The Givens

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The items in Authentic Church are lifted entirely from the Booklet, and my comments will be set apart with a different format, like this , for instance


THE “GIVENS” OF BEING AUTHENTIC CHURCH

THE.AUTHENTIC CHURCH IS AN OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF GOD, WHO IS LOVE.

In love and through love, the new community is created. God, who is by nature unlimited love, draws us to let our partial, limited love unfold in depth until we reach our full capacity for giving ourselves to God and to the totality of everything and everyone that God has created. In our present wounded, damaged, distorted condition, it is difficult to imagine what this sort of beloved community might look like or how we even would begin to commit ourselves to it, but we open ourselves to the impossible, trusting the Source of love to show us the way.

THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH FOLLOWS THE AUTHENTIC JESUS.

Most churches claim to follow Jesus, but not all are following the authentic Jesus. Too often we fashion Jesus in our own image and then wonder why there is no radical world change. The authentic Jesus is not in pursuit of privilege and power and prestige, but makes his home among the lowly. The authentic Jesus does not condone violence but is the embodiment of love, embracing all people equally with mercy and the hope of transformation. The authentic Jesus confronts cultural addictions and the systems that create and sustain them. The authentic Jesus says no to the world’s power and yes to God’s power. There is only one real Jesus into whose being we hope to abandon ourselves, dying to our false illusions and letting our true selves be resurrected in him, who is the world’s hope. Together we seek to discover and live his nonviolent, healing nature.

THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH IS A PLACE OF EXTREME DIVERSITY.

The world has been damaged severely by the lie that we are meant to be separate from each other, that we are not bound together eternally as the children of one God. The authentic church will be a diverse body, interconnected and interdependent. The diversity will be of every sort race, gender, economics, sexual orientation, age, etc. Even persons of other faiths can find themselves at home in the authentic church because Jesus Christ, with whom we are deepening in relationship, insists that we belong to the totality, the whole family of God. If we think Jesus excludes anyone, we haven’t yet gone deep enough in discovering who Jesus is.

THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH IS SERIOUS ABOUT THE WORK OF RECONCILIATION.

We are the recipients of God’s atonement through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, but how can we claim to have atonement [ literally at-one- ment] with God if we are not reconciled to the diverse family of God? The authentic church will create structures for the practice of reconciliation among those who often remain at a distance from each other. We will seek to know and be known by people whom society might call our .opposites,” in order to overcome the barriers that we have been led to believe were inevitable. As we learn to trust each other, we will stop living in isolation and fear and will experience true communion.

THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH SHARES ITS LIFE WITH OTHERS OUTSIDE ITS CIRCLE.

We cannot keep what we are unwilling or unable to give away. This is more than telling others what or how to believe, and more than giving persons who have been

oppressed the tools they need to make it in the world, hoping they sense that they are cared for. Living a life together in Christ means becoming the fullness of love, which simply cannot keep from sharing itself with others, and especially any who are excluded. The authentic church will gravitate naturally toward the weakest members of society. In our sharing of mutual weakness, we will find ourselves deeply at home with each other.

THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH SEEKS JUSTICE.

The church often has been too cautious about its calling to justice, especially justice for those who have been excluded from places of privilege. We have forfeited our God given responsibility to act on behalf of the poor. (See Psalm 41:1; Isaiah 1:17,3:13 15,10:1 4,61:1; Ezekiel 34:4; Amos 5:11 12; Mark 12:40; Luke 10:36 37; John 21:17; etc.) Through the power of nonviolent love, the authentic church will bring pressure to bear on the systems of our world that are unjust. We will challenge those in political power to act on behalf of the powerless, empowering and lifting up the voices of those who otherwise have no voice. The authentic church will join with others who are working for systemic change, ready to take the risks of love, even risking persecution for the sake of justice.

About Theoblogical

I am a Web developer with a background in theology, sociology and communications. I love to read, watch movies, sports, and am looking for authentic church.

2 Replies to “The Givens”

  1. Theoblogical

    It’s great that you mentioned that additional passage, since it also happened that as Gordon Cosby was elaborating on the occasion of the writing of that booklet, he used the phrase “the least of these” quite a bit.

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  2. ericisrad

    I just wanted to look up the verses mentioned for both of our sakes.

    Psalm 41:1:

    Happy are those who consider the poor; the LORD delivers them in the day of trouble.

    Isaiah 1:17:

    learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed,defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

    Isaiah 3:13-15:

    The LORD rises to argue his case; he stands to judge the peoples. The LORD enters into judgement with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord GOD of hosts.

    Isaiah 10:1-4:

    Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes,
    to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain? For all this, his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.

    Isaiah 61:1:

    The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me;
    he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;

    Ezekiel 34:1-6:

    The word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them””to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

    Amos 5:10-13:

    They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain,
    you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
    For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins”” you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.

    Mark 12:38-44:

    As he taught, he said, “˜Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows”™ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”™ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “˜Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”™

    Luke 10:36-37:

    Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”™ He said, “˜The one who showed him mercy.”™ Jesus said to him, “˜Go and do likewise.”™

    John 21:15-19:

    When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “˜Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”™ He said to him, “˜Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”™ Jesus said to him, “˜Feed my lambs.”™ A second time he said to him, “˜Simon son of John, do you love me?”™ He said to him, “˜Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”™ Jesus said to him, “˜Tend my sheep.”™ He said to him the third time, “˜Simon son of John, do you love me?”™ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “˜Do you love me?”™ And he said to him, “˜Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”™ Jesus said to him, “˜Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”™ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “˜Follow me.”™

    And I’ll add Matthew 25:31-46:

    “˜When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”™

    Thanks for posting this, Dale. Good stuff!

    Peace,

    Eric

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