the eighth letter….

i rarely read what’s on Xanga’s “revelife” blogs. i see the posts all the time… the rants and raves. the questions. i just don’t have the time or the mental energy to read them because i don’ t have to.

but for some reason this one’s title stood out to me and i dove in. my disclaimer: i don’t know anything about the author. i don’t even know his name. but his “eighth letter to the American church” seems about right on target as far as my own experience. this particular paragraph really stood out to me. SO. TRUE. the context is a challenge to the American church about being radical vs. being angry:

…The most radical thing in the world is a Messiah that healed people, and then told them to keep their mouths shut, a Messiah who washed his disciples’ feet in the privacy of a room where there was no photo op, a Messiah who loved all the politically incorrect people.  The only thing that is truly and permanently ”relevant” is love.  Without love, you’re old news…

its left me pondering (at 2:22am while dealing with pregnancy insomnia) what God WOULD have to say to the American church at large. i don’t think it would be pretty. i don’t think it would be politically correct. and i am pretty sure it would not make me feel warm and comfortable and fuzzy inside. you see, God doesn’t operate like our seeker-friendly churches. He doesn’t need to look or act trendy, put on media sideshows or tout trendy ministries to get to people’s hearts. He doesn’t need to get people inside church doors to change them. He speaks TRUTH and the TRUTH sets people free. i think what He does NEED is for us church folks to walk outside the church doors and speak TRUTH in love (radical, relevant action-love) to the people in the train stations, the people under the bridges, the suburban neighbor, the cashier.

maybe He would say something like that in the eighth letter to the church in America.

or maybe thats just what He wants to say to me…..

What Would Jesus REALLY Do?

Let’s get beyond the catchy acronym and flashy bracelet.

Seriously. What would HE do in this day and age when faced with the political, spiritual, cultural and moral dilemma’s of our society?

Eugene Cho just posted a FANTASTIC blog post about this and I just had to share. I do agree with him on this, 110%. The Jesus I read about in the Bible, the God incarnate one, the full manifestation of the likeness and essence of God the Father, would have eaten with them. In fact, He DID. So they weren’t Muslims… but their book of laws (the books of Jewish man-made laws added to the actual first 5 books of the Old Testament)  that had evolved and grown and expanded over the centuries were full of lies. Lies about how to earn God’s approval and acceptance. Lies about how to appease an angry God.  And yet the very SON of God was dining with them, about to reveal the simple truth of His existence on earth… He came to pay for it all.

So if having a “holy book full of lies” is grounds to host a book burning with the world watching, Jesus had his chance to do the same 2000+ years ago. But He chose peace. He chose to eat and dine with them. He chose love.

And I have no doubt in the depth of my being that He would choose the same today.

Here is an excerpt from Cho’s blog… but really, you should head over there and read it all.

It’s a simple question: What would Jesus do?

Would he burn the Koran or eat with his Muslim neighbors?

You may have heard about the person from Florida who intends to memorialize the September 11 attacks by burning copies of the Koran in a bonfire. His name is Terry Jones and he also happens to be a pastor….

We also live in a world today of gossip and sensationalism and this is often elevated as the expression of Christianity. Hopefully by now, most folks can come to their senses and see that the September 11 attacks are not the expression of Muslims and that Jones is not the full expression of Christians or Christianity….