The only purpose of the gospel is to reconcile people to God and to each other. A gospel that doesn’t reconcile is not a Christian gospel at all. But in America, it seems as if we don’t believe that. We don’t really believe that the proof of our discipleship is that we love one another (see John 13:35). No, we think the proof is in numbers … Even if our “converts” continue to hate each other, even if they will not worship with their brothers and sisters in Christ, we point to their “conversion” as evidence of the gospel’s success. We have substituted a gospel of church growth for a gospel of reconciliation.
– John Perkins, from “With Justice for All”
I came across this quote reading Jim Wallis’ blog this morning. The truth of it leaped off the page. I’ve been thinking this for a number of years and this is the best articulation of that sentiment. A fellow Secular Franciscan sent me a link to Jim Wallis’ blog and I just subscribed to the feed. I first became aware of Jim Wallis through our Secular Franciscan spiritual advisor nearly seven years ago. I’ve read a couple of his books and receive a regular email from Sojourners.
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Sorry I haven’t been by Don. Great posts, and I really like this one. Karen Armstrong is an interesting writer who’s been through a wringer of a journey, and I remember she wrote something once about how the valid test of a religious idea is whether or not it leads to practical compassion, and it reminds me of what is being said here.
It saddens me sometimes that the most exclusive and fundamentalistic forms of religion are the ones that seem to become most “popular”, but maybe it is just because it feeds into our tribal instict to want to divide and segregate.