusion

Jesus was killed because his way was a threat to the system
In America the church has become the system

but the gospel is still alive!
It is just not in the places
we normally look

and the Gospel can be shared

it’s just not, mostly likely going to happen through sermons
given in a room where the speaker has to be on a big screen to be seen

it is not going to happen through legislated morality

it is not going to happen through the gospel of success

or come from ministers in expensive clothes, who live in mansions
and fly in private jets (can you even imagine Jesus that way?)

it is not going to come through hateful aggression toward those who are different

or through shaming those who are down and out

it is going to be shared by touch
relationship
healing
and the telling of our stories
in the context of humility and love

talk is cheap
walking “the way”?
priceless!

2 comments:

  1. As always...... you put my feelings into the proper words. Thanks. Miss ya.

    ReplyDelete