Tuesday, June 7th, 2005...8:17 am
Sunday’s Gospel
Writing this page is always a bit harder than my other page. On that one, I can do whatever I want. On this one, I actually have to put some sort of thought into it. Well, not always much thought, but thought none the less.
I was thinking about the Gospel reading that I heard in church on Sunday. Probably the same one you heard if they use the same calendar. It was from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 9. Matthew is enjoying a meal with his friends, who are various low-lifes and tax collecters. Jesus walks in, and Matthew gives up the life with these friends to follow Him. Of course, those Pharisees don’t like this one bit, and tell Jesus’s followers that he shouldn’t be running around with these sorts of people. (Notice how they don’t bother to go to Jesus with this complaint? Kind of like some employers I have.) Jesus responds by saying that he did not come to save the righteous, but the sinner.
This made me think about the problems I have with some in the evangelical community. I don’t want to trash anyone’s faith. As a matter of fact, a co-worker of mine is a very strong evangelical (and who takes those inconvienient “love thy neighbor” things seriously) and we probably talk about religion too much for co-workers. What I have trouble with are the people that use their faith as an excuse to parade around claiming they are more righteous than the next guy, the ones who use their religion as an excuse to dislike the people they weren’t inclined to like in the first place. The challenge isn’t to love and serve people who you like, and are just like you. The real challenge we are called to is to seek out those who are n’t like us, and serve them. I read things like this in the Gospels and I wonder if many of the conservative christian leaders would be with Jesus, or with the Pharisees.
Anyhoo…that’s today’s rant.
1 Comment
June 12th, 2005 at 2:45 am
On my flights (I am scared to death of flying and spend most each flight I get on praying to God to let me land and repeating my favorite Psalm) to Detroit this past weekend I actually prayed for God to allow me to forgive the Republicans (Especially the ones like Bush) for what they do. It was the first time I seriously meant it and when I got of the plane I remembered that I still need to want to forgive them because ultimately they are all of God’s creatures even if they do violate Matthew 6:5, because as Jesus once said “forgive them Lord, they know not what they do.” That and because one should never ask God for anything that you will not do when out of danger.