Unpleasant messages
For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Kim's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.
It is often observed by my friends, and even by my wife, that I might be a little too “angry” for someone who supposedly is called to a ministry of presenting the gospel to others. They don’t go so far as to call me a hypocrite, but I do think they’re pointing out that I’m not always that nice, that I don’t necessarily embody forgiveness (or even the golden rule), that “Christian” implies a graciousness I simply lack.
To be honest, I’m okay with the criticism. It all seems pretty accurate. Besides, I’m not sure that a message about being nice or forgiving or gracious is what people need to hear right now. Okay, maybe they do need all of those things. What I mean to say is that we’ve been preaching them for a long time, but they don’t seem to be inspiring a whole lot of new people to engagement and transformation.
