Jesus Said a Lot of Weird Stuff. What If He Actually Meant it?
Our friend Shane Claiborne has a way with words (and deeds). In this article from a few years ago (sent to us by a reader: thanks Jason!) he asks the question, What if Jesus meant all that stuff? How would the rest of the world see us if we actually did what Jesus did?
From the article:
In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay “out there” but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, “Nothing good could come.” It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society’s rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.
It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors… a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.
Image by The Simple Way
Category: General
Tags: Evangelism, Kingdom Living
Related Reading
World Wants
Trey Ratcliff via Compfight Here’s a reflection by D.L. Mayfield from A Deeper Church on how busyness and distraction keeps us from the things that really matter, the things we’re made for. What is God calling you to pour yourself into and what is getting in the way? From the blog: It’s true: world wants…
In the Wilderness of Religion
Eric Bryan via Compfight There are an awful lot of us in the Church today who are no longer feeling at home in Evangelicalism. Regardless of how you feel about World Vision’s hiring policy decisions, the spectacle of thousands of people discontinuing their child sponsorships (relationships with flesh and blood children in need) because of…
Is America God’s Favored Nation?
Bart via Compfight Is money a sign of God’s blessing? If so then the more you have the more blessed of God you are. If a church has more money, then more of God’s favor is on it. If a country is wealthy, then we can claim God’s favored status. But is this the way…
Did Jesus Instruct Us to Arm Ourselves?
Over the past few posts, I’ve been dealing with the passages that are frequently used to argue how Jesus condoned violence. One of these takes place just after the last supper and just before Jesus and his disciples were going to travel to the Mount of Olives to pray. To prepare his disciples, Jesus tells them;…
Featured Sermon Series: Scandalous Love
The Scandalous Love series is often considered one of Greg’s and Woodland Hill’s most foundational series. In fact, it was so important that it subsequently led to the Can’t Stop the Love series. Defining the true character of God is at the heart of what ReKnew is all about, so we wanted to host…
Commissioned
Here’s something to inspire you on this Sunday morning. Image by Megan Allen. Sourced via Flickr.