Travis Reed with Work of the People (love his work) interviewed Greg Boyd recently and Greg shared his heart for what “the Kingdom” is all about:
Category: faith
Violence and Peacemakers
Reading Brian Zahnd’s book, Beauty Will Save the World, last night and was really drawn to his point that when God told Noah his plan to destroy the earth – his charge against humanity was that they were the cause of an earth filled with violence.
“I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” (Gen. 6:13)
A few things not mentioned — adultery, lying, theft and perversion. That doesn’t mean they weren’t happening but what we have recorded in Genesis as the charge against humanity is violence. And yet that seems to be one area we have just come to accept “as the way things are.”
Zahnd makes the point that so often we (even followers of Jesus) will plan to see a PG-13 or R-rated movie and make comments like “Well it’s only rated R because of violence” as if it’s really no big deal.
Zahnd writes:
human civilization is founded around an axis of power established by murder and enforced by violence. The dark specter behind the history of human civilization is that it is almost always founded on acts of violence. We hide this dark specter behind façades of glory and patriotism, but the specter remains and from time to time the ghost comes out to haunt us…
We overlook violence because it is the very foundation of the city Cain built east of Eden. We fear that to take a stand against violence would undermine the very foundation of our civilization. This is our fear, so we cling to our violence.
These thoughts makes Matthew 5:9 come alive for even more reasons.
“Blessed are the peacemakers – for they will be called children of God.”
What do you think? Have we come to accept violence as “the way things are” and as something that can’t be changed? Or can a people truly rise up and say they will reject the norms and history of violence and find a new way of living as children of God?
The beauty of the cross
The ancient Greek philosophers, and later the early church fathers, spoke of three prime virtues: truth, goodness, and beauty…
Early Christian theologians located the source of these prime virtues as proceeding from God himself—truth, goodness, and beauty are virtues because God is true, good, and beautiful. Thus this trinity of virtues becomes a guide to Christian living as we seek to believe what is true, be what is good, and behold what is beautiful…
But it is this third virtue, the virtue of beauty, that has been most marginalized in the way we understand and evaluate Christianity. As a result, Christianity has suffered a loss of beauty—a loss that needs to be recovered. With an emphasis on truth, we have tried to make Christianity persuasive (as we should). But we also need a corresponding emphasis on beauty to make Christianity attractive…
That the Roman cross, an instrument of physical torture and psychological terror, could ever become an object of beauty representing faith, hope, and love is an amazing miracle of transformation. Every cross adorning a church is in itself a sermon—a sermon proclaiming that if Christ can transform the Roman instrument of execution into a thing of beauty, there is hope that in Christ all things can be made beautiful! This is precisely the claim that the Christian faith makes concerning what Jesus accomplished in his death—and it is an astounding claim!
– Brian Zahnd
Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity
Colbert takes on Fight Church
Stephen Colbert, host of the Colbert Report and soon to be host of the Late Show on CBS, took on the new documentary Fight Church last night.
I haven’t seen the documentary yet but it focuses on a church that uses Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to attract people to the church.
I’ll admit that as someone who was actively a part of the Christian Wrestling Federation (as a ring announcer – not wrestler) for several years I’m still a bit torn by this idea of a MMA church.
I understand where they’re coming from – but as I’ve evolved in my own understanding of Scripture and my faith, I have a hard time justifying anyone, Christian or not, attacking someone else.
The whole idea really seems to be a natural evolution of a church trying to be relevant to the culture with groups like the Power Team that we grew up with in the 80s and 90s – strong men coming in and ripping phone books and baseball bats in half in the name of Jesus.
In fact, we did a CWF show once with a former member of the Power Team who made the point that we were doing the same thing they had done from years – only we were “beating up people instead of phone books and cinder blocks.”
But in my mind, people are far more interested in someone authentically caring about them than someone who’s able to put on a good show to attract them. Gimmicks will draw anyone in for a one-night stand – but authenticity and love will change someone’s life.
I still revert back to what Roman Emperor Julian said about 4th century Christians:
These impious Galileans not only feed their own poor, but ours also; welcoming them into their agape, they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes… Whilst the pagan priests neglect the poor, the hated Galileans devote themselves to works of charity and by a display of false compassion have established and given effect to their pernicious errors. See their love-feasts and their tables spread for the indigent. Such practice is common among them and causes a contempt for our gods.
What do you think?
Opiate of the masses
I’ve been thinking about the idea that religion is the opiate of the masses. I’m starting to wonder more if our opiates simply become our religion
Our first allegiance
Really enjoying Beauty Will Save the World by Brian Zahnd.
Published via Pressgram
A few recent highlights:
our first allegiance must be to the kingdom of Christ. Furthermore, we must never make the mistake of thinking God has some kind of commitment to the well-being of our particular nation over the well-being of other nations. This type of ugly and arrogant nationalism is completely incompatible with the Christian faith, which confesses Jesus as Savior of the world and not merely some version of a national deity.
What Jesus is committed to is the salvation of the world and the building up of his global church. So whereas Christians are free to participate in the civic and political process of their respective nations, Christians must do so as those who exhibit a primary allegiance to the Jesus way—the beautiful way of the cruciform. This means treating everyone (including political enemies) with kindness, love, and respect.
With an eye on the cruciform, we can ask ourselves, “Does this attitude, this approach, this action look like Jesus on the cross?†If our attitude, approach, and action cannot be reasonably compared to the image of the cruciform, we need to abandon it. Caesar may adopt it, it may be practical, it may even be “successful,†but if it’s not Christlike, then it’s not our pattern.