So What’s True Christianity, Anyway?
When…
- atheists state what the earmarks of a Christian are,
- Christians state what the earmarks of an atheist are,
- Catholics state what the earmarks of a Protestant are,
- Protestants state what the earmarks of a Catholic are,
- Calvinists state what the earmarks of an Arminian are,
- Arminians state what the earmarks of a Calvinist are,
…it’s colossally humbling.
We reveal how sick and twisted we are in how we see the apparent distortions in others.
Until we begin to understand how broadly diverse but equally-loved humanity is from God’s-eye view, we cannot embrace true humility.
Until we stop talking about the people in other continents in (even subtly) demeaning terms, we have no business talking about international missions.
Until we stop talking like we have the “least of these” all figured out, and consider that might even mean us, we’re better off not talking about social justice.
Until we’re prepared to really face our messy history, and our equally messy present, and not try to minimise it or explain it all away, but deeply, deeply repent, then we have no right to speak of righteousness.
This isn’t a call to silence the church, or an excuse for inaction.
Quite the opposite — it’s a call to begin the hardest work we’ve ever put our hands to!
I see the church rising up all around. Catching a grip of this vision, and earnestly striving to get out of God’s way. My sense of expectancy is growing. Daily!
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Introduction
My name is Brad, and I'm a recovering mortal.
That's my whole bio on twitter. It doesn't tell people that I'm a husband, a father, tell what kind of job I do, what kind of computer I use to do it, what kind of car I drive to get there or give any other identifiers.
I'm just sharing the most important thing.
I'm addicted to the temporal, but I'm in recovery. I don't even know exactly what that means or what it looks like. But I won't let that stop me.
LivingMartyrs Tweets
- Self-aware people know that they aren't.
- Let's zoom out on that idea: the most self-unaware people are not aware that they are self-unaware.
- Why it gets so messy: some of the most oblivious people are convinced that they can read other people well.
- Enhancing our capacity for conflict doesn't mean embracing more conflict. It means processing it more maturely.
- Here's a thought that will freak some people out: there's more than one way to be true to Scripture.
Follow @livingmartyrs on twitter.
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From your latest post, I thought you might enjoy seeing a music video that we just produced on Oscar Romero. It is part of a new CD release. The singer is a deacon, Michael Glen Bell, and the film maker is Owen Thomas. The Project is the subject of a wonderful article in Canada’s Catholic Register http://www.catholicregister.org/arts/movie-news/item/15749-video-brings-awful-memories-flooding-back
Go to TheMartyrsProject.com to view the video. Feel free to use it on your site, review the album or video, or blog about The Project. If you do, let us know so we can put a link on ours. If you are interested in a story on The Project, please get back to us. We are located in Indianapolis. You can follow us on Twitter @martyrsproject.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing this, Duane.
That video destroyed me! I’m not sure that I can adopt it as my own prayer yet. But I’m on the journey that is drawing me toward it.
When I picked the name “LivingMartyrs” so many years ago, I honestly didn’t even think about the extended/eternal perspective to sainthood. I purely meant it in the “die to self” sense — and while it seems so obvious now, this other dimension is suddenly hard to grasp.
I have a lot more pondering to do about all of this. Thanks again!
Brad,
I’m so glad you liked the video on Romero. As I said before, if you want to embed it for your readers feel free.
After the anniversary of Romero’s death on 24 March, we’ll be releasing our next video “Becket”. I think it will be something special. Keep up with us on Twitter @martyrsproject
Duane