Esquire - "What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?" - "The biggest obstacle to God has been Christians."

[TomCADem]

As we approach Christmas, I wanted to share this very interesting article in Esquire that talks about a Christianity that I remembered, but have not seen recently, as folks prayed to Jesus for the premature end to the President, condemned gays, or tried to bully Catholic politicians into pushing causes championed by a Catholic Bishop. What happened to the Jesus of Scripture of preached to the prostitutes, the criminals, and the non-believers without pre-judgment? Instead, we have Bishop Thomas Tobin telling Catholics to push his public policy initiatives or be kicked out of the church.

http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2009/shane-claiborne-1209

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, "I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ." A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here is a bit of an image crisis, and much of that reputation is well deserved. That's the ugly stuff. And that's why I begin by saying that I'm sorry.

* * *
Don't get me wrong, I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is life after death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us. I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God's Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." On earth.

One of Jesus' most scandalous stories is the story of the Good Samaritan. As sentimental as we may have made it, the original story was about a man who gets beat up and left on the side of the road. A priest passes by. A Levite, the quintessential religious guy, also passes by on the other side (perhaps late for a meeting at church). And then comes the Samaritan... you can almost imagine a snicker in the Jewish crowd. Jews did not talk to Samaritans, or even walk through Samaria. But the Samaritan stops and takes care of the guy in the ditch and is lifted up as the hero of the story. I'm sure some of the listeners were ticked. According to the religious elite, Samaritans did not keep the right rules, and they did not have sound doctrine... but Jesus shows that true faith has to work itself out in a way that is Good News to the most bruised and broken person lying in the ditch.

It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a Samaritan or a prostitute. In fact the Scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute named Rahab, an adulterous king named David... at one point God even speaks to a guy named Balaam through his donkey. Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since. So if God should choose to use us, then we should be grateful but not think too highly of ourselves. And if upon meeting someone we think God could never use, we should think again.

After all, Jesus says to the religious elite who looked down on everybody else: "The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom ahead of you." And we wonder what got him killed?

[Fumesucker]

1. K&R

[NYC_SKP]

2. Great article. "...a ticket to ignore the hells around us."

That's about right.

:kick:

[RevCheesehead]

3. The problem with preaching what Jesus really said....

is that eventually, the preacher is crucified along with Christ.
I speak from experience, as a pastor who is taking extended leave to sort it all out.

The institution wants pastors to "get along" with the established "norm." If you buck it, challenge it, or even question it, you're labeled a troublemaker, and soon you're lucky if they keep you around at all.

I honestly believe the church (small 'c') is broken, but the Jesus movement is needed now, more than ever.

Thanks for this article.

[FatDave]

11. I've seen this happen.

And I don't go into a church unless somebody's getting married or somebody's getting buried.

My dad and step-mom though are uber-Christians of the modern variety. Their pastor retired, and they didn't like the new guy. I don't know what they didn't like about him, and they'd never tell me anything concrete. I imagine they thought he was liberal or maybe they thought he was gay. They immediately started meeting secretly with other members of the congregation to bitch about how much they hated the new pastor, and they got enough people together that they appealed to whoever the higher-ups in the church were (I have no idea how the organizational structure of evangelical churches works) and got the guy shitcanned.

Christian tolerance at its finest.

[peekaloo]

12. Blessed are the Cheesemakers.

Peace and best wishes to you.

[clear eye]

13. Perhaps you would be more comfortable finding employment w/

one of the following organizations (depending on what religion you come from): Sojourners, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, the American Friends Service Committee, or the Witherspoon Society.

There are also numerous social service organiztions and charities that have a religious basis and are loosely affiliated w/ a religion. Perhaps it's time to put out a few feelers before you burn your bridges.

I'm thinking that as difficult as losing the religious authority of shepherding a church must be, feeling like you are in service of an organization that directly opposes your deepest beliefs must be harder.

[Ignis]

21. Seconded.

I only have experience with the Friends, but they do good work and throw great parties. :D

[Romulox]

23. None of the four Gospels was written by contemporaries of Jesus...

That's another impediment... :shrug:

[timtom]

25. See post 19 below.

[roguevalley]

30. agreed. Spong is someone I read to get my head clear. I am

so disgusted with Pauline Christianity. The Messianic Jesus movement is my inspiration. Not this glop they sell on tv. Billy Graham is an anti-semitic glory hound who raised two of the worst kids in the world.

[stray cat]

4. How many of any of us measure up to those ideals?

He who is without sin can cast the first stone and they dropped their stones and walked away from the eldest to the youngest.

[TomCADem]

22. The Good Samaritan Parable Is Almost Cliche That It Has Lost Meaning...

But the article does a nice job of putting the story into perspective. Yet, you see religious leaders now wielding religion as a cudgel to expand their authority and enforce their will in the name of Jesus. Worse, you have Christian leaders invoking Christianity as a basis for preaching intolerance, and advocating harm upon others.

It is nice to be reminded of the more simple and basic expressions of Christianity, rather than corporate sponsored version we see today that endorses greed and accumulation of material wealth while judging and condemning those outside of their faith.

[DonCoquixote]

5. If Jesus, Moses or Muhammad

Were to show up in Jerusalem today, one of two thing would happen.

1) they would be martyred
2) The streets of Jerusalem would run Crimson with the blood of the Rabbis, Priests and Imams that used religion to serve the devil.

[LWolf]

6. The whole article is well worth reading.

These are the elements that touched me, during my youthful journey as a christian:

1. humility
2. the life that christ modeled
3. unconditional love

The failure of the christian church to embody those things is what drove me away. I'm happy to acknowledge Jesus as a worthy leader, bringing universal truths to his time and his people. I am ashamed of what people do in his name.

<snip>

In closing, to those who have closed the door on religion — I was recently asked by a non-Christian friend if I thought he was going to hell. I said, "I hope not. It will be hard to enjoy heaven without you." If those of us who believe in God do not believe God's grace is big enough to save the whole world... well, we should at least pray that it is.

[SpiralHawk]

7. It's not just an 'image' crisis.

It's a reality crisis.

So many of those claiming to be 'christians' are clearly Latter Day Pharisees.

They need to get to work on the beams in their own eyes.

[tomp]

8. what exactly has changed in the 2 millennia ...

...of the Christian era? Humans still treat other humans abysmally. Christ's message has not been received at critical mass despite the popularity of the Christian churches. Greed and power still rule.

[Beer Snob-50]

17. what has changed in teh last 2k years is that humans have been in charge of it

and humans are basically pretty stupid when it comes to this jesus thing. we base everything on what promotes our way of thinking and because of the differing views in the bible, we can justify our belief.

[Beer Snob-50]

18. duplicate

[pleah]

9. "And we wonder what got him killed?"

That's assuming that you believe he ever existed. That being said, I like the golden rule, I just don't like organized religion as a whole. They have cause more hate, death and destruction than they have done good. And history proves it.

[HughMoran]

10. Said much more eloquently than I could say it

Agree with the sentiments 100%

[Johonny]

14. I'm guessing Jesus was wrong

Since his main message was the world was going to end 2K years ago and those that followed him would enter into Gods heaven on Earth, I'm guessing he was wrong. Modern Christianity is of course a coalescence of several different faiths that existed about Jesus not founded by Jesus. It's thus not surprising so many opposing views can be justified by the same reading of Christian work.

In other words Jesus couldn't of meant all that stuff because some of the stuff totally contradicts other of the stuff in the bible.

[AlecBGreen]

15. i must have missed that part

:headscratch:

[Karenina]

20. You're looking for this one:

:freak:

[arcadian]

16. The right-wing has created warlike, greedy Jesus that's fits their world view.

Then have the gall to say that everybody else is going to Hell for not worshipping their anti-Christ.

[timtom]

19. There is an active movement within Christianity

to disassociate from the Right Wing approach, and to keep politics in the right place -- that is, outside the faith. For those who dare, irrespective of theological persuasion, get hold of a copy of "Jesus for President" and see an alternative view of Christianity. Lacking that, just google the book and see what's what.

Also, one might check out Gregory Boyd's "The Myth of a Christian Nation," although non-Christians would likely also find the tone of the book a bit too devout (I borrowed this phrase from a review on Amazon). Here's another part of that review, "Non-Christians may find it interesting to learn that no all evangelicals stand shoulder to shoulder with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and Tom DeLay..."

Recommended for critical thinkers only.

[Missy Vixen]

26. I really enjoy the writings of Bishop John Shelby Spong

I started with "Why Christianity Must Change or Die," then read "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism". At this point, I pray and hope someone's listening, but Bishop Spong's work encourages me.

[timtom]

27. Thanks for the tip.

I will check it out.

[Gabi Hayes]

24. can I put this here?

[HopeOverFear]

28. thanks for this.

[distantearlywarning]

29. This made me cry.

And this is exactly why I wear the cross, even though there isn't a church in this nation whose doors I would darken at this point in time.