what is gospel, again ..

with every new week i'm becoming more convinced that Jesus' words about the narrow way and the few that find it is finally beginning to make sense to me

the majority of people who assume the moniker ' christian ' are swimming in a deluded pool of fooling-myself
because we ' believe ' that being ' saved ' = a formula for success = the american way =  the way of being ' successful ' at something = theologies and doctrines and rules and steps and numbers and tithes and sunday services and mega and productions and ' revival meetings ' and counting dollars and tele preachers and prosperity and .. and ... .. . . . . .

we have muddied the waters
and the people who ' need a doctor ' are the unfortunate fallout
they are seeing the church as ineffective and un-where-it's-at and irrelevant to their lives
and looking for other ways that reflect reality
that see their suffering and their spiritual lostness and address those things with compassion and care, not drama and $ ..
they're daring to diss the church, walking away, middle finger upraised
.. and rightly so

and Jesus is sitting there
head-in-hands
watching in wonderment as they walk
saying to himself, like " what did i do wrong? did i stammer or stutter or speak a language they couldn't understand? "
like " i made it as simple as possible - follow me; that's it; just follow me "
" a disciple is not greater than his master; he can, though, be like his master.
just be like me; don't try to outdo me, do like i do
follow me " ..

and we don't get it

like the people that were ( are ? ) all upset at the homeless person that was drunken and abrasive outside the church building on a recent sunday
and everyone wanted them gone
and they left
maybe never to return

.. what would they say if they were told this person is probably dying, and may not have much longer to live, has been homeless for a dozen years, and lost a child to a car wreck recently ..
does that make the person a candidate for soaking their sorrows in alcohol ?
would their attitude change ?
i wonder

what if they never see them again because they ' turned me away; i'm not wanted here '
what if .. that person dies with that in mind ..
what will Jesus say to us ?
what will Jesus say to that person about us ?
what will he say to me  ??

what if somebody had stepped up to the plate and used that opportunity to teach the highandmighty church a lesson in Jesusness
brought the person in
sidestepped the usual ' way things are done '
and showed the person love
even when they became abusive ' in church '

' we love you '

i'm not sure how that would pan out
but it sure makes for incredible thought-manure
it sure challenges the proud us-ness that pervades the Body-so-called
it sure smells like something Jesus might do

and it would have put a mark on the face of that church that they ' mean business ' when they say everyone is welcome, and everyone is accepted, and ' come as you are '

time to take off the collar and move the podium to one side
time maybe to take Jesus seriously
treat people like they really bear the imago dei
love them like they're the only person that matters
like that one sheep Jesus mentioned one day a while back ..

who the hell do i think i am to send that person packing because we're too stuck in not offending the people in the service, not ' disrupting ' the program, disturbing the message or the music or whathehellever
'cause it's sunday, and this is how we do sunday - hands raised, noses in the air, legs crossed, bibles open ..
we might lose their ' support ' ( think $ here )

and the stink rises pungently on the hot air of the ' prayers '
as scripture cries out
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
   Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? ..
   Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what [it is] the Lord requires of you ..
          To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

who do we really think we are ..

who are we ???????????????

who am i  ?  ??

disruption ??
            that person is the ' sick ' Jesus mentioned that needs a doctor
disturbing ?
            that person is the church,
            is the purpose of the church
is my concern
is my brother/sister
and mine is to love them

love
them
each one
sick
injured
drunken
ptsd'ed
bipolared
methed

these are the very people God loves
and you, o christian ..
do you think that because you point fingers and identify the sinner and point out the sins
that you will escape the judgement of God, you who are supposed to be the refuge of God ? ?
   really ? !
   duplicity
the Body precisely to whom those people should be coming for acceptance in their distressed drunkenness, in their disorderly emotionalised condition   ?
   ? ? ?

while we plan
and design
and up the music value
and organize
and purty-up
   posturing ..

i have a problem with it too
i too am ashamed the person is in that condition and acting that way ..
but that's my problem, my own misunderstanding of Jesus' way

he didn't care much for pews and pulpits
' sunday best '
musical performances
propriety
   not much ..
he cared only for the lost
the sick that need doctoring
not those who think they got it, are ' in ', and think they don't need healing
'cause they can point out people's sins better than anyone ..

if the church is not mature enough to handle the irregulars
maybe i ( we ) need to do thinks differently

remember Jesus' approach
and stop
   for God's sake stop chasing off the rabble
change our mind
diss' the religion
assume the position of Rabbi Jesus
embrace the wounded
   the broken
   the out-of-the-way
   the irregulars
   the disturbed
   the drugged/alcoholed/emotioned/out-of-control
every time
70 times 7 times

Jesus did
and he didn't care what the church thought about it
the religious
the wayward religious
the religious-proud
the religious duty-bound
the religious intelligentsia
the religious snobs
the would-be christians who don't know what christianity is because the church has it all wrong

i for one am done with it
either we change
or i change
because, to me, we're simply performing and taking in money to support our performances
and get our religious fix ..
   ya  ?

i follow Jesus
not anyone else
not any movement or church or preacher or doctrine

i follow him

he says " bring me you demonized, your sick, your drunken and disorderly, your brokenhearted, your parentless, your widows, your aged, your excons, your abused
bring them
i love them "

i need to love them too ..
the imago dei