The Slippery Slope

THE FORMATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY WITH AN ALTERNATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS IS SO THAT THE DOMINANT COMMUNITY MAY BE CRITICIZED AND FINALLY DISMANTLED. BUT MORE THAN DISMANTLING, THE PURPOSE OF THE ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY IS TO ENABLE A NEW HUMAN BEGINNING TO BE MADE. – WALTER BRUEGGEMANN Bruggeman speaks of this alternative community that dismantles but also gives life. It speaks to the heart and interworkings of movement that Jesus intended. With modern-day American Christendom, power is consolidated, compassion is forgotten, right belief trumps right action, and the road to God is painted as narrow that few find. THIS IS MINDSET IS TOXIC AND ANTITHETICAL TO ANYTHING JESUS TAUGHT. To look at the scriptures, Christ had compassion for those that society deemed a sinner or unclean. Jesus had grace for those who had been maligned and forgotten. He saw true faith in the hearts of those that the faithful will label pagan. Jesus painted a picture of a wide road towards finding God. In religion, we’re taught to fear and that the slippery slope to sinfulness is around every corner waiting for you to fall and fail. That slippery slope is a lie. Modern-day Christianity has excelled at teaching judgment and tribalism to its converts as a control system. You’re taught to never doubt, believe what you’re taught, and avoid the very people that Jesus taught us to embrace. In the first century, Jesus had grace for the outcast, but judgment for those who wielded power for personal gain. He raged against the religious leaders of the time for muddling the truth about God’s out-reaching and over-encompassing love. The pious used scripture as a weapon to burden people, control them and obscure the Kingdom of God. The same people Jesus called out in his time look very similar to the modern-day power brokers of religion who reign from the industrialized halls of a commercialized faith. WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THOSE PEOPLE. I am tired of this warped, weak, greedy, and ineffectual version of the beautiful vision that Christ had for his people. It’s far time to recapture the essential heart of Jesus and throw down the tired baggage of Christendom. Anyone with me? COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE AS WE SKEWER THROUGH LIFE, CULTURE, AND SPIRITUALITY IN THE FACE OF A CHANGING WORLD. www.SnarkyFaith.com