Here are a few thoughts from Jack Good's book, The Dishonest Church. He writes:
The church makes no objection when people want to believe that Jesus was mostly about me, my wants and my fears, especially my fears of death. Acquiring a ticket to a life of bliss beyond this life seems, in many liturgies, to be the sole reason for loyalty to Jesus. And all this is presented as if it were grounded in scripture.
A serious reading of the New Testament reveals that Jesus never intended to be an answer man. Instead of making problems go away, he seemed intent on creating a new set of concerns. Through both words and example he defined the requirments of discipleship: acts of compassion, especially acts aimed at those the remainder of society had rejected; acts that upset the conventions of unjust societies; sacrificial living, even to the point of joining him in crucifixion.
Attempts to meet those requirements greatly complicate life. Questions, not answers, multiply.
Thoughts? Is he right? Are we too centred on self and not the world? Maintenance, not mission?
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