Viral Faith

"Jesus' message about the kingdom of God lived out in this life has powerful implications for how we prioritize, peace, reconciliation, and enemy love in relationship with God and with others.  Ignore this aspect of gospel, and we are left with a religion that proclaims love and forgiveness while it advances through violent attitudes and actions." -- Bruxy Cavey in Reunion The book of Ruth begins with this innocent phrase "During the days when the judges ruled".  While it gives us chronological context (roughly 1400 to 1000 BCE) its purpose in the narrative is to give us cultural and political context.  The book of Judges documents the often violent, warring, and scavenging existence that coexisted with the spiritual bankruptcy of the people at the time.  The story of Ruth begins in famine in a time where the people of ancient Palestine were often vying for scarce resources.  This scarcity, led to violence.  In fact, one can look at contemporary society and see

  The Church and Societal Forces of Injustice   “Slavery was upheld by three sectors of society: religious, economic, and political.” —Tom Skinner in How black is the Gospel (1971)   One of the ongoing discussions among church leaders is the role of the church in regards to the formation, influence, and regulation of the societies in which they serve.  Many believe that churches are to promote the highest ethical standards and leverage its many privileges to encourage its surrounding society to embrace those same standards.  Others believe the church is a vendor of religious products that seeks to enhance the lives of its adherents, without any responsibility to those outside of its body.  I believe that the answer is clearly spelled out in Scripture, embodied by Jesus Christ, and promoted by the early Church.   Historically, it is important to understand the duplicitous role of the church in both bringing about justice and promoting injustice.  In contemporary history, three separate

  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT) The Greek Scriptures that we commonly call the "New Testament" reveal God's story to restore Shalom through the work of Jesus, extended though the church.  While there are lots of moving parts of the narrative, and lots of literary devices employed in which to convey the primacy of THE STORY, it comes down to evil being discarded through love made visible.  Relationships healed, community restored, and the powers that separate, distort and destroy are banished. "Shalom is an ancient Israeli construct concretizing practical loved to be expressed through structures and systems" --Randy S. Woodley in Decolonizing Evangelicalism Shalom is a state of healthy community where relationships and processes are redeemed in love.  This is the essence of the Go