Jesus Wants to Save . . .

Over the last two months the folks over at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI (see mhbcmi.org) have been doing a series called Jesus Wants to Save Christians . . . and wow talk about transformative. These messages have been really developing the intuitions and leadings I have been feeling of late. I have to say that the teachings of Rob Bell and others at Mars have been a major shift in perspective. The major series of teachings before that was all about how God hears the cry of the oppressed and that the cry starts a proscess of redemption and justice for those who are being oppressed. One of the major points was that although the personal message of redemption and repentance from sin is essential to new life in Christ and to bringing the Kingdom to pass but when sin escalates from the personal to the structural there becomes a new need for the gospel that is social and global. It is the Billy Graham message as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. message. When sin moves from the personal to the structural the messae of repent and be saved has less power and meaning. To explain further, to a child in war-torn parts of Africa who witnesses the murder and destruction of life and property and all that they know. To preach him a message of repent and be forgiven doesnt seem very adequate. What would be more relevant is a message that the sin pervaded upon them is larger than personal sin, it is structural and that there needs to be a moral opposition to the problem.
Talk about a wakeup call, I have really been faced with the inconsistencies in my own mindset about these kinds of issues, particularly as it relates to more local issues like US poverty and homelessness. I have more often than not been guilty of little compassion and even less convition that these issues are greater than personal choices. Granted in some cases there are individual issues at work but there are definately structures that hamper the progress of eliminating poverty and homelessness in our own country. May God grant us the vision to be purveyors of justice in our lives, homes, communities and beyond.