a footnote from irresistible revolution:
The story of Minucius is a beautiful glimpse of irresistible revolution. As a lawyer who was persecuting Christians, Minucius understood the empire and teh religious establishment well. But he soon caught the contagion of love. Here's what he had to say abou Christians before his conversion in AD 200: "They despise temples as if they were tombs. They despise titles of honour and the purple robe of high government office though hardly able themselves to cover their nakedness.... They love one another before being acquanted. They practice a cult of lust, calling one another brother and sister indiscriminately"
And here's what he says after his convesion: " why do they have no altars, no tmeples, no images? What temple shal I build him (GOD) when the whole world, the work of His hands, cannot contain him? SHould we not rather make a sanctuary for him in our souls? The whole heaven and teh whole earth and all things beyond the confines of the world are filled with God... I would almost say: we live with him. What a beautiful sight it is for God when a Christian mocks the clatter of the tools of death and the horror of the executioner: when he defends and upholds his liberty in the face of kings and princes, obeying God alone to whome he belongs. Among us boys and frail women laugh to scron torture and teh gallows cross and all the other horrors of executions" from The early CHristians in their own words by Eberhard Arnold
I think this is a very powerful little footnote. We should change the words a bit and see if it still fits. They despise big ornate buildings, They despise political office, and armani suits, and designer clothes, even though they are dressed in thrift store rags, they love and accept everyone even the homeless and the insane, and they are cultlike in the way they care for each other like everyone was part of one family.
hmmmmm
rev
rev
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7 comments:
WOW! What a picture; that stirs up my spirit, makes me re-look at everything I do and who I am.
We can't afford to be mundain.
I don't think despising the stuff you mention is necessary in order to "love and accept everyone". That's a bit extreme, isn't it?
Yes it is extreme, but as soon as God is relegated to a building, and as soon as there is a distinction between clergy and laity, the church becomes something that it is not intended to be. It becomes what it is now. Largely ineffective, irrelevant, and consumeristic. The church is supposed to be Jesus loosed on the world through each and every member. And that is pretty extreme. The domesticated Christianity has no interest for me.
rev
You are making that possible again Rev. Loving like there is no tomorrow!
good to see someone remembers how to pick up a cross.
MS
Can you post a recipe section?
Also include some handy household hints. Like how to remove vomit stains from carpet.
Where have all the flowers gone?
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