Fools for Christ

I'm on vacation with my family this week, but in reflecting on the significance of Easter, I thought I'd share this passage from one of my books, The Call to Conversion. In a world wracked by war and violence, we are a people whose life and faith are rooted in the resurrection.

What is the good news? When all that sin had done, or could ever do, was laid on Jesus, it did not overcome him. Death could not swallow him. The grave was denied its victory. The witness of history and of his followers is that "he is risen." He is alive. He has triumphed over all. He is the victor over every sin, hate, fear, violence, and death. Nothing is stronger than his victory -- nothing past, nothing present, and nothing future.

On Easter morning, and each day of our lives, we celebrate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which triumphs over every other reality. In the face of the world and its systems, we proclaim the resurrection, saying, "We have seen the Lord." We see him in the lives of our brothers and sisters. We discover him in the faces of the poor, in the faces of all the victims, and in the faces of our children. We see him in the lives of Christians who have suffered and died because they believed. And we see the Lord in the bread and the wine. He shows us, as he did his disciples, the evidence of his suffering. He invites us to reach out, take, eat, and drink; he wants us to remember him, to see him, and to know his victory.

His way is life. The world's way is death. We can now stand before the world's false realities and securities, free to deny them, denounce them, and remove ourselves from them. We stand before the reality of the resurrection and confess with the first disciples that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

We stand before the world as fools. We are foolish enough to believe that Jesus' way is stronger and truer than the way of the world. We rest secure in the knowledge that he has, and will, overcome. We are called to be fools for Christ, a people saved by his cross and converted, finally, by his resurrection.

May God convert us to such foolishness.

Jim Wallis is the author of The Great Awakening, Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.

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Comments

[MajorKong]

Jesus didn't say to worship him. He said to follow him, which is far more difficult.

[larry278]

To give you the contempt which you & all Christians have so richly earned, Preacher your blog is a screed which wrongly sells Christian myth as being applicable in the 21st century. Secular Humanism is suitable for 21st minds who are disgusted by Christian myths. Easter celebrates the impossible fiction of a man dying & rejoining the living after 3 days. The whole of Christian myths is a patchwork of recycled myths taken from the menu of myths of older religions.
larry lynch

[jackbeanstalk]

Larry, you make sweeping statements about something you don't fully understand. Whether a mythical or historically correct, the teachings of Christ are lofty and beautiful. There is an expression... "cut off the head and tail... and eat the fish". The problem is that many people call themselves "Christians", while not living the word of Christ. This is no reason to be contemptuous of all Christians. Not judging others harshly is a great way to start feeling better about life. Give it a try.

[jackbeanstalk]

When I hear people say that Christ is the only way, I ask that they go deeper. It is Christ's WAY that is the only way... and that way is to treat others as He would treat us... with unconditional Love. To accept those who have committed sins.. not to shun them... to accept and understand and forgive. The way of fear and hatred of others who are different... that is the way of the world.

[NoSillyName]

Sorry, I don't believe in religious myths. At the time christianity was imposed on the pagan populations, all the pagan nature celebrations were renamed and reframed. The celebration of the Spring Equinox became Easter. The rebirth of flowers, fruits, and all things that come alive in the Spring was turned into the resurrection story of a man, supposedly the son of god. Same with Christmas or the birth of christ; it was all about the Winter Solstice. These completely natural events were twisted into a means of propagandizing a new belief system and controlling the populace. The conflict between believers of different religious systems has been and remains the biggest cause of war ever to plague our Earth. Just look at the new Crusade, even called that by the Crusader-in-Chief, of christianity vs. islam. How any intelligent, adult human can still profess to believe these fairy tales strains credulity. Amen.

[realpolitic]

I would beg to differ with Rev. Wallis on one very minor point. He says: "We see him in the lives of Christians who have suffered and died because of what they believe." I believe we can see Jesus in all that suffer and not only Christians. Jesus healed all those who asked and did not require a test of faith. Asking for forgiveness and to be healed showed faith enough. Even for those who recognize Jesus as a philsopher or prophet, he was still a great man with a wonderfully morally uplifting message of forgiveness and helping he poor.

[desmirl]

In the almost 2,000 years it's been around, Christianity hasn't seemed to work. It hasn't prevented wars, it hasn't made people think before they engage in some vicious act, it hasn't moved the global society toward peace. It itsn't a useful philosophy because it isn't grounded in fact--only stories that were invented by pre-literate people in an attempt to understand the world in which they lived.

[hrholmes]

... and every time he sees his shadow we get 6 more weeks of bad winter weather.

[thefixisin]

I will take my chances on who the fool is here Jim.The ones that believe as I do, or the ones that bash as you do.

[JeffDeVore]

Gee, Mr Wallis, I scrolled throught the page waiting for the punchline. Something like how foolish it was to believe all this mumbo-jumbo mythology in the face of the reality of the world. Instead, you lay on about how what is REALLY happening is a 'false reality" and the fairy tale version you have mesmerized yourself with is real. Sorry, dude. Tell it to the worms.

[fairwitness]

Due respect, sir, but you have not "seen him". You think, you imagine, you wish, you exhalt in identifying emotionally with the idea of him, but you have not "seen" him--except metaphorically, which is NOT the same as "seeing" in the sense you imply. You should be honest about that. Why invoke a certainty that is obviously pretense? It only testifies to a foolishness beyond that you celebrate.

The sentiments are lofty, but pretending to know that which you do not is not. It serves to undermine the essential and human message--love for all, forgiveness, awakening to our miraculous nature, surrender to a greater Being--and if such a sensibility can't stand on its own merits, no amount of mythic pretense will make it so.

Jesus, surely *A* Christ, but just-as-surely not *THE ONLY* Christ, (unless you are completely ignorant of the mystic history of the world's awakened ones), apparently didn't claim to be more than human, but sought to redefine what that IS; it ill serves his so-called "good news"--that we are ALL "sons of God", equally and identically made as he was, just less awakened--to ascribe evidence-free, mythological, supernaturalness to any man. It's a fatal distraction from the urgency of the now-thickly-veiled message about our true identity and the source of our life.

Preacherly bombast is thrilling, but converts only the choir. Point us deeper, please.

[sugarmoes]

the resurrection is within.

[mountainmama]

I clicked to reply to this comment at random--can't otherwise seem to log in.

My comment is about the poster's words: "The world's way is death." Obscene. It is the lie of churches and religions that the world is not already holy, already good and full of promise, already good and full of enchantment. They say, It is dead. But, they say, through us you can realize all that is holy and good and full of promise and full of enchantment. Just leave your dollar at the door and bring your pot to the potluck.

And, er, lotsa luck.

I'm going outside and fill my lungs with that good live-giving air.

[Henry]

Haven't we just been watching the 2000 version of "money changers" in action? Is there anyone who will "throw" the demons out? Jesus...where are you when we need you?

[goldcoastsailor]

He is risen. Sounds like a viagra commercial.

[LeftRight]

What about those of us who don't believe in that? Those of us who are still moral, good people, but who simply don't believe that 2000 years ago a man rose from the dead?

[1dogs2]

We can continue to do what we've always done: look at others and see our common needs, our common problems and our common humanity, and do what we can to make the world a better place for all of us. It requires that we tolerate whatever theological underpinnings equally compassionate people require to arrive at the same understanding of our common humanity, rejecting only religious bigotry and not religion itself.

[LeftRight]

And I do respect those who believe. In fact, I usually ENVY those like my in laws who are all true believers. However, I also expect respect in return.

[Blazhay]

HuffPost's Pick

That's fine. It doens't make you less of a person, neither does it make you more of a person. Basically, all the man is doing is sharing his faith with everyone in a respectful manner. Humans are driven by faith in general. That's why we sit on chairs without checking to see if it's sturdy enough. That's why we purchase bottled water from known brands and assume it's clean without running all kinds of test to determine it's purity.

That's also why we that believe, belive in Jesus Christ. We took a leap of faith, based on convictions and for most of us, our faith has been rewarded based on our personal experiences with our religious beliefs. That would also apply to people of other religions.

Just like it's highly inappropriate for a Christian to degrade other religions and those that do not believe in God, it's also highly inappropriate for non-believers and people of other faiths to degrade Christianity. that's the essence of tolerance and free speech. We can disagree without being disagreeable, and we can have this dialogue about faith, while being respective of other people's creed.

[NoSillyName]

Blazhay, the christians I've known, both long time believers and born again ones, think we who don't believe are the fools because they "know" the "truth" and we're just poor misguided losers. The christians I've known never stop proselytizing and telling me to join a "bible believing church" as that will solve all of my problems. That gets real old real fast and I've had to end at least one friendship because I became sick of my once intelligent friend reverting to the mindset of an uneducated peasant of 2000 years ago. I realize some people need to find comfort through some kind of faith. I prefer to think and study and use the brain I was born with. If there is a god, it would want me to use that brain to my full capacity, don't you think? Or don't you think?

[LeftRight]

Blazhay,

Thank you for restoring my faith in people. Although I'm not a christian, I envy those who truly are, such as my in-laws. However, I have always demanded equal respect from those who believe, and I get it from my in-laws. Now I also know that I get it from people like you!

[rixhex56]

Blazhey,

Your statement, "Humans are driven by faith in general", indicates a serious misunderstanding of human nature. Interestingly, the examples you use to demonstrate your point are complete opposites from what religions advocate. The "faith" behind sitting in a chair, or buying a particular brand of ANYTHING, is based on actual direct knowledge of the entity, not the blind belief that is required in religion.

Also, the assertion that it is "inappropriate" to "degrade Christianity" is not substantive simply because Christianity, and all the organized monotheistic brands of religion, have earned such degradation through their hypocrisy and blatant exploitation of humanity. What you say you receive through your "personal experiences with [your] religious beliefs" can also be achieved by simply living a good life without the religious b.s. dogma that comes with organized religions that seek to control people and garner political power.

[wondering]

"Basically, all the man is doing is sharing his faith with everyone in a respectful manner. "

No, actually the man is promoting a primitive belief system which requires its adherents to abdicate their humanity and become slaves to the irrational.

Many, many of us who post here feel that religion is a dangerous, irrational, anti-human pursuit. Just read most of the comments that follow religious articles on Huffpo. Atheists realize that it would be the height of nihilism to sit on our hands, say nothing, and just laugh at all the True Believers making fools of themselves. We love our species, and we want to see it shake off the chains of religious ignorance. Besides, the tolerance you seem to require of atheists, is never returned by True Believers.

[Net]

LeftRight, I've got a brother who fits your description and some have said he will die the first agnostic saint. I, however, pray for him daily, that he believes in "the fairy tale" as he calls it, so he will up his chances of sainthood. You might want to read up on the subject of Christianity ... and hopefully someone will have something to say that is compelling enough for you to keep searching.
http://cathlete.net

[LeftRight]

Actually, I have studied Christianity, and Islam, and Hinduism, and Judaism, and every major religion in the world. I was raised as an Episcopalian, so I know the dogma, but when I had a life changing event as a teenager, I found that I could no longer believe what I was taught as a youngster. I then spent the next almost decade studying, and found that I couldn't believe ANY of the religions. I do, however, believe in a god, and would consider myself to be a deist. However, I do not believe in Jesus.

[GOP4MoreTears]

That has been written also, ONLY By Christ shall you enter the Kingdom.

[LeftRight]

Ah, yes, but all the evidence shows that the Bible was not only WRITTEN by men, but that it was EDITED by men. There is no evidence that god was ever involved in the process....