Thursday, April 29, 2010

A Mess Of Jesus

“Lord, we acknowledge that we have made a mess of what Jesus started. We affirm that we are wrong and Jesus is right. We choose not to defend what we have done and what we have become. We understand that many good Christians will not want to participate in our quest, and we will welcome their charitable critique. We acknowledge that we have created many Christianities up to this point, and they call fro reassessment and, in many cases, repentance. We choose to seek a better path into the future that the one we have been on. We desire to be born again as disciples of Jesus Christ. Now grant us wisdom and guide us in our quest, and created something new and beautiful in and among us for the good of all creation and to your glory, Living God” (A New Kind Of Christianity, McLaren, 25).

There are times when we truly do make a mess of what Jesus started. Sometimes we water it down just enough to kinda follow Jesus don’t we? Sometimes we open the playground of the mind wide open and allow other gods to come in and effectively take ownership. Sometimes we put our own agenda on Jesus so that he looks a little more like us and in those moments of messing with the real Jesus that we begin to move farther away from what Jesus has truly called us to do and who Jesus has called us to be. At least that’s what I think.

I was recently reading The Christ Of The Indian Road, by E. Stanley Jones and he talks about the travels to America around 1620, on the Mayflower and the “good ship ‘Jesus’ was in the slave trade” (The Christ Of The Indian Road, Jones, 16). Jones goes on to talk about a mess of Christianity build on prejudice. A mess of what Jesus started.
When I first came to Fieldstone people talked and shared their hopes and understanding of a place where we could really follow Jesus. The time is upon us friends to distinguish between modern/western Christianity and focus only on the person and work of Jesus the Christ. My personal prayer is that we all focus more on the Christ. May we come to a deeper understanding of Jesus and his teaching. And may we actually be a community of faith that cleans up the mess so others might see Jesus.

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