The more I think about Jesus and his revolution, the more I'm convinced I wouldn't like him. At the very least I wouldn't want him to attend too many elder meetings. He must have been very uncomfortable to be around at times. I mean, the kinds of things he was asking people to give up (money, possessions, friends, family, life itself) were drastic.Who does that?
Which of us would be willing to "sell all we have" in order to be part of the revolution? Which of us would leave our families behind to follow Jesus as he taught us how to suffer and die for the betterment of people around us. Who would EVER sign up for that kind of sacrifice, that kind of self denial? It's hard for me to go without ice cream or sex for too long...let alone giving up EVERYTHING to follow my revolutionary leader.
Anyone having second thoughts?
I am.
I mean, come on, sex is fun! Ice cream is good! Maybe Jesus' teaching about self sacrifice was hyperbole. Maybe it was a metaphor. In fact, I am sure that it was.
I am now certain that when Jesus called his followers to practice self-sacrifice as a lifestyle, what he really meant was we should build enormous church buildings, and borrow millions of dollars so that these structures can have air conditioning and hi-def television screens. Yes! And a big projector screen up front so we can have Nooma videos on endless loop. We should also have big fluffy chairs so that our asses don't get sore as we sip our cappuccino and watch our worship bands rock out to another Jesus tune. Righteous!
Yes I'm convinced, Jesus was all about the comfy.
Now, don't you feel better? I sure do. I am going to go sip a latte and thank God I am not starving to death in Darfur.
8 comments:
Scott,
This kind of talk will certainly get you in trouble. Oh… It did Jesus too. You are in good company. We truly do need to talk. You are refreshingly honest and you make this pastor feel less lonely. Thanks for your posts!
His,
Kork
Ps. Can I quote you Sunday?
Quote me? Sure, wow that's weird. I have never been asked that before. If the quote goes over well, you can give me credit, if it goes over poorly, you can attribute it to Mark Norris.
So what I wonder sometimes is if you're convinced Jesus truly demanded such self-sacrifice, of ice cream and sex for example, and yet you clearly aren't giving up those things any time soon, how can you live with the paradox? Why bother with Christianity at all then, if it only results in an impossible paradox? It seems like we always, then, end up mitigating the "harsh" call of Jesus with a "balanced" perspective, which allows a certain level of pleasure, but which then ends up alienating the Jesus of the Gospels as a radical. I know in some ways you're just "asking the questions", but what do you do when the answers really seem extreme and unavoidable?
I don't know. I guess I could appeal to the authority of the community, which has traditionally allowed for some sort of "balanced perspective."
I think I usually just ignore the paradox. I mean, I like the comfortable life I have...not wealthy, but comfortable. So I prefer not to think about it.
And then we were in church yesterday, and Elisha read that passage from Luke 12 where Jesus tells his followers not to worry about their material needs, sell their possessions and give to the poor. I am not sure how to handle that kind of thing.
I think the radical nature of Jesus is one part of Christianity, another significant part is that God is gracious and merciful to us. The paradox is real, the internal struggle is real, the contradiction between the "ideal" of Jesus and the "reality" of Scott is real. When faced with these difficult realities, my shortcomings will be obvious (especially when compared to the ideal of Jesus and his message) but this is the place where my weakness and inability should motivate me to call out for God's mercy.
Hey bro
How timely...
Just this week I attended a membership meeting at my church. The topic was changing the churh constitution so we could get a large commercial loan in order to finish our even larger building project. The whole idea of the building is to creat a more comfortable space so visitors feel welcome. When we do get visitors, we give them a starbucks card for comming. hmmm...
Unfortunatley I had to leave the meeting early because my but hurt from the hard chairs and I needed a latte.
APB
Sip the latte, sip it!
Scott, you show profound capacity to highlight the absurd qualities of the Christian faith. As an atheist, I commend you. As a freethinker, I thank you. I don't think this line of questioning should be dismissed as "radical", but rather embraced by theists as reasonable and even necessary. When Christians refuse to see the contradictions built into their religion, this emboldens them to forge their world view as the only legitimate alternative, and the rest of us feel that weight. When forced to confront these absurdities, Christians should feel humility and understand that there are ways to live a good life that may not embrace their Christian values, and that encourages cooperation.
Thanks for your kind words, SB. How are things over at aC&anA? I have been following the threads, but not participating much...life has been busy.
Be in touch.
Post a Comment