"Religious institutions do not like surprises and especially dislike a spirituality which threatens the status quo. Threaten others with a loud and boisterous faith, and you will be politely (at first) asked to quiet down; dance your faith instead of sitting still in your pew, and you will be asked to leave; talk about your faith with passion, and you will get expressions of concern about the appropriateness of your emotions. Allow others to see your brokenness, and you will be reprimanded for being too open; hear the music of faith, and you will be warned of the danger of emotional instability..."Yeah, this chapter is on "resisting the resisters - overcoming the saboteurs of spirituality." A good one.
"...But those of us who have heard the haunting sound of Jesus' voice, those who sense life and hope and adventure in the gospel, those who are willing to speak up, to question the deadness around us, to express our desire for life, we must not keep quiet, even if everyone around us tells us we are crazy."
For all those "kingdom monitors" (as he calls them) who think it's their job to keep people in line; who make sure we let sinners know they are sinning; who don't want us to accept sinners for fear they'll think we're 'condoning' their sin... he says on p.54: "Christians do not CONDONE unbiblical living; we REDEEM it." I like that. Why are we so afraid to be around the very same types of people Jesus spent his time hanging with???
You know, I have been reading a lot lately about how the church is no longer any good, and maybe we need to move 'beyond' the church. I don't buy it. Sure, there is much wrong with the church. But you know what... there always has been; and there always will be. On this side. Rather than LEAVING it... maybe we need more people committed to REDEEMING it. Just a thought.
Journey real, mates.
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