ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
January 2, 2022
At the end of Psalm 147, there is a statement of exclusionary blessing. After a long list of things the Lord had done for Israel, the author wrote: “God hasn’t done that with any other nation…” There are a number of scriptures communicating elitism or privilege for one group of people, but those passages don’t appear to fit another significant part of scripture. We must remember how God created everything and it was all good; how God blessed Abraham and Sarah for the purpose of blessing all nations; how the message of Jesus was about dismantling all barriers and fences that seek to separate people. God did call forth specific individuals and groups, but it was always for the purpose of giving themselves a way for God’s greater purpose. A professor of mine would often talk about his ability to argue two radically different ideas from scripture, and to do so using scripture. We would ask, “How do you know which one is right?” He would not give us an answer, but ask us which one sounded like it was outside life as usual. If it sounds like religious people doing what every other group of people has done, but doing it with lots of religious language, then it might not be of God. If it sounds a bit absurd, risky and ultimately reveals a love that stretches the bounds of human imagination, then it just might be of God. While traveling in recent days, I have listened to a number of podcasts and read a book that unveiled some really misguided forms of Christianity. Yet they were brilliantly disguised with lots of religious language and heady theological talk. But when you scrape away the rather thin layer of so-called pious rhetoric, it is nothing more than the same old hateful and misogynistic egoism found in most every corner of human existence. I am quick to confess that I am a Jesus follower in the making, and there is a great deal of room for improvement. I own that, while also calling out those parts of the Christian movement undermining the Jesus message from the inside.
Bring me back to Jesus over and over again, O God. Let me focus on his life, his witness and his self-giving. May it become for me the lens through which I measure what is good, right and just. Amen.
TODAY
ONE SERVICE SUNDAY
10:25am in the Forum
-or-
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https://www.cypresscreek.cc/live-stream.html
