Blast Off to Jesusland
I have a big problem with Christian culture.
This may, at first glance, seem odd since I identify as a Christian. But Christian practice (my Christian practice) and Christian culture are two very different things. I believe quite strongly that to follow the example of Jesus or to honor him as friend, brother, or savior is fundamentally about the love of God, self, and neighbor. (pardon the rhyme) Jesus was about the business of social justice, restoring dignity to those whom (religious) society had deemed unworthy. He healed on the holy days, broke the rules. He ate meals (arguably the most intimate time people spend together) with prostitutes and tax collectors, not out of pity but friendship. He did not separate himself, and later, friends of Jesus, like the apostle Paul, regarded this quality an important lesson: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female (Galatians 3:28 NRSV). These people who followed Jesus, who hung out with him, wrote it again and again...all are one...all are one. So here is the problem: many strands of modern day Christianity are all about separation. People get "saved" and blast off in their spaceships to Jesusland, where they go to a Christian dentist, read Christian novels, buy Christian t-shirts, live in Christian neighborhoods, and listen to Christian radio and sermons on tape. And most importantly, they hang out with other Christian people, far far away from the "lost", "sinners", "worldy", "secular", "unsaved"--except for the occasional mission trip to rescue them from hell. This shit is crazy, and by crazy I mean far far away from the example of Jesus. It occurs to me that perhaps being Christian, being holy, really means being secular and not seeing ourselves as separate from those who don't attend our churches or read our text. If there is one God then there is one source, and we all share it, own the Purpose Driven Life workbook or not. We are called to love, not Christian to Christian, but creation to creation. All are one. Amen.
This may, at first glance, seem odd since I identify as a Christian. But Christian practice (my Christian practice) and Christian culture are two very different things. I believe quite strongly that to follow the example of Jesus or to honor him as friend, brother, or savior is fundamentally about the love of God, self, and neighbor. (pardon the rhyme) Jesus was about the business of social justice, restoring dignity to those whom (religious) society had deemed unworthy. He healed on the holy days, broke the rules. He ate meals (arguably the most intimate time people spend together) with prostitutes and tax collectors, not out of pity but friendship. He did not separate himself, and later, friends of Jesus, like the apostle Paul, regarded this quality an important lesson: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female (Galatians 3:28 NRSV). These people who followed Jesus, who hung out with him, wrote it again and again...all are one...all are one. So here is the problem: many strands of modern day Christianity are all about separation. People get "saved" and blast off in their spaceships to Jesusland, where they go to a Christian dentist, read Christian novels, buy Christian t-shirts, live in Christian neighborhoods, and listen to Christian radio and sermons on tape. And most importantly, they hang out with other Christian people, far far away from the "lost", "sinners", "worldy", "secular", "unsaved"--except for the occasional mission trip to rescue them from hell. This shit is crazy, and by crazy I mean far far away from the example of Jesus. It occurs to me that perhaps being Christian, being holy, really means being secular and not seeing ourselves as separate from those who don't attend our churches or read our text. If there is one God then there is one source, and we all share it, own the Purpose Driven Life workbook or not. We are called to love, not Christian to Christian, but creation to creation. All are one. Amen.
posted by FindingMie @ 10:07 AM
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