And now the time is finally here to talk about the word perfect. Like when Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It is one of those phrases that Evangelicals love to point to when talking about the necessity of moral perfection. I am pretty sure the text on that million dollar bill with the million dollar question I talked about back in episode six, included a bit about perfection. It is all part of an evangelism spiel that says if you are not perfect than you deserve hell unless Jesus saves you. There are just two small problems … Greek and context. I will unpack each.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptWhat Do Children Do?Don’t Go. Make Disciples!What Is God Like?From Murder to MeeknessAdultery vs. Loving AnotherDivorcing LoopholesHonestly to HonestyJesus’ Resistance RevolutionReframing SpiritualityBe-Attitudes or BeatitudesSalt of the EarthLight of the WorldHow Do You Fulfill the LawLiving By SoulA Spirit of LoveLiving By SpiritSeries Links

If you live in the United States of America, odds are, you don’t know your enemies. This is true of the people you perceive to be your enemies and your actual enemies. So how can we take Jesus’ words about loving our enemies seriously? Let me expand a bit.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptWhat Is God Like?Divided States of America?Republicans: The Single Greatest Threat to American DemocracyWhy the Corrupt Media Might Be Our Nations Biggest ThreatMitch McConnell Pays Tribute to Joe BidenThe Truth About Division?Series Links

What do we do when God isn’t like God? When I say that I am pointing to those parts of the Bible that portray God as doing something other than, for example, causing the sun to rise on the evil and the good.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptWhat Is God Like?Divorce LoopholesTurning the Other CheekA Spirit of LoveWhat Do Children Do?Series Links

What is God like? Or maybe, since this is an exploration of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a better question would be, “What is the God Jesus calls Father, like?”

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptionSermon on the Mount – IntroductionWhat Children DoDenver Area Funeral OfficiantSeries Links

What do children do?

While there is so much to cover in the next segment of the Sermon on the Mount, I think that is the first essential question we need to reflect on. 

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptUnder Saturn’s Shadow by James Hollis (affiliate)Baylor Religion SurveyMy DissertationSeries Links

This week explored what can only be described as Jesus’ resistance revolution. After all, embracing the resistance wisdom of Jesus invites dramatic social change. That is the ultimate point of being the light of the world. By shining in the darkness you expose injustice and invite cultural transformation.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptLight of the WorldTurn the Other CheekGet Naked as an Act of ResistanceThe Second MileGiving and Receiving MercyLiving By SpiritA Spirit of LoveJesus Taught the Kingdom of HeavenSeries Links

Like and turning the other cheek and getting naked, going the second mile is an act of resistance. It is part of a reframed spirituality that seeks to upend the power structures in the ancient world. It exposes injustice and insists on a recognition of universal human dignity. As with our previous examples of resistance, I lean heavily on the research of Walter Wink. This time, it focuses specifically on occupying Roman armies.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptTurn the Other CheekGet Naked as an Act of Resistance!Reframing SpiritualityLight of the WorldThe Powers That Be by Walter Wink (affiliate)What It Looks Like Inside an Amazon Warehouse NowWarehouses with John OliverInside the Hellish Workday of An Amazon Warehouse EmployeeSeries List

Jesus’ exploration of his reframed spirituality continues with a series of teachings on resistance. This sounds odd for two reasons. One, in the United States we just had four years of liberal “resistance” revolving around Donald Trump. The other is that most of our Bibles have a translation that is something like, “Do not resist an evildoer.” So let me unpack this a bit.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptReframing SpiritualityJesus Taught the Kingdom of HeavenBlessed Are the MeekGiving and Receiving MercyWho Are the Peacemakers?Living By SpiritA Spirit of LoveThe Evangelical Vote on ThroughlineLight of the WorldSeries List

While this entire week of posts feels exposing, perhaps none more than one on honesty. That is right, despite decades of struggle with anger and adultery, despite two divorces, honesty is what hits home hardest. Perhaps because I know all the rest flows from my inability to be honest. So to avoid any allure of hypocrisy, I am going to talk about me. I am going to talk about my honestly to honesty journey.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptFrom Murder to MeeknessAdultery vs. Loving AnotherDivorcing Loopholes1984 by George Orwell (affiliate)Abundance Reconstructed CommunitySeries Links

As Jesus continues reframing spirituality he explores divorce and more generally, sin avoidance loopholes. Again, if we skip the broader context, we miss this. If we miss the big picture, we start making rules about when people can and cannot divorce. Similar rules come up about remarriage. This is largely why the church is infamous for telling a woman to stay with an abusive husband. After all, he might hit her or verbally assault her, but he did not cheat.

Helpful Links

Episode TranscriptReframing SpiritualitySalt of the EarthAdultery vs. Loving AnotherThe Pure in HeartTeaching to ObeyLiving By SpiritLight of the WorldHow Do You Fulfill the Law?Series Links