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We must start with love
We hear all these other things about who we are and what we’re supposed to be, but there is one place we all must start: Love beyond ourselves. Of all things, we must start with love. It is our hermeneutic, our fundamental. Our North Star and compass. Love is the start and our predictor. Most…
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In the Mercy of God
30. And then all people of faith could put themselves and one another in the mercy of God. Part of me doesn’t care about your individual faith at all. That’s the byproduct of individualism, isn’t it? I care only about my faith and I don’t have to give a hoot about yours. This idea falls apart,…
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A Common Sin
29. To fulfill the missio dei, Catholics and Protestants must repent of their common sin to power. Martin Luther saw something in the church others couldn’t. He found a flaw, running through the foundation of the faith. A flaw which influenced both the theology and practice of the church. Luther’s discovery was simple: that the common belief…
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Our Common Need
28. To repress our common need for the sake of personal piety is no lesser a sin of power when reformed. It is impossible to pin all of the Great Reformation on a moment. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses did not start or embody the Reformation in its totality. But they named a need unaddressed by the…
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Taught to Share
27. Christians should be taught to love our creation and common space more than their own homes. The great theme of the Bible is God’s great reconciliation with the whole world. Not just people named Steve. From the beginning we see a constant focus on building a community of reconciliation, justice, and love: God creates…
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Taught to Love
26. Christians should be taught to share supportive love generously while restricting selfishness. This should be a no-brainer. Should. If you stopped a random person on the street and asked them to talk about what a Christian is supposed to be, chances are this is what you’d hear. Christians are about generous love. But the problem…
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Christians love on the inside and the outside.
25. Christians should be taught that faith is both an internal and external commitment to love. The fundamental character of faith is love. Some of us talk about love and we often try to express love, but we rarely equate faith with love. We see love as living out our faith. Or we like to say that our faith inspires our love. But this…
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Believing in grace means living in grace.
24. Christians should be taught that belief unused is unbelief and a damning of God’s generous mercy. Much of what passes for faith or Christian theology is not a profound truth, but a riddle. We aren’t being honest with each other or ourselves; we’re unwittingly playing a game of deception. What I mean by riddle…