The serious problems with being a Red-letter Christian
'Red-letter Christians' is a motion or network started in the States, but now coming to the UK, (primarily) initiated past Tony Campolo with the back up of Jim Wallis. Aslope Campolo, another main contributor is Shane Claiborne, a leader in the New Monasticism motion. The name of the movement comes from the practise in some Bibles of printing the words of Jesus in cerise, every bit Campolo explains:
During a radio interview with Jim Wallis, the DJ happened to say, "And so, you're one of those Red-Alphabetic character Christians–yous know–who'south really into those verses in the New Testament that are in cherry letters!" Jim answered, "That's right!" And with that answer, he spoke for all of u.s.a.. … In adopting this name, we are saying that we are committed to living out the things that He said. Of course, the message in those red-lettered verses is radical, to say the least. If you don't believe me, read Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew v-vii).
This commitment is a response to 2 bug: the social reality of life in contemporary America; and the style that evangelical Christians in that location are all as well often aligned with the political correct. Campolo hopes that this new movement will non simply take a position within these politico-religious culture wars, but offering a not-partisan approach that transcends the divide:
The purpose of this gathering wasnon to create a religious left movement to claiming the religious right, but to jump-first a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics. Believing that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, we want to unite Christians who are concerned about what is happening in America.
He so lists the social issues that are of concern—inequality, the environment, education, overseas development aid, and discrimination. I don't retrieve I would disagree with whatever of these issues, as you could see from wandering around this web log. It is worth noting, however, that Campolo'south proposal of transcending the right/left divide looks somewhat disingenuous hither, as these are all 'left'-blazon issues. Where is the mention of parenting and the scandal of a fatherless generation? Where the need for a sense of personal moral responsibility? These classically 'right' problems also accept a good claim to be rooted in Christian values.
More than importantly, I remember focussing on the 'ruddy letter' words of Jesus is the wrong way to address these bug. In fact, this approach offers considerable problems of its own.
The first danger is that information technology detaches Jesus from his Jewish context by declining to read his words in the context of the Hebrew Bible (Old Attestation) that Jesus himself read. Ane of the refrains on the website is 'If Jesus didn't talk nearly it, why is information technology then important?' Merely, as Wes Loma points out, this has never been the main way Christians engage with ethics, and information technology is potentially highly misleading.
Contrary to the "ruby-red-alphabetic character Christians" experiment, it is simply non a archetype Christian do—amidst Catholics, Orthodox, or Protestants—to pit the words (or silence) of Jesus over against other portions of Scripture.
And if nosotros do, this very quickly leads to a neo-Marcionite position, where we contrast the (rather nasty and obsessive) god of the Old Testament with the radical and inspiring message of Jesus. Apart from annihilation else, this is incoherent and unnecessary. If you want to look for resource for a radical alternative to consumerism, y'all tin can practice no ameliorate than turn to Lev 25 and read the teaching on the Jubilee—every bit many other Christians take in fact done. Here we notice a radically communitarian vision of life under the reign of God where we practise not ain our possessions but are simply stewards of them. And in the gospels, Jesus is mostly presented as afulfilment of such a vision, not a contradiction to it.
The second danger is that this arroyo dehistoricises Jesus. In removing him from his Jewish theological context, nosotros also remove him from his historical context and treat what he says as though they were timeless statements of truth which need no interpretation. Ironically, this has a similar effect to the one imposed past the Jesus Seminar, a group of historically sceptical scholars who believe we demand to recover the historically authentic words of Jesus from the layers of later theological additions. To practice this, one criterion utilize is the 'criterion of dissimilarity'; nosotros tin can be confident that something is from Jesus if it isuntypical of both his Jewish context and the later teaching of the church building. Merely this is not a way to find the authentic Jesus; it is a manner to discover the eccentric Jesus. And by focussing on his radical sayings, the RLC movement does the same.
Ane consequence of this is a mutual simply bizarre exclamation that Jesus was not particularly religious—or that the main people he had a problem with were the religious people. Andrew Wilson deals with this deftly:
"The only time Jesus drew a line, it wasreligious people who were on the other side." Well, since pretty much everyone in the Mediterranean world in the commencement century was religious, including a certain circumcised, Torah-observant, festival-keeping Jewish Messiah, that's non a particularly striking claim.Everyone in that scene (John 8:ane-xi) was religious. And so what?
This has immediate implications for our approach to discipleship. I am the last person to defend the thought that truth is to be found in a religious institution rather than relationship with Jesus. Just in fact nosotros all demand 'religion', if by this we hateful a tradition and pattern of devotion into which nosotros are inducted with others. That is why the disciples saw no need to stop their regular visits to the temple (Acts 2.46, Acts 3.1) even afterwards Jesus was raised and the Spirit poured out. If nosotros are non shaped by these habits, it all becomes a affair of individual effort, and we cease up with what Richard Foster in Celebration of Subject field called 'will worship.'
The third danger is that the RLC approach emasculates our theology. It is very clear from even a cursory reading of the NT that the first disciples, whilst they attended very advisedly to the teaching of Jesus, proclaimed a skilful bargain more than that. Jesus was not just someone who told us things we did not know; in his resurrection God had done something we could non do. That is the centre of Peter'due south teaching in Acts ii; that is clearly the message of Paul in Acts 17. Fifty-fifty in the gospels themselves, Jesus' teaching can never be separated from his miracles. In fact, the later apostolic teaching about Jesus is presented very strongly in continuity with the didactics of Jesus. Wes Hill once again:
The unfolding of the New Attestation catechism presents itself as thecontinuation of Jesus' speech, and then much so that Paul's words in Romans one and i Corinthians six and elsewhere well-nigh sexual behavior are to be read as having the authority of the same Jesus who allegedly said nothing about homosexuality during his earthly life. Notice how Paul describes his identity: "Paul, an apostle—non from men nor through man, simply through Jesus Christ and God the Male parent, who raised him from the dead…" (Galatians one:i).
If we focus only on the teaching of Jesus, we are aligning ourselves with the Gnostics; the and so-chosen 'gospel' of Thomas, which contains 114 sayings of Jesus, is no gospel at all, since a 'gospel' announces good news nigh what God has washed.
My friend John Allister commented (on a previous edition of this postal service):
Added to which, it presupposes a crazy notion of translation. Nosotros've just got a handful of ipsissima verba – talitha koum, etc. The remainder are already in translation (albeit divinely inspired translation, often by those who knew Jesus well), which necessarily changes the shades of pregnant. Given that we trust John's translation of Jesus' words, which can probably be fairly free at times, why shouldn't we trust his didactics about the consequences of Jesus' words?
The irony of all this is that focussing on the 'red messages' is non what is need, nor does it deliver what is necessary. 1 of the 'trending' articles on the website explores the thought that 'Being built-in again is not almost Going to Sky'. The articles draws on the writings of Tom Wright—hardly a 'cherry-red letter Christian' but in fact a renowned Pauline scholar. Another related articles loudly proclaims 'The Bible Isn't Perfect And Information technology Says And then Itself.' Information technology is arguing against the notion of biblical 'inerrancy', just is probably one of the worst examples of engaging with this event I can recollect of. It suggests that, because ii Tim 3.sixteen says that Scripture is 'God-breathed' so information technology is not God. And but God is perfect. And then Scripture is non perfect.
My mom isn't perfect. She would be the first one to tell you then. She has several degrees and a lifetime of experience, but she would also tell you she'due south not inerrant.
And the Bible is like that. Nosotros become to it for wise advice, but it is not perfect. This is the most bloodcurdling logic—and quite the contrary of what Paul intended in two Tim three.xvi! The reason for the trouble is that the writer of this is locked into the aforementioned assumptions as the people he is criticising—that the reverse of 'inerrant' is 'errant' then the Bible must be one of these two. But in fact the existent trouble that needs to exist tackled is the background of nineteenth-century rationalism which is framing this whole discussion.
What is actually needed here is not to read less of the Bible, Jesus' words alone, but to read more of it. If Campolo and others are concerned that ballgame and homosexuality are taking up too much of evangelicals' attention, and then the answer to that is to locate these issues in the whole of the Scriptural witness, and give them due weight—no more, and no less. Campolo is incorrect that the master issue for Christians in America is inequality, or poverty, or bigotry. The master problem there, as hither, and in every place, is that all have sinned; that the kingdom of God is at hand but we demand to repent. If some Christians twist this into a right-wing, moralistic, individualised bulletin, so the solution is not to try and 'transcend' these issues, just to engage with them in a better reading of the whole Bible that we all share.
(A version of this article was kickoff posted in 2014—but since the RLC movement has now announced it is coming to the U.k., information technology felt appropriate to post this again.)
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