The Peculiar People of the Good and Beautiful Community

From James Bryan Smith:

Not all Christians are, but all Christians ought to be maladjusted toward things like injustice, greed, materialism and racism. Too often we easily become well-adjusted to these things. I know I have. It is easy to become well-adjusted to the culture we live in, the one that uses hate and violence to gain control, the one that treats people as objects for personal gain, the one that winks at immorality.

Dr. West says elsewhere: “It takes courage to ask—how did I become so well adjusted to injustice? It takes courage to cut against the grain and become non-conformist. It takes courage to wake up and stay awake instead of engaging in complacent slumber. It takes courage to shatter conformity and cowardice.” I agree. It takes courage to live like our peculiar God, to love and forgive the unlovely and unforgivable. The only way we will ever find this courage is when we discover that we are a community of people who are rooted in another world.


3 Responses to “The Peculiar People of the Good and Beautiful Community”

  • Robert Piretti Says:

    Fantastic last sentence, John. I have been reading the New Testament this year and that is repeated throughout.

  • John Richardson Says:

    Glad to hear from you again Robert. Smith hits a homerun with that last sentence. In my experience the American church scene on the whole is deeply rooted in this world, even the evangelical strand. We have now produced too many generations of consumers who come expecting needs to be met rather than expecting to be forged into peculiar people. I will say more about that in my next post.

  • Robert Piretti Says:

    I believe you pinpointed a cause of a lot of effects. Another level for us Christians to be RESPONSIBLE Christians, to be peculiar, dare I say.

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