prediction

From reading the New Testament, we know that there was resistance to the idea that the Gentiles would be included in the Kingdom. Yet Jesus again and again surprised and shocked those around him by his embrace of the stranger, the outcast, the outsider. Whether it was the tax collectors, the lepers, Samaritan woman, or Roman centurions, he treated them with full respect and dignity.

What if Jesus came today and the proclamation was that the Kingdom of God will surely include gay, lesbian and transgender people?

If you were in the crowd, would you be angry at the announcement, or pleased about it?

Would love to hear your thoughts and comments....

[is it possible to be neutral?]

For an intriguing discussion of whether it is possible to remain neutral between two opposing sides and to simply seek to build bridges between them, with much reference to Martin Luther King and the ways in which he approached this, check out this article:

Is Prophetic Neutrality Possible? by David W. Congdon

A related quote from Elie Wiese: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

[us and the other]

Brian McLaren speaks about two dangers:

All of us are poised between two dangers. The obvious one is “The Other.” The subtle one is “Us.” If we defend ourselves against the Other, if we attack the Other, we gain credibility with “Us.” We show that we are loyal, supportive, believers, members of Us, and we are generously rewarded and affirmed. We gain a lot by attacking the Other—in religious circles as well as political ones.

Ironically, Us can be as great a threat to each of us as the other is, probably greater. Us might withdraw its approval of me. It might label me disloyal, unsupportive, unbeliever, unorthodox, liberal, anathema, etc. To be rebuked, marginalized, or excluded by Us is an even greater threat than to be attacked by the Other.

Our fear becomes all the more acute when we venture to do what many of us in this dialogue are doing: we are daring to defend and humanize the Other. We are showing—however feebly and adolescently—a grain of neighborliness and solidarity with the Other. At that moment, we become vulnerable as never before to attacks by Us, i.e. our fellow Christians. In my experience, it takes much more courage to stand up to or apart from Us than it does to stand either against or with the Other…

Brian D. McLaren, pp. 47-48, in Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World

[oppositional religious identity]

It's been said that religion is the cause of all violence. However, in his recent book, Brian McLaren gives a more nuanced perspective on this:

The tensions between our conflicted religions arise not from our differences, but from one thing we all hold in common: an oppositional religious identity that derives strength from hostility.

He then goes on to discuss how when a social group (think church or a group of Christians) feels threatened, they suspend the normal rules and daily activities, diverting "attention and energy to hostility" and then focusing that hostility "on a target,—real or imagined, legitimate or manufactured, among them (as a classic enemy) or among us (as an internal scapegoat)."

What he later adds to this, is that this is often done not out of hatred or antagonism but rather, from a "loving defensiveness". In other words, people feel that the values and beliefs they hold and cherish are under attack, and they act to defend these values. This can ironically happen in ways that result in behaviour which normally would be considered antithetical to the person or group's beliefs, but considered necessary for their protection.