Following Jesus in rejecting empire
Shepherds, tax collectors, and prostitutes manage to find and follow Jesus. But quite often, those who are obsessed with orthodoxy end up missing signs of the Messiah. It should, therefore, be no surprise to us when Jesus highlights the theologically-incorrect as a contrast to those who possess right theology but wrong attitudes and behaviors.
American Evangelicalism today often bears the marks of Empire. We are seduced by presidential candidates and emulate the commercial corporation. Many of our large churches and ministries have adopted the methodologies of commercial enterprises, accumulating massive properties and wealth. But another reformation is on the way, and I welcome this prophetic indictment of the colonized Church.
Traditional sexual ethics, evangelical organizations, and the path of love.
I believe the word “mission” has outlived its usefulness. You see variations of the word all over Christendom – missional, missions, missio Dei, missionary, missiology. It’s used mainly to describe the work of bringing news about Jesus and the kingdom of God to others. But the word grew out of the exploitative quest to acquire…
The world is in a desperate search for somebody to hate. Acts of terror and violence abound all over the planet and it will not do to simply hate the perpetrators of those acts. We must locate our hatred in an entire community of people. There must be a “them” of which we are not…