Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Jesus Called

I am not a fan of bumper stickers. There are two designs I will allow to grace my car, the Wyoming bucking horse logo and the MxPx pokinatcha punk face. Currently, neither of these stickers are on my car. I feel like if I have something important to say, I want to say it, and not have people read it on the back of my car. These opening sentences are all part of a tangent to the story I originally wanted to share with this blog.

Now that I’ve established that I am above putting nearly all bumper stickers on my car, I want to say that I still admire a great bumper sticker. I saw one last week. It read: Jesus Called, He Wants His Religion Back.

You don’t read too many opinions (at least in the West) that posit a highjacking of the Christian faith for purposes of power, persuasion, war, etc. Most of the time it is the terrorists who are responsible for a highjacking of faith (Islam). But our gaze is too often external, and what I specifically like about this bumper sticker is that it makes you think internally, at least in terms of the Christian body. Something about “Jesus Called, He Wants His Religion Back” stings and I figured out what it is. It is the truth in the statement. There are as many people involved in Christian malpractice as there are people involved in Muslim malpractice. The results aren’t always the same, especially in terms of coverage in the news outlets.

Jesus’ teachings are pure, beautiful, inclusive, and non-violent. The religion that springs forth from those teachings isn’t always that. Bugger.

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