Jeremiah's Role

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

Only peace can mend our broken spirits.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

You do not disappoint.
We misunderstand your ways.
You never disappoint.
We misperceive your nature.
You cannot disappoint.
We make faulty assumptions about you.
You do not disappoint.
We have unreal expectations of you.
You will not disappoint.
We need to know you better.
You do not disappoint.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ That sounds like prudent policy to me.”

[I made that up – He never said it, no matter how many people believe it.]

D. Blog: Prophetic Preaching

Let me try to articulate what the Jeremiah Wright flap is about. He’s a preacher who speaks to a part of the people of God. He’s not a politician speaking to the people of America. The contexts are very different. His role is to help build up the people of God. That might not always overlap with building up the people of America. In order to build up the people of God, it might be necessary to criticize the United States of America, to point out the ways in which it does not act in accordance with the vision of God’s people - in the world but not of the world.

American media conglomerates and the American political system (including pundits/ commentators) find scandal in things that challenge the patriotic idolatry of things American. For me, it boils down to this: to whom and what do we give our primary allegiance? A preacher’s primary allegiance should be to God, to the vision of living as a people of God. We should not expect him/her to bow down to nationalistic idols. Nor should politicians be afraid of explaining or defending the rights of religious liberty and freedom of speech.