Jesus was a Radical
Being a little radical can be a good thing. Look at Jesus. He was about as radical as they come, relative to the society in which he lived. He rebuilt religion completely, integrating only the most basic tenets, and almost none of the received interpretations. To me, this is one of His most important teachings: always do what you believe is right, regardless of what those around you are doing. This is the essence of radical moderatism - not pushing a radical agenda just to try something different, but rather to do away with something that is broken in order to rebuild it properly.
In the end Jesus was killed precisely because he was a radical. That was, of course, part of the Plan. However, it shows how difficult it is to be truly radical. If you ever start to become remotely successful, you become a threat. Sometimes only an act of God can truly fix a broken system.
Fortunately, I believe in miracles.
"No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse." (Mark 2:21 - KJV)However, it's also very difficult to be truly radical in this way. Jesus did not have any money, he did not live in a home during most of his ministry. He had to do this to be able to be completely free of the social obligations that come from owning property and earning a living. I have met few people that dedicated to anything.
In the end Jesus was killed precisely because he was a radical. That was, of course, part of the Plan. However, it shows how difficult it is to be truly radical. If you ever start to become remotely successful, you become a threat. Sometimes only an act of God can truly fix a broken system.
Fortunately, I believe in miracles.
posted by Tyler | 11:22 PM
2 Comments:
It seems to me a blonder that people simply overlook the reason Jesus was killed. He ran the money collectors out of the temple. This is and was the only time the Jesus used force in his ministry. Then the money collectors (or corrupt men to the money collectors) paid for his crucifixion by the Romans. It should be noted that Pontius Pilate washed his hands of the trial and deferred judgment to the temple.
You've illustrated my point, but perhaps with a slightly narrower interpretation. That was not the only reason he was killed, but is a good example of his radicalism as a threat to the establishment.
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