Rebel Manifest

It is rare that we look at the Bible and the letters of the new testament as the rebel manifest that it is. We more often read it from the position of being the normalized religious document of the religion of the masses. That is not what it was back then. That is not the spin the writers were putting on it. Followers of Jesus were an underground ragtag group of people considered to be anything from nuts to heretical and seditious. So, when Paul says that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, he is not screaming it from a raised pulpit, with a bravado that rivals our overconfident TV evangelists. It was from a minority position of "encouraging the troops" and reminding people why they were putting there lives and livelihoods on the line.

These people did not worry about being called irrelevant or stupid, they had to consider their very lives. They served a God who told them to love their enemies, turn the other cheek and who saved them by sacrificing himself, not killing others. He bought peace with his life, not the lives of others. This is a radical, unselfish faith. The challenge is living this radical faith, in a consumerist world that has enculturated and co-opted the church. The challenge is to once again become the body that takes care of people in need. To once again care about social justice and the environment. The call is to radical faith. The faith that Jesus died for. It is a call to action, not just words.

peace,

K