Yesterday at church we heard an excellent message. The guy who was speaking talked about how scripture has been used, and is still being used, to justify horrible acts. Everything from slavery to the subjugation of women and so called holy wars were touched on.
He also discussed how Christians marginalize members of society. How we spew hate instead of sharing the message of Jesus with love. These are all topics that are near and dear to my heart. I have written many a blog post regarding these matters. Sadly, things seem to be getting worse all the time.
Near the end of the message, he spoke about how Christianity has become the state religion (ironic in an Anglican church I know) in many countries. Christianity, he said has lost it’s subversiveness. I totally agree.
We’ve polished the passion of Christ to a shimmering gleam. There is nothing ugly about it anymore. We have all these books, music, and other kitsch that have desensitized us to just how world changing the message of Jesus was meant to be.
When Christians piss people off it isn’t for the right reasons. People get pissed off when Christian leaders stupidly blame environmental disasters on it’s victims and when we act in ways that even non-Christians know are not representative of Jesus Christ. People should get mad at Christians when we throw open our church doors to those who some think shouldn’t be allowed in.
Church attendance declines every year. We devise useless methods of bringing people in that don’t work. What would work is living in a way that is so counter-culture that people become curious about what we are doing. Hate though, is not counter-culture, love is.
Yes, Christianity needs to become more subversive, but for that to happen Christendom must die.
technorati tags:Christianity, Anglican+Church
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