Sunday thought: who would Jesus hang out with today?

While Ron, our pastor, read the lesson today on Peter pulling Jesus aside and telling him he probably shouldn't talk about going to Jerusalem and getting killed, I couldn't help but think about who Jesus would hang out with and who would he not get along with if he came to the U.S. today.

Based on the stories in the Gospels, I'd think it would probably go something like this:

- He would probably have some contact with a prophet or preacher who would be in trouble with the law/government (aka John the Baptizer)
- He would get men to leave their family businesses and learn to recruit others (fishers of men)
- He would then go to public places and start preaching and he would heal mentally ill people and those with physical afflictions
- He would become so popular that huge crowds would congregate wherever he went
- As he preached and healed, preachers from all denominations of Christendom would find something about him that they thought contradicted the Bible and would start to criticize him.
- He would then be "caught" eating dinner with prostitutes, bankers, porn producers, movie moguls, Pro-Choicers, and lawyers. Elders, ministers, and deacons from all the great faiths would condemn him for doing so. He would say that he didn't come for the righteous- for they don't need salvation.
- He would then be photographed by a cell phone camera playing golf on a Sunday morning with OJ Simpson. Even Joel Osteen and his kind would now say this is obviously not the Christ. Jesus would be shown on a Youtube video telling his detractors that Sunday was made for man, not man for Sunday.
- He would then be seen by people giving comfort to a woman in a Planned Parenthood office. Leaders of many faiths would then immediately leave and plot against him- some seeking assasination, others seeking remedy through the courts.
- Jesus would be overheard warning people to beware of contemporary preacher's and politician's words. This would be touted in the papers as treason and heresy and inflame both sides of the political aisle. Democrats and Republicans would join religious leaders in unanimously condemning him.
- Jesus would then tell his followers that he was to be rebuked by the elders of the church, preachers of the chief denominations, judges of the legal system, and political chieftains. His top follower would tell him not to go against the powers that be- to which he would reply, "Satan, get away from me."
- Jesus would then be engaged in a series of debates with lawyers, judges, politicians, and religious leaders. After each debate each group would grow more fearful of his popularity with the people and their subsequent loss of power.

We all know how it ends in the New Testament. Would this happen to him today too? Or would he hang out with Middle and Upper-Class Americans, reveling in our contemporary issues? He came to Earth to the Jews: an occupied people. If He came back now would he hang out with the modern-day Roman Imperial citizenry?

Today's thought: failure

An article in today's KC Star http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1071370.html led me to think about failure with respect to our faith. Do we allow people to fail?

Sure, I first thought- we sin all the time and talk about it ad-nauseum. Whole sermons are devoted to sinning. One preacher even told me to "sin boldly".

What I'm not so sure of, however, is if we encourage people to "fail" in their beliefs. In other words, we seem to be bounded by the dogma of a "consensus view" of our faith. It is assumed we believe word-for-word the Apostle's Creed- and yet how many people have actually read (as opposed to saying it in unison) it and understand what they are saying (or, have read the historical record behind the development of it)?

Most people I go to church with probably don't believe in aliens, ghosts, or vampires. But they supposedly have no problem believing someone walked on water, turned water into wine, and was raised from the dead. Is all that just something you accept because it's been repeated so many times you just accept it based on familiarity? Come on now- be honest- if any of you heard today that someone walked on water or healed a blind person- wouldn't you immediately discredit the story?

Which brings me back to failure. If, as the article suggests, failure helps us learn, then I think it is imperative that we allow failure within the church. Failure in the sense of questioning those things that we think everyone is supposed to believe. Failure in the sense of "heretical" ideas. Failure in the sense of going down the wrong path.

Someone once spoke to me of a concern for going "too close to the devil" with the Red Cell concept. I have thought a long time about that. To me, a fear of going too close to the devil implies a weakness of faith. If I am afraid the devil will ultimately win me over because I am investigating my faith, then that would imply that Jesus has a hard time winning out over the devil. I don't accept that line of reasoning. I think the more you test your faith, the stronger it will be. Conversely, if all you do is repeat the scripture when prompted to in church and don't test yourself with other ideas, when you are truly tested you may find yourself wanting.

I have heard preachers assume in their sermons that people take Biblical "Truths" as fact, and yet I'm not so sure most people have investigated these "facts" in any deeper way than when they were first introduced to them as children. I know I haven't. I would encourage, instead, preachers to ask the questions of their congregants. Instead of assuming they believe- ask them what they believe. Tell them how some of the things we believe in came to pass (Like the Council of Nicea, the Apostle's Creed, and how books of the Bible came to be accepted).

Don't be afraid of people questioning details based on a search for knowledge. Don't be afraid of people going down the wrong paths. Don't be afraid of people "getting closer to the devil". If what we believe in is true- they should find their way back eventually. And along with the failures they will encounter as they go down different paths- they will come out stronger.