Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” ~ Matthew 16:24
Many years ago, when the land was flat and time was beginning, mine and Jennifer’s United Methodist pastor went to a Christian conference at a large successful church of another denomination.
When our pastor entered the fellowship hall, well-groomed and overly nice greeters welcomed him “In the name of Christ,” and gave him a questionnaire to fill out. They asked standard questions: name, home, contact information, and interests in the conference. He quickly scribbled barely legible answers. Then in large, bold, black letters, they asked, “ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?”
He said, “No,” and filled out the rest of the questionnaire but continued to think about his response. He said to me, “I am a minister in the United Methodist Church; I believe in Jesus and his teachings; I believe the Bible is the holy inspired word of God, and I desire to dedicate my life to God. I want to follow the way of Jesus, but I felt they were asking me something very different when they asked if I was CHRISTIAN.”
“I am Christian, but there are many kinds of Christianity. I went back to my response and crossed out my ‘no’ answer, and I said, ‘Yes, I am a christian with a little “c.”
What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to follow Jesus?
“Jesus clearly taught the twelve disciples about surrender, the necessity of suffering, humility, servant leadership, and nonviolence. They resisted him every time, and so he finally had to make the journey himself and tell them, ‘Follow me!’ But Christians have preferred to hear something Jesus never said: ‘Worship me.’ Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; following Jesus changes everything,” says Father Richard Rohr.
I remember clearly when our country was beating the drums of war in preparation for a probable attack on Iraq. Our pastor who was “christian” with a little “c” announced in church that he was going to silently pray for peace at high noon on Wednesday under the flagpole in front of our county courthouse. We grumbled under our breath in church, “Our pastor is unpatriotic.” “Doesn’t he know God is on our side?”
“Follow me,” Jesus says. “Love who I love. Forgive who I forgive. Put your swords away. Love your enemy.” It is one thing to believe in Jesus and quite another to follow his way of life.
Brian McLaren in his book Do I Stay Christian? writes, “Jesus was an oppressed brown Palestinian Jew, living in a Middle Eastern nation that was occupied by a European empire centered in Rome. Jesus challenged the empire of Rome by proclaiming an alternative empire, the empire of God.”
On Wednesday, our pastor walked down to the courthouse by himself and prayed for peace in the name of Christ, alone, under the flag. No one followed him. I drove by on my lunch break, and told myself, “I need to get back to school.”
McLaren expands, “Echoing its founder’s nonviolence, the Christian faith initially grew as a nonviolent spiritual movement of counter-imperial values. It promoted love, not war. Because of their counter-imperial posture, including their refusal to be soldiers in the Roman army, they were often mocked, distrusted as unpatriotic, and persecuted.”
The next Wednesday, our pastor stood under the flagpole and prayed for nonviolent peace in the name of Jesus again. No one joined him.
“Rome’s empire was violent. God’s empire was nonviolent. Rome’s empire was characterized by domination. God’s empire was characterized by service and liberation. Rome’s empire was preoccupied with money. God’s empire was preoccupied with generosity and was deeply suspicious of money. Rome’s empire was fueled by the love of power. God’s empire was fueled by the power of love. Rome’s empire created a domination pyramid that put a powerful and violent man at the top. God’s empire created a network of solidarity and mutuality that turned conventional pyramids upside down and gave “the last, the least, and the lost” the honored place at the table,” says McLaren.
Philip Gulley asks, “If the church claims Jesus as its founder, should it at least share his values?”
An old saying goes, “We are created in God’s image, and we return the favor and create God in our image.” McLaren adds, “Inspired by the cross of Empire, we conquer, kill, dominate, crush, rule, exploit, gain power, and impose law and order to retain our power. (And we make a handsome profit while doing so wherever possible.)”
Our pastor continued his weekly prayer vigils for peace, and no one joined him. It was the beginning of the end of his ministry in our God-fearing community.
“Before Constantine (before EMPIRE dominated Christianity), Christians could have said, ‘Inspired by the cross of Christ, we heal, forgive, serve, welcome, transform, resist tyranny, and demonstrate love,” McLaren writes.
“Follow me,” Jesus says. We know how it ends for him when he questions the EMPIRE. Am I Christian? “Yes, but with a little ‘c’.”
May we manifest the values of our founder and may we follow.
Blessings and peace,
Craig