Seth Barnes Jan 12, 2007 7:00 PM

Why Jesus is the ultimate radical reformer

I don’t understand how Jesus, who is the ultimate radical reformer, has been homogenized and made safe for the masses. I don’t understand how his ...

Subscribe


I don’t understand how Jesus, who is the ultimate radical reformer, has been homogenized and made safe for the masses. I don’t understand how his followers have become synonymous with legalism, when his principle beef was with the legalists of his day. I don’t understand how this man who said such inflammatory things about leaving family and friends has been homogenized. I struggle to find common ground with Christians who are playing it safe when Jesus described and walked on a narrow faith path.

Richard Rohr said this about these kinds of questions: "It is not moral unworthiness that keeps people from God, but moral righteousness and self-sufficiency. It is that simple recognition, which is almost his constant message, that makes Jesus the ultimate, perennial, and radical reformer of religion. And why religious people oppose him. It makes one wonder if such a foundational critique can ever fashion itself into a proper religion at all. I agree with Simone Weil who said that the problem with Christianity is that it insists on seeing itself as a separate religion, instead of a healing message for all religions. I am afraid that is what will always emerge when you have religion without spirituality, or pious practices without inner experience. The very best thing will then become the very worst thing, and the only way through is to be awakened and astonished by a divine love that is of an utterly new dimension."

 

Comments


Comment created and will be displayed once approved.

Related Blogs

Led where you don't want to go

Led where you don't want to go

"When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted; but when...

By Seth Barnes
God needs to be bigger in our eyes

God needs to be bigger in our eyes

When Clint Bokelman's son Caden was four, Clint was tucking him into bed. Caden ...

By Seth Barnes
Why we must learn how to abandon

Why we must learn how to abandon

There’s something in all of us that loves the easy chair, that wants to sink b...

By Seth Barnes

Related Races (3)

Central America | Semesters | January 2026

Central America | Semesters | January 2026

Alumni 10/40 Spring 2026 - Central Asia

Alumni 10/40 Spring 2026 - Central Asia

Latin America-Study Abroad

Latin America-Study Abroad

Next article

What the Bible says about tears

AI Generated Content

Here's a suggested caption you can copy and tweak.