The Cleveland Plain Dealer printed a column this Saturday from Rev. Ken Chalker, Minister of First Methodist Church of Cleveland. His message was simple truth for this Sunday. There are Christians and there are followers of the way of Jesus and these are sometimes but not always the same.
He shares his understanding that
"Indeed, in those moments when Christian organizations and institutions of a particular theology and style of worship have been like Jesus, the result has been liberation, education, renewal, healing and social progress.
But when organizations have been predictably Christian - defending a particular doctrine, legislating a particular way of worship, recognizing only acceptable political thinking or going to war against some group that has been defined by Christian authority or majority vote as infidel or heathen - such behavior has always resulted in a great deal of division, pain, repression, segregation, times of self- righteous bloodshed and sanctioned injustice."
Those believers in Jesus who sometimes feel persecuted or misunderstood on Daily Kos might want to consider that when others bash Christians here it may not be directed at Followers of Jesus but rather at the other ones.
Chalker continues with the
...tragic process of self-righteous exclusion among Christians goes on. As always, redemption, love, restoration and healing depend on followers of Jesus. Such folks are always desperately needed, often particularly so in Christian gatherings
It's the kind of attitude that compels a megachurch pastor to intone "The Lord's Prayer" at a presidential inauguration as a way to subtly make the claim that there is only one way to God
The whole is not long and it's worth a read.