It's past time evangelical Christians demand their leaders speak up!
THE BASTARDIZATION OF JESUS
Let me be blunt. Jesus is a fraud. The ultimate frontman giving cover for everything from lynch mobs, to racial incarceration, exploitation of labor (including children), denial of health care, rape (...they often "ask" for it), forced pregnancy and birth, blaming the poor for their own poverty, dehumanizing other religions, and prideful boasting of earned merit for our self-made status... especially for millionaires.
To hear the words of Jesus as as meticulously parsed and interpreted by a seeming majority of evangelical, born again "Christians", these very evils are what Jesus really taught and advocated. We just really need to look beyond His simple words. The hidden nuances and deeper meanings are so much harder to grasp in today's complex world. Never mind His own words absolutely to the contrary.
I know this BASTARDIZATION of Jesus is a fact and is predominant in the evangelical movement today simply because of the outright espousing of such perversion of the gospel daily from the pulpit, Christian radio, television and social media.
The droning and constant message of fear, intolerance, blame, greed, hate and pious self righteousness is most often met by abject and despicable silence from way too many our most powerful and influential Christian leaders. A deafening eloquence of silence inexorably confirming the ultimate hybridizing of Christ and Satan in our churches; in the very center of our national soul!
Every time I hear a David Barton, Tony Perkins, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal or the many dozens of Satan's political minions espousing policies and positions that would minimize and devalue the infinite worth of the oppressed and less fortunate or would denigrate, resist and destroy policies, programs or politics that would assist the poor, feed the hungry, provide healthcare or assistance and support for pregnant women and girls (...regardless of their "choices"!) I wait in a vacuous and seemingly endless silence for thousands of Evangelical leaders and pastors of hundreds of mega churches nationwide to denounce such demonization of the gospel.
The silence is deafening!
Jesus called us to minister to the least of these as the ONLY acceptable entry to His knowing presence. If we didn't do this... He would not know us... nor could we claim to know Him.
Whether that ministry came from individuals, organizations (public or private), or some government entity or program is absolutely irrelevant to His message. There was no clarifying footnote here; no qualifying dogma or plan. I know He wouldn't have given a flying fuck how or where that help came from!
In Christ's example it was the Good Samaritan, the most distasteful symbolic lowlife available. In our world it likely would have been Planned Parenthood, Bernie Sanders, or, heaven forbid, Barney Frank!
Pardon my choice of words, but His message was so unmistakably clear and forceful I'm certain had the translation been available in Aramaic He would have used it!
He never hesitated to risk offense in making His message clear! How help for the helpless happened just never seemed to matter. "Just do it!" He clearly proclaimed. Are you with Me in caring for the least of these? Or are you against Me? ...Do you know me? ...Do I know you? He asked? Obviously we don't; and He wouldn't recognize most of us either.
There is no way I can sugar coat this, the conservative evangelical Christian message today is all but irreparably skewed to protect political power, protect our elite and pious self-righteousness, denigrate the downtrodden and refuse by any convoluted theological gymnastics possible to defend our incessant drive to justify a sacrilegious heresy and destroy to very soul of Christ's message; all to defend our pride, piety, greed and ensure our entitlement to His blessing.
Yes, of course, we generously give and even sacrifice through our churches and organizations to many, many worthy causes. But never (...never!) should we ever allow our love and care be expresses or carried to fruition through a collective effort called government! Regardless how astoundingly more effective it could be. Jesus just wouldn't approve. After all, right dogma and theology alway trumps any desire or effort to help others. He's a stickler for details like that! (Sorry, but I can't find the exact Biblical reference for that... Must be there somewhere, though..., I'm sure some reader will find it for me!)
Be warned! All such craziness...; even crazy talk of the end times, the "rapture", the rise of evil in the world, rallying of the "righteous" faithful, fear of the Antichrist... etc., etc.... is only crazy as it so grossly misplaces the most likely source of all that symbolizes evil in its purest form: the perversion and BASTARDIZATION of Jesus and the Gospel in our sanctuaries and our own inner hearts.
The Antichrist most likely isn't the Ayatollah, ISIS, the Muslim in the White House, a leftist Congressman, some charismatic civil rights leader, the LGBT activist on the news or one of the black thugs rioting in our streets. By all indications and Biblical warnings he would likely rise through positions most trusted by a distracted and perverted Christian following... Like in our pulpits, our opportunistic religious leaders, our our sadly duped (...and duping!) "Christian" politicians, one of us... not one of "them"!
The most remarkable and amazing thing about all this? Those agents of bastardizing Jesus are so obviously easy to spot. They are the ones who will always blame the downtrodden and powerless for their own plight and immediately justify and explain why the rest of us shouldn't detract from our earned status (...our blessing for our faithfulness...) to change that sad reality. Even Jesus couldn't change it... Why should we? So sad... but not essential to our "salvation" as long as we "believe" and keep our ideology right. Oh, really?
And in our churches, the not-so-secret accomplices in this project from hell are our evangelical leaders who by their silence and absolute refusal to raise up the vast political power sitting in their pews for the true call and challenge of Jesus, refuse to do so. That power could change our world; most specifically and especially for the "least among us".
Still we refuse! ...Too political? ...Too risky to the church "business model"? ...Too divisive? ...Perhaps, too offensive?
We wonder why so many "millennials" are leaving churches in droves? Not enough programs? Need better entertainment? Fancier facilities? Jazz up our "worship"? Or, maybe we should just stop lying about who Jesus really was, what He asked us to do, and how that pretty much mandates our politics as Christians and actually start advocating for the powerless rather than blaming them.
Jesus asks us to make a choice to follow Him. But if that choice does not include some petty heavy duty ramifications for adjusting our politics to accommodate and support His "prime" directive to care for the least among us as THE priority, it's really no choice for Him at all.
But it is a choice. It's a real choice to follow a different "Jesus"; a perversion of who He was and His gospel message; we make Him a fraud. Which explains the obnoxious title I started this with!
Bottom line...? What's the last word? In Jesus' words, it just may be this...: "DEPART FROM ME. I NEVER KNEW YOU!