Immediately after leaving the ICU at McKay-Dee hospital, where a parishioner had just passed away, I heard a Christian make what is without a doubt the tackiest, most thoughtless statement I have ever heard--and I've heard some doozies, having grown up in a Hyles-ite church (pausing to check that the garlic & crucifix are in place to ward off the fundarnmentalists). I won't tell you what he said, since it was SO egregious that you probably wouldn't believe me anyway; but it underscored an important lesson that I've learned about this sort of thoughtlessness.
Think back to the woman taken in adultery. The Scribes and Pharisees caught a woman in sin. What was their reaction to her? "How can we use this woman to achieve our ends?"
Now, what was Jesus' reaction? He defended the helpless and, more importantly, provided for her deepest need--real forgiveness of sins.
Nothing has changed. Legalists use people; Jesus loves them. We must be on guard against the creeping blight that would start us thinking of statistics instead of people. Numbers NEVER trump relationship. I would remind you that Jesus left the multitudes behind to minister to individual needs. Pragmatism has begun to drive our ministry decisions, and twisted good people into something hard and grotesque. Keep your focus where Christ kept His--on real people with real hurts and real needs. Losing that focus has brought fundamentalism to the place where people are little more than a commodity--numbers to pad our stats and impress our seminary buddies. And it's one of the main reasons that modern fundamentalism, as a movement, needs to pass into extinction.
Think back to the woman taken in adultery. The Scribes and Pharisees caught a woman in sin. What was their reaction to her? "How can we use this woman to achieve our ends?"
Now, what was Jesus' reaction? He defended the helpless and, more importantly, provided for her deepest need--real forgiveness of sins.
Nothing has changed. Legalists use people; Jesus loves them. We must be on guard against the creeping blight that would start us thinking of statistics instead of people. Numbers NEVER trump relationship. I would remind you that Jesus left the multitudes behind to minister to individual needs. Pragmatism has begun to drive our ministry decisions, and twisted good people into something hard and grotesque. Keep your focus where Christ kept His--on real people with real hurts and real needs. Losing that focus has brought fundamentalism to the place where people are little more than a commodity--numbers to pad our stats and impress our seminary buddies. And it's one of the main reasons that modern fundamentalism, as a movement, needs to pass into extinction.
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