Extremists for Love

In Chapter 10 of The Irresistible Revolution, author Shane Claiborne begins with a quote by Tony Campolo stating, "If we were to set out to establish a religion in polor opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America." The author goes on to cite sociological studies that state that the higher a person's frequency of church attendance, the more likely they are to be sexist, racist, anti-gay, and pro-military. Is this the Church Jesus meant to build?

I recall hearing Tony Campolo speak once when I was at a Youth for Christ conference in Washington DC. I don't remember the entire crux of his message, but I recall the story of him buying a birthday cake for a prostitute. It wasn't a story of ‘soul winning'. It wasn't a story harsh evangelism. It was a simple act of love unlike any the recipient had seen in a long time. It was evidence of extreme grace. That seems to be what the contemporary church has been missing more than anything.

This morning, as I checked my email at My Space before sitting down to write this, I was invited to join a group called "Friends don't let friends believe in Heresies." A heresy is defined by the group as ‘a self-chosen doctrine not emanating from God.' Judging from the onset of this chapter and the fact that most people couple the word ‘Christian' with the words ‘fake', ‘hypocritical', ‘boring', ‘hate-mongers', and ‘fascist', I can only conclude that the Church is proliferating many heresies.

At its core, I believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ is one of love, peace, joy, forgiveness, and community. If these fruits are not evident in a walk of faith, be it through religion or independent spiritual searching, then it must be the case that some kind of heresy has crept in to spoil the harvest.

A Course in Miracles states ‘there is no law but God's', and as we make our way through this quagmire called religion, it easy to get caught up in heresies commonly referred to as dogma. Some go so far as to call them doctrines. But if we make these traditions of judgment as the cornerstones of our faith, we are often likely to miss out on the truth of God's law. God's law is to love, to forgive, and to care for others more than ourselves. When we find ourselves in the predicament of holding even that which was written by the hand of men, even our own scriptures, to such a high status that it obscures our love, forgiveness, and grace, we put ourselves in danger of missing out on the absolute truth of eternal life in exchange for our own choice of dogma, doctrine, or religion.

In rationalizing the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, I've heard the Old Testament calls to battle cited many times as God's justification for war and violence. Yet common sense reveals to us that these wars are not bringing true peace. And lashing out with violence in the name of revenge, self-preservation, or even with the far off hope of reconciliation, does not provide a conduit for the love, grace, and forgiveness which is called for in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In a world in which extremism is evidenced by abortion clinic bombers, assassins, terrorist acts, holy wars, and torture, those with faith in a true God of forgiveness and grace need to realize their reaction must be extreme in its actions of love. I see great possibilities in what is stirring among the people of the Church at this time in our lives.

Shane Claiborne points out Jesus' ability to completely disarm those who came against him with accusations. In the ideas of turning the other cheek and walking two miles when only asked to walk one, He went to the extreme. With grand faith and overpower love and forgiveness, he even went to the extreme of conquering death. With the miracles He provided that have lived on through the ages in stories and prayer, and with the proclamation that his disciples would do greater works than He, I envision a revolution forthcoming in the Church today.

We cannot stop lawbreakers by creating more laws. We cannot stop the purveyors of hatred with greater hatred. We cannot disarm the violent with greater acts of violence. To truly combat the atrocities that are plaguing our world today, we must disarm them with extreme acts of love, for that is the way true miracles happen.