“The job of the Church is to be the womb through which God can bring His children into this world. Now the early Church was willing to become pregnant. But I think the trouble with God’s bride today is that she either has passed the menopause or she is on the pill.
Or perhaps even worse, the Church has gone a-whoring.
It could be she has sought other husbands to impregnate her, and generally when a woman goes a-whoring and gets pregnant she hopes the offspring will favor her rather than the father. It’s not that we are failing to beget children-we are. But they are not bearing the image of the Almighty. They are bearing the image of false gods! Mammon is one of those gods the Church is a-whoring with. We are begetting children, but I wonder if they are not bearing the image of their true father, Mammon.”
- Clarence Jordan
Something is becoming increasingly clear to me: If the point of the community I feel called to plant and be a part of is to be an effective biblical witness in Southern California, it is most likely going to be based on economic sharing and radical generosity.
In the go-go-go, me-me-me rush of the Southern Californian lifestyle, it makes sense that a lifestyle built around sharing, self giving, and a de-emphasis on productivity would be kind of peculiar. Not only is it peculiar, but it’s a way of life that we’ve been set free to live by the resurrection of Christ. And yet, as the Church, we’re not really receiving that life as a gift. We’re rejecting it by most standards. We need to repent together.
Just a thought.
March 16, 2009 at 9:24 pm |
Well you’ve certainly got your work cut out for you. Good luck.