"Pell is detested because he favours a muscular Christianity, not the limp-wristed social justice variety". (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10982762%255E12250,00.html)
How does that measure with what
Rob Bos wrote:
Young people do not want a namby-pamby easy gospel ... one of the clear voices against the right wing "Christian" sell-out in the US is Sojourners ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). They provide an organised alternative voice to the Christian right. Elenie Poulos (Assembly UnitingJustice) and I were wondering how to get up an Australian e-list like that. (It needs to be ecumenical or non-denominational, I suspect.)
So is just "justice" namby pamby and limp-wristed or not? How come injustice (or "opportunity" according to Blair and Latham) is "muscular"?
Rob Bos wrote:
Thanks, Trevor. Yep that's the challenge. Three reactions:
1. I was privileged to be asked to the do the Bible studies at the VicTas Synod recently. The surprising thing to me was that in the sermon and Bible studies where I was the most challenging, the most radically alternate to current social values, the most uncompromising I got the warmest response. (At the risk of blatant self-promotion they may be found at http://vic.uca.org.au, esp the one on Luke.) It seems to me that many people are ready for and excited by the tough challenge to discipleship.
2. Secondly, the most hope-filled gatherings I went to this year was the radical discipleship get-together of young people during the June long weekend (see Insights October, page 14). Young people do not want a namby-pamby easy gospel.
3. Thirdly, one of the clear voices against the right wing "Christian" sell-out in the US is Sojourners ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). They provide an organised alternative voice to the Christian right. Elenie Poulos (Assembly UnitingJustice) and I were wondering how to get up an Australian e-list like that. (It needs to be ecumenical or non-denominational, I suspect.)
(Thanks, Ann, you are right. The question then is how do we communicate both the good news of total grace and the good news of total demand? Or in the old money, how do we hold together Jesus as Saviour [holistically] and Jesus as Lord [again holistically]? Maybe giving people what they want is not grace at all.)
Rob Bos
Trevor Mattiske wrote:
Rob wrote:
The wonder of the gospel is that this is actually good news as it sets us free from ourselves for communion with God, other people and creation. God transforms us, not because we are entitled, but when we are not entitled.
Ann wrote:
The problem for those of us who recognise that prosperity theology is not the Gospel is that we often preach a message not very different, by encouraging a sense of self-worth, but not balancing it with concepts of discipleship, self-giving love, taking up our cross, etc.
Trevor responds:
Jumping ahead a couple of steps in the thinking process, these responses suggest that (IMO) the real problem confronting the Body of Christ is not the pews full of greying heads, nor the arguments about gay clergy, ministry of women etc etc.
ISTM that the real problem for the Church is how to present a believable message which is the complete reverse of the culture of the day. How does the Church present messages like "take up your cross and follow me" or "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die" to a society which is bombarded from all directions by messages of self-fulfillment, a society which is being filled with expectations of entitlement? How does an apparently weakening Church swim against such a tide, a tide powered by the major political and commercial forces in society, a tide which is constantly reinforced by a compliant (and self-interested) media?
For me, a depressing thing about most recent election campaigns has been the sameness of the messages from all sides, namely "Have we got a deal for you", with the emphasis on the "you". Somewhere in all that election rhetoric, was there a vision of a better Australia, a fairer Australia, a more compassionate Australia, an Australian community? Did I miss something in the 15 second sound bites?
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