I loved the examples he gave of an AA member who "fell off the wagon" and showed that responses of compassion, empathy, and presence were so much more likely to actually help a person get back to the good, desired behavior than responses of disbelief, unacceptance, and shame.
There were points where I thought I either wasn't sure where he stood and wanted to, or was fairly certain he was venturing into theological territory where I didn't want to follow. It probably won't be the one that I recommend very highly. Obviously, there were some praiseworthy quotes (below). But on the whole, for this topic, I far prefer writings by Tim Keller, or better yet,Alan Kraft's Good News for Those Trying Harder. the entire work that includes and puts flesh on Tim Keller's quote:
The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.Quotes from The Ragamuffin Gospel:
"Jesus spent a disproportionate amount of time with people described in the Gospels as the poor, the blind, the lame, the lepers, the hungry, sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, the persecuted, the downtrodden, the captives, those possessed by unclean spirits, all who labor and are heavy burdened, the rabble who know nothing of the law, the crowds, the little ones, the least, the last, and the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
"In short, Jesus hung out with ragamuffins.
"Obviously, his love for failures and nobodies was not an exclusive love. That would merely substitute one class prejudice for another. He related with warmth and compassion to the middle and upper classes not because of their family connections, financial clout, intelligence, or Social Register status, but because they too were God's children."
"The gospel of grace is brutally devalued when Christians maintain that the transcendent God can only be properly honored and respected by denying the goodness and the truth and the beauty of the things of this world."
"Yahweh is first perceived by the Jewish community as a personal, relating Being. Their concept of God was vastly superior to that of the pagans whose gods were quite human, fickle, capricious, erotic, as unpredictable as the forces with which they were identified--wind, storm, fertility, the nation, and so forth.
"But Israel knew a holy God, transcending everything visible and tangible, yet personal. He was somehow reflected in things but was not to be identified with things. Exodus depicts God as stable, interested, a Rock of dependability among so many dependents."
"The noonday devil of the Christian life is the temptation to lose the inner self while preserving the shell of edifying behavior."
"Perhaps the supreme achievement of the Holy Spirit in the life of ragamuffins is the miraculous movement from self-rejection to self-acceptance. It is not based on therapy or the power of positive thinking; it is anchored in their personal experience of the acceptance of Jesus Christ."
No comments:
Post a Comment