see-through faith

We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into ‘nice people’.’

But radical Christianity wasn’t nice; it was category-smashing, life-threatening, anti-institutional; it spread like wildfire throught he 1^st century and was considered by those in power to be dangerous.

‘I want to be filled with an astonishment which is so captivating tht I am considred wild and unpredictable and … well …dangerous’. I want to be dangerous to a dull and boring religion. I want a faith that is considered dangerous by our predictable and monotonous culture. Dullness is a cultural issue.’ Robert Farrar Capon

H/T to my friend who sent me over to Ali’s blog Reclaiming the Good News for the Emerging Culture.

One of the things I’ve really been being convicted about this year is whether my life, – my lifestyle, my choices, my patterns of behaviour, the way I treat people, the way I view them – is actually open to being changed by my relationship with Jesus.

I’ve been re-reading Shane Claibourne’s book:

and while it’s a great read – it isn’t an easy read at least this time round. I’m left pondering ‘What am I playing at?’  Am I content to play church? Am I content to settle for being ‘nice’. I am so scared that sometimes my answer might well be a miserable yes

One of the tragedies of the early Methodist movement – I feel – is that one of the results was that as the people were saved, they were able to be pulled out of their dire circumstance and gradually became ‘nice and respectible’  -they moved up in society if you like – and the dire consequence of this was that they lost their roots with the real communities from which they came. In latter day Christendom we’re still there! Church is – all too often – full of middle class values and any contact we have with mission and charity is at best ‘outreach’ into another place or simply opening our wallets to appease our consciences. Isn’t it time to either move in with the poor – or have them move in with us?

I may not have a job right now, and our family finances are dire – but we do have a house (which we keep warm) and IMHO have all the mod cons we need (though the consumer society in which we live will say we don’t!) …  We have a freezer full of food and a well-stocked pantry. All of us have a bicycle (though we finally gave away the extra one to someone in need – hallelujah!) and even have a car with half a tank of fuel!  When I look around we have closets full of clothes that we never (or hardly ever) wear. Can I live like this when scripture says otherwise?

What’s worse is that less than a couple of miles from our home there are those who are really on the margins of society – the drug addicts and alcholics who cannot break their addictions and so end up living in a shack by the river in a sort of commune. If I am unwilling to be Jesus to them can I really call myself a follower of Jesus? I wonder.

Like Robert Capon ‘I want a faith that is considered dangerous by our predictable and monotonous culture. The question is am I ready to lay down my life for Jesus and follow Him? Or will I continue to play safe ..

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Inspire Engaging Mission, disciple of Jesus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.