ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 25, 2022
Is the message Jesus shared with the world specifically defined and rigid, or is it a message that is forever evolving and growing? Did Jesus want us to take his exact thoughts and impose them without question upon every future generation? Or are we to wrestle with the contextual meaning of those ideas as we seek to apply them in our current reality? These are tough questions for those who wish to take Jesus seriously, yet I believe that for the message of Jesus to truly be Good News, it must continue to evolve with relevance that retains and reflects the original revolutionary nature of Jesus. I think about what scripture says about women. There are many passages where women are left unnamed, they are trivialized and expected to be silent. There are many Christians who are quick to uplift such passages, excited to live in a system where men are in authority and women are to be subservient. Of course, there are other passages where women are depicted as key leaders, apostles and people who model faith for everyone. And then you look to Jesus, who lifted up women, celebrating them against the backdrop of a culture that minimized and disempowered them. Where would God be in this situation? Would God’s vision for humanity be nothing more than a slight reworking of the world as it is? Or, is God’s vision for humanity so immense that it stands as an absurd contradiction of the systems that continue to deflate and demoralize the wonderful gifts of all humanity, including women? I believe an evolving notion of God’s limitless and unconditional love makes many people nervous, and so they seek to domesticate God and tame the Gospel. In the long run, this won’t work. Instead, I want to give space for the Spirit of God to animate and cultivate the message of love for this moment of time.
Holy God, your love is the same – yesterday, today and forever. I am thankful for its unconditional and boundary-breaking power. May it continue to stretch us as it has already gone where we have yet to go. Amen.
