As an indigenous Messiah, Jesus was one who listened deeply to the song of Creation, to the living dialogue that is in the beginning, the heartbeat of the universe itself. In this sense, Jesus was the mythteller of the community he was forming around his own ministry of power, healing, and renewal.
You simply can’t fully follow Jesus if you aren’t willing to be political and stick out your own neck, challenging the hypocritical power structures and leaders on behalf of the oppressed.”
Ever since human beings began to relate their experience to one another, it has proven difficult to differentiate the facts of the story from the teller’s interpretation of …
Churchianity must die and it is dying. I know, that probably hurt a little to read. If it makes you feel better, it hurt to write it too. However, the sooner we accept that death is part of the cycle, we can shift into midwifing a new movement of the Jesus story.
Today, as I write this, I am feeling compassion for the white fragility out there. There’s a lot of grief connected to it. Yes, something is dying, friends. Because it must. White supremacy must die so we can all be transformed, so we can all be resurrected.
I have been a worship leader, liturgist, and musician in various church contexts for nearly 20 years, and I have ideas about how we, who are re-imagining faith and church, can proceed.
Last Spring, Greta Thunberg’s statement to the European Parliament included the phrase, “Everyone and everything needs to change.” It’s become a mantra for me: Everyone, Everything, Me, Changing.
Many of us who grew up in fundamental spaces were taught to live in dualities: black and white, in and out, saved and unsaved. In those spaces, there isn’t liminality. There aren’t many safe spaces to ask really hard questions, to show anger toward injustice, or even to grieve when we need to grieve. We are taught to brush it off, smile, move on, trust God, and believe.
Janet – thanks so much for this question. I’ve been pondering this question too … for decades!
Let’s start by saying the obvious: Christ isn’t Jesus’s last name. It’s a title, like doctor, reverend, president, or governor.
Christianity is inherently political. The faithful path taught and demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth was arguably just as much a political vision for the future of the Jewish people as much as it was a path to spiritual salvation.