A few months ago Gabe D. produced a work of art which he entitled Constantine's Curse. The steeples are buried in what seems to be a wasteland. It is of course an allusion to the union of the church and political power in the 300s when the Emperor stopped the persecution of Christians and began to use the emblem of the cross on his battle shield--God told him to in a dream.
Currently I am reading Thomas Cahill's latest work in his hinges of history series. I would highly recommend reading the entire series--now 5 books (1,2,3,4,5.)
This morning Matt O. taught on being salt and light. The great paradoxical question for believers: how to be in the world but not of the world.
All of these are contributing to this post. The current thought pattern or trend is to hold the church responsible for the darkness in the world. The line goes that if there is darkness in the world then what needs to happen is for the church to look inward and not cast judgment on the culture at large. Logically, I'm not sure this holds much water, because there was darkness when Jesus was physically present in this world. So... Was it his fault? I think not.
My attempt here, is not to sloganeer and rally the masses to my side in the debate. I don't think there is a question that as believers we should always look inward. As a human, I am in constant need of reform. Desperate need. But if I wait until the point at which I am perfected to be critical of the culture and the society in which we live, then I will be waiting beyond my years.
I do believe that believers should be known for their excellence, for their virtue, and perhaps above all for their service. I'm just not sure that criticism of the culture need come as a sacrifice for those ideals. We have created a society in which Truth has all but disappeared. "Whose truth?" is a devastating question that is unanswerable due to our cherished 1st Amendment...
Anyway, I'm sure I will follow up on this post in the coming days as my thoughts become clearer and more refined. But I'll end by answering the question about whether Jesus was a liberal or a conservative? He was both. There is no question that the Church has failed in many respects and one of those is the lack of real, genuine service to humanity--Behind on the AIDS crisis, behind on the environmental crisis, behind on issues of greed and poverty. JC was clear on our duty and devotion to our neighbor. But just as clear are his declarations of who He is. I AM rings throughout the New Testament--see John. He left no room for alternate versions of Truth. I'm gung ho to change my own existence. I crave reform. Radical reform. I want to help other people and be salt and light. I'm just not sure that should limit my voice of opposition to the darkness of our society...
dt
1 comment:
So, about my painting… I would just like to clarify a few things. Yes this work does represent a death, but not the death of the church, the death of Christendom, which has molded the original raw clay that was God's people in the new testament who lived a revolutionary lifestyle into a diseased and decrepit organization that places economic, emotional and physical comfort and stability above the call of Christ. This painting which shows the buildings underground, represents that the people inside are just people too, in a "dust to dust" sort of way. There is a green line on the horizon which is like a lifeline or heart monitor showing, like a Phoenix, a true birth out of the ashes of a necessary death. A kind of constructive destruction if you will. So, I want to be clear that this is a message of hope. This is not a visual complaint, but an encouragement to God's people to live outward lives being about the work of Christ in such a way that in the future, when people think of church, the face of someone loving and living as Christ did comes to their mind before the image of a building does.
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