John Jensen blogs about a number of topics and relates each of them to “what Jesus has to do with it all.” Recently, he wrote a post titled “Ten Things I would say to the Church (if they listened to me)” featuring the following items:
- Love God, love one another, love your neighbor, everyone is your neighbor . . .
- What you do (orthopraxy) is as important, if not more important as what you believe (orthodoxy) . . .
- Stop trying to get the world to come into your church, and get your church (the people of God’s kingdom community) to get into the world . . .
- Christ is the center of our faith, not the bible . . .
- The church is not to reflect the worlds hierarchical structure . . .
- Bigger is not better Jesus was so explicit about this it hurts . . .
- In following Jesus we continue in his path, his ascension provided a comma, not a period . . . Following Jesus means continuing the revolution, not considering it done.
- There is no such thing as a Christian nation, and even if there was America was never it . . .
- There is, with absolutely no doubt, a bias in the gospels towards the poor and the marginalized. The church needs to locate itself with this in mind . . .
- Love God, love one another, love your neighbor, everyone is your neighbor . . .
So What?
This list intrigues me for several reasons, but Jensen’s decision to repeat the first item as the last is what led me to ponder this list a bit longer than most. For me, the Greatest Commandment (aka the Jesus Creed) is central to any understanding I have of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
- What was your initial reaction to Jensen’s list? Are there any items you would remove? If so, which and why? Any you would add? If so, what and why?
- What kinds of forums does your congregation provide that encourage open discussions about what it means to live as people of faith and what it means to be the church?