“One of the greatest problems of the Western church, ever since the Reformation at least, is that it hasn’t really known what the gospels were there for. Imagining that the point of Christianity was to enable people to go to heaven, most Western Christians supposed that the mechanism by which this happened was the one they found in the writings of Paul . . . and that the four gospels were simply there to give backup information about Jesus, his teaching, his moral example, and his atoning death. This long tradition screened out the possibility that when Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom, he was talking not about a heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about something that was happening in and on this earth, through his work, then through his death and resurrection, and then through the Spirit-led work to which they would be called.” - N. T. Wright
stole this quote off of mike cope's blog, but it seems to go well as i begin to plow through "the politics of jesus" again, by john howard yoder. i actually believe there is a "hidden message" that the modern church has a hard time seeing. i have been listening to some reformers (staunch defenders of the truth) here of late, and they seem to think it is silly that anyone could read the scriptures and get new insights. they even went so far to say this was an arrogant assertion. how dare we read the bible for a "fresh" word from god? this is astonishing to me! what i hear them say is, "we got it all figured out years ago - all you have to do is believe it."
well i would disagree and stand with yoder. there is a social/politic element of christ and his ministry that goes largely unnoticed in our modern churches.
"whoever claims to live in him, must walk as jesus did."
this verse continues to mean so much to me. how did jesus walk? did he just hang around for 33 years, so he could die? what was he doing? was he just teaching us how to be a good moral person? how do we begin to form a social ethic from the life of christ? i have a sneaking suspicion it might take a lifetime of walking with jesus to unpack these questions.
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overheard conversation between an emerging thinker and a meteorologist:
emerging thinker: dude, look up. there are clouds in the sky."
meteorologist: yeah, i've seen those before. known about them for years.
emerging thinker: yeah, right. so typical of you scientific types. you think you know everything. you need "new eyes."
heard about this conversation:
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
(John 5:39-40 MSG)
interesting conversation you heard, expert in the law!
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