Reading notes

If this is as true as Jim Wallis thinks, it’s one of the more encouraging things I’ve seen in a long time: that people called evangelical Christians are stopping behaving as those Jesus says “Woe unto” in the gospels and starting behaving as people intent on following Jesus’ example, caring about things he cares about.

Teaser from column: Rich Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals VP for Government Affairs, as quoted in NYT:

“I don’t think God is going to ask us how he created the earth, but he will ask us what we did with what he created.”

Why, that’s actually sane.

Thinking, compassion, integrity coming back into evangelical Christianity? I sheepishly admit that even though I remember to ask for it from time to time, I had almost stopped believing it could happen.

When a dialogue begins about the extent of moral values issues and what biblically-faithful Christians should care about, the Religious Right begins to lose. The best news of all for the American church and society is this: The monologue of the Religious Right is over, and a new dialogue has just begun.

Yes! Only with thoughtful and informed dialogue can we move forward.

This would be such an about-face from the attitude I keep encountering, encapsulated in a sign I saw posted in a conservative Christian’s office, “I’m a radical Christian, which means I love Jesus more than you do” (only very slightly paraphrased). For me, that’s a hell of a dialogue-stopper. (“Uh, where does Luke 18:9-14 fit in?” I want to ask, but haven’t.)

Do let’s talk, and work together. That’d be so much better.

2007-04-25 update: Way opened for me to bring Luke 18:9-14 to the person’s attention. A few minutes later, the sign came down. Spirit moving, moves me.

This diary is quite the reminder that the violence inflicted on every body [and life] shattered by war, to every child of God “done unto,” as Jesus puts it, is “done unto me.” Hence, I think being anti-war, and especially a Christian being anti-war, needs neither apology nor qualification: being anti-war is a necessary condition for being in healthy relationship with Him.

Being pro-war is, in effect, killing Jesus over and over, and I see no honest way to call oneself Christian while doing that.

Being pro-peace (the next step beyond anti-war) is, I contend, a primary outcome Jesus desires from us for spending time modeling the godly life among us (then and now). Why else be heralded as Prince of Peace?

I notice the scriptural emphasis for faith is almost entirely on change now, in this life for this life, for our lives together. “Salvation insurance for future benefit,” which is often touted in the modern world as the entire point of faith, actually comes in a distant second in scripture. The fruits of our lives is what we’re measured by, the transformation of our hearts from stone, not whether we did or didn’t utter some magical salvation incantation.