"I'm a non-christian. just like most christians."

In my post the other day on Bradley Jersak's 'A More Christlike God' I mentioned a quote from satirist (and self-avowed non-Christian) Bill Maher. In the book Jersak says, "If I say 'God is love and Jesus was love incarnate', no problem! Jesus is seldom the issue (even for atheists)." He notes most of the primary attacks are not against Jesus, but against "Christians whose religion does violence in the name of the Prince of Peace." This is the quote he then uses from Maher:

If you're a Christian that supports killing your enemy and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself. ... 'Capping thy enemy' is not exactly what Jesus would do. For almost two thousand years, Christians have been lawyering the Bible to try to figure out how 'Love thy neighbor' can mean 'Hate thy neighbor.' ...

Martin Luther King Jr. gets to call himself a Christian, because he actually practiced loving his enemies. And Gandhi was so f-ing Christian, he was Hindu. But if you're endorsing revenge, torture or war, ... you cannot say you're a follower of the guy who explicitly said, 'Love your enemy' and 'Do good to those who hate you.' ...

And not to put too fine a point on it, but nonviolence was kind of Jesus' trademark - kind of his big thing. To NOT follow that part of it is like joining Greenpeace and hating whales. There's interpreting, and then there's just ignoring. It's just ignoring if you're for torture - as are more Evangelical* Christians than any other religion. You're supposed to look at that figure of Christ on the cross and thing, "how could a man suffer like that and forgive?" ...

I'm a non-Christian. Just like most Christians.

If you ignore every single thing Jesus commanded you to do, you're not a Christian - you're just auditing. You're not Christ's followers, you're just fans. And if you believe the Earth was given to you to kick ass on while gloating, you're not really a Christian - you're a Texan.

 I couldn't agree more. Also, as Jersak points out, "Maher's unbelief is actually biting hatred directed against un-Christlike perversions of God, the projections of religious fundamentalists. Audiences find this commentary comedic because the irony is tragically accurate and laughably contradictory. Instead of reacting defensively or hanging our heads in silent shame, why not hear his indictment as a clarion call back to explicit Christlikeness."

Why not, indeed!

As Jersak goes on to say, God does not operate by overwhelming force, but by overcoming love. This is our challenge. Is it easy? Not at all! But is it what we are called to? I think so. And if it is, then it ought to be possible, right?

Personally, I would like to encourage us all to look more closely at Jesus. Whether you're a non-Christian or, especially, if you identify as a Christian. In fact, I'm not sure why we would look anywhere else.

How about if we all read through the Sermon on the Mount today (Matthew chapters 5-7)? Or at least The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12) Why not give it a go. We can do it!