casual theology

The sixth chapter of John’s gospel Jesus begins with the feeding of the multitudes with five loaves and two fish. The crowd, who wanted to crown him as king, followed Jesus the next day asking for a sign. Instead of giving them more food for their bellies Jesus gave them food for thought. Jesus challenged the sensibilities of everyone present; the poor and the wealthy, the uneducated and the learned, the laity and the priests and Pharisees. He told them that he was going to provide more than manna for them, that he had new heavenly bread that would give them eternal life. That bread was his very flesh and blood which he commanded them to eat and drink. He affronted their ideas of what God and their religion could or would ask of them. He challenged them to believe in something that was, in their thinking, impossible and outrageous. The response of the crowd demonstrated how offended they were to be asked to believe such a thing: “Who is this man? Who does he think he is?” “How can

So apparently there’s been a lot of buzz about Jefferson Bethke’s viral video rant/poem, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus. ” Some people think it’s the best thing since Martin Luther got himself some paper and a hammer. Others want to start piling up wood while they look for some matches. Personally, I admire the guy’s passion and apparent love for Jesus. I understand where he’s coming from with his anti-religion/pro-Jesus position. There was a time not that long ago I would probably have been giving him a big thumbs up, but I would have been wrong and so is he. I think what he’s really upset with is “false religion”, aka hypocrisy, and that’s a good thing to be leery of, but we can’t allow ourselves to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Here’s some things he’s just plain wrong about. What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion? "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Jesus (Mt