The Gospel of Greta (and the mission of the church)
I once read a book called Models of Contextual Theology. It was a heady look at how the church has related to culture at different times and in different parts of the world. Different denominations and cultural settings have led to models like "church against culture" or "church of culture," one is like the fundamentalism of our day in which everything outside the church's doors is evil the other is basically government sponsored religion - what today's evangelical leaders are pushing with their unwavering support of Trump and right-wing politics. The book demonstrates a bunch of other models, but the "counter-cultural church in culture" seems the most faithful. The counter-cultural church remains in culture, connected to culture, demonstrating God's Kingdom and its opposition to empires of greed, wealth and power. The counter-cultural church is not anti-culture and its not pro-culture, it is a prophetic voice for the kingdom of God in culture, calling for change and bearing witness to Christ in the world.
Today the church has nearly lost its missional edge. The people of God must be relevant and transformative in culture if we are to live the gospel. We've lost sight of what a "counter-cultural" church could be. Today the dominant forms of religion around the world seem to be those that either side against culture or those that marry themselves with those in power for the sake of gaining their own power. This is what we seen in oppressive forms of Islam in which government and religion are one. We see the same thing in the dominant forms of the conservative American church, once anti-culture until an "anti-Christian" president gave them illusions of power. It seems we've really got things wrong today. And it all starts with our theology of Christ at work in the world being totally off. If we only see Christ at work in our worship services or in our church subcultures and not in the world, we're missing the true Christ, we're missing our missional call to bear witness to Christ in the world.
Today Christ is powerfully at work in the world, but the church doesn't recognize him. Christ is always drawing the young, the powerless, the oppressed to stand against the forces of empire and oppression that threaten their own existence. In any time, in any culture, all we need to do to see where the Spirit of Christ is working in the world is look for those who are courageously standing up for the poor, the outcast, those in need. Bonhoeffer in Germany, King in Montgomery, Susan B. Anthony for women's rights...
Today we are all in danger of losing so much. Today there are countless people, especially young people, standing up against the forces of empire. Just like Jesus standing against the Roman Empire. Just like Paul proclaiming Jesus as Lord and not Caesar, just like John writing the Apocalypse on the Island of Patmos. Young people today see the evil in the world that is destroying their future and even their present lives, and they are standing up against it. Jesus is with him. The Christ stands with those who stand up for others.
Greta Thunberg began striking for the climate in August of 2018. Today she is leading a global movement to force adults, for the empires of the world, for economic systems to urgently address climate change. The church now has a responsibility to do our part and call this movement what it is. It is up to the church to proclaim where Christ is at work in the world, where hope is being generated, and where people are taking action for social, environmental, racial and economic justice. The church has a massive opportunity now to let go of our fear and recognize Jesus in the faces of young people all over the world who are pleading with us to change our ways and save our common home. It is up to us, not the young people of the world, to save the planet. If you're over 18 and alive today, it's your responsibility to give our young people hope that they indeed have a future. It is the church's job to bear witness to the work of Jesus around the world now in and through acts of love, justice, mercy and restoration. Today Jesus is at work in Greta Thunberg and many other young, indigenous, black and brown skinned people around the world. Can you see Jesus? Do you have the eyes to recognize that Christ is the faces of these young people? Will the church bear witness to Jesus in them and in their work or will we remain fearful and insular, right on to the end. If we do this we have been unfaithful, we are not the true church of Jesus Christ. I do have hope, hope that the church is changing. I have hope that my denomination will listen to its own young people and divest our million or billions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. I have hope that we will use our prophetic voices to speak truth to empire and bear witness to the work of Christ in the world today.
The counter-cultural church bears witness to the work of Christ in culture while prophetically calling empire, greed and power out on the floor, creating change and standing for those in need. Today, things are different. Today we are all in more need than ever before as we face the reality of climate change. The church must act.
I took my three kids to the Pittsburgh climate strike in downtown last week. I was so impressed with the young people leading our city's movement to address climate change and our city's deplorable air quality. I have great hope in these kids, but only if we listen to them now. Change must happen now. These kids need to have hope in the adults and the leaders in their lives, not the other way around. Our children will not survive if the church and the leaders of our cities don't do the hard work of giving them hope through our decisive actions to address the injustices of the world today. Jesus is at work with them and in them, but the church needs to demonstrate hope and love to these kids. I pray that we can be their comfort, their hope, their support so that they can keep pushing for the change that we all need. This is our opportunity, our chance to be faithful to the mission of Jesus.
Today the church has nearly lost its missional edge. The people of God must be relevant and transformative in culture if we are to live the gospel. We've lost sight of what a "counter-cultural" church could be. Today the dominant forms of religion around the world seem to be those that either side against culture or those that marry themselves with those in power for the sake of gaining their own power. This is what we seen in oppressive forms of Islam in which government and religion are one. We see the same thing in the dominant forms of the conservative American church, once anti-culture until an "anti-Christian" president gave them illusions of power. It seems we've really got things wrong today. And it all starts with our theology of Christ at work in the world being totally off. If we only see Christ at work in our worship services or in our church subcultures and not in the world, we're missing the true Christ, we're missing our missional call to bear witness to Christ in the world.
Today we are all in danger of losing so much. Today there are countless people, especially young people, standing up against the forces of empire. Just like Jesus standing against the Roman Empire. Just like Paul proclaiming Jesus as Lord and not Caesar, just like John writing the Apocalypse on the Island of Patmos. Young people today see the evil in the world that is destroying their future and even their present lives, and they are standing up against it. Jesus is with him. The Christ stands with those who stand up for others.
Greta Thunberg began striking for the climate in August of 2018. Today she is leading a global movement to force adults, for the empires of the world, for economic systems to urgently address climate change. The church now has a responsibility to do our part and call this movement what it is. It is up to the church to proclaim where Christ is at work in the world, where hope is being generated, and where people are taking action for social, environmental, racial and economic justice. The church has a massive opportunity now to let go of our fear and recognize Jesus in the faces of young people all over the world who are pleading with us to change our ways and save our common home. It is up to us, not the young people of the world, to save the planet. If you're over 18 and alive today, it's your responsibility to give our young people hope that they indeed have a future. It is the church's job to bear witness to the work of Jesus around the world now in and through acts of love, justice, mercy and restoration. Today Jesus is at work in Greta Thunberg and many other young, indigenous, black and brown skinned people around the world. Can you see Jesus? Do you have the eyes to recognize that Christ is the faces of these young people? Will the church bear witness to Jesus in them and in their work or will we remain fearful and insular, right on to the end. If we do this we have been unfaithful, we are not the true church of Jesus Christ. I do have hope, hope that the church is changing. I have hope that my denomination will listen to its own young people and divest our million or billions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. I have hope that we will use our prophetic voices to speak truth to empire and bear witness to the work of Christ in the world today.
The counter-cultural church bears witness to the work of Christ in culture while prophetically calling empire, greed and power out on the floor, creating change and standing for those in need. Today, things are different. Today we are all in more need than ever before as we face the reality of climate change. The church must act.
I took my three kids to the Pittsburgh climate strike in downtown last week. I was so impressed with the young people leading our city's movement to address climate change and our city's deplorable air quality. I have great hope in these kids, but only if we listen to them now. Change must happen now. These kids need to have hope in the adults and the leaders in their lives, not the other way around. Our children will not survive if the church and the leaders of our cities don't do the hard work of giving them hope through our decisive actions to address the injustices of the world today. Jesus is at work with them and in them, but the church needs to demonstrate hope and love to these kids. I pray that we can be their comfort, their hope, their support so that they can keep pushing for the change that we all need. This is our opportunity, our chance to be faithful to the mission of Jesus.
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