DISQUS

reibwo · 1 year ago

Nice post. Thanks!

NewGuy · 1 year ago

Interesting thoughts. Earlier this morning I was thinking about how our situation today is not all that different from the situation Jesus was in 2000 years ago. Sure there are big differences, but politically we are working from within a formidable empire that more-and-more seems to be emulating Roman values of greed, lust for power, and materialism. Of course Palestine was one of the fringes of Empire where zealots resisted with violence, much like the terrorists on the fringes of our empire. We, North American Christians are in the heart of the empire like the early Roman Christians.

We may not face the level of persecution of those earliest Christians, but then again if we truly lived out the message of the Gospel I suspect American society would find it equally intolerable. Society certainly tolerates calling yourself a Christian, but it's much less tolerant of actually living like Christ. Even the most radical among us is probably still falling short, even if they seem radical by society's standards.

Great food for thought. Thanks.

emajyn · 1 year ago

Brandon- hey its me jesse. Its time for me to get in on these conversations on jm. I like the way you explore the tensions of gospel sharing in this article. A co-worker recently asked me 'so what denomination are you?' 'I'm like a Jesus follower, wanting to learn how to love and live out faith as a community expression in the midst of the american empire, yaknowwhatI'msayin like the radical reformation anabaptists'.. 'oh okay jesse, sounds interesting.' I've felt that pressure to explain yea I'm a christian but I'm different than a typical evangelical because I can see the lie of the empire and this and that...
but thats why I'm seeing it so vital to live the gospel in a community expression. Yea I can do my best to explain this Jesus is Messiah and this is what it means in America, but come taste what the gospel is in our community and in the context of convenant relationships. Come experience Jesus alive among us...anywho... I gotta come connect with old growth soon...its time to move that direction

pdxfudge · 1 year ago

This is good Brandon. I didn't check who wrote it first, but figured it out with the evangelism class, dispensationalism, gospel-as-revolution essay. I thought, I remember that essay. Anyway, the post is good, and a good reminder to us all to remember that Jesus' good news to the world is a heck of a lot bigger than our revolutionary/political bents. Our limited pictures of the gospel are just that, limited. "For me to get caught up by this lump in my throat about the political edge being in every single sharing of the gospel is as silly as trying to collapse all that diversity in biblical good-news-ing into one sharp formula. I’m doing the same offense to the gospel in trying to mold it after revolution as many evangelicals are in trying to hammer it into four spiritual laws or four circles on a napkin." Preach it man! And give me call when your stateside again.