Stupid Faith

As I was flipping through the channels last night I came across Larry King interviewing Lewis Black. Larry asked Lewis about his reaction to the comments made by Rev. Wright. One of the things that Lewis said in his reply was that he thought there were equally insane things being said in other churches, like the earth was created in six days. I found myself agreeing with him. From the prospective of most people saying the earth was created, let alone in six days, sounds insane. In fact a lot of what Christ taught sounds insane.

I do not like that. I like sounding sane and rational. I like being thought of as intelligent and reasonable. I have tried to "reason away" some of what Jesus said, "He didn't really mean..." but God's words have a way of burrowing into my heart and refusing to die no matter how I try to ignore them. So, I find myself believing insane things like the earth being created in six days.

Worse I find myself confronting war veterans with "Jesus told us to love our enemies" (have I mentioned I hate confrontation?), businessmen with, "Jesus does not like how some companies treat their employees." These teachings do not make sense. They leave us vulnerable, unsure, unsafe. Not in control (have I mentioned how I love being in control? I've only been drunk once in my life. I never got drunk again because I did not like being out of control).

They leave us right where God wants us, reliant on him. I barely have enough in me to love my friends, let alone my enemies. I like chocolate as much as the next guy and buy things without regard as to where they came from or who slaved to make them. I am perfectly content to plot revenge, to hold onto bitterness, to not forgive. It feels good.

But then there's Jesus. Standing there with that knowing look on his face. Suddenly I am reminded of something he said. That little crumb of a word starts irritating my heart. I try to ignore it, but it itches, it hurts. I try to scratch it away, but it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until I cannot ignore it any longer and I find myself capitulating to it. To Him.

One of my heroes, Eberhard Arnold, said, "To hear and read the words of Jesus is dangerous". He was right. Hearing Jesus words, actually hearing them and grasping the implications, is dangerous. It makes you believe and do stupid things.You might believe that God still speaks today. You might believe that he still answers prayer, that he still does miracles. You might find your friends and family saying, "He is out of his mind". You might believe that you should give up your life of wealth and privilege to live amongst the poor. You might believe people should not be made slaves and try to free them. You might believe killing your enemy will only plant the seeds of more hatred and violence. You might find yourself changing the world.

Stupid faith.