Inappropriate Conversations

“I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositaries of the various creeds and have a personal interest in their survival. As a practicing Catholic I was particularly close to the Catholic priests, with some of whom I soon established a certain intimacy. I expressed my astonishment and revealed my doubts to each of them; I found that they all agreed with each other except about details; all thought that the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that.”

Matthew 26:14-16 (to betray Jesus, the chief priests paid Judas 30 pieces of silver)

"If you make it impossible for people to make you happy, then people will lose interest in whether you are happy or not."

John 21:15-19 (after breakfast, Jesus tells Peter that the way to love him is to care for the flock he described in John 10, one that included sheep Peter may not have considered to be eligible to join into one flock)

"Once I get them to tell me about the God they don't believe in, it turns out I don't believe in that God either."

John 21:1-14 (after His death and resurrection, after appearing to Mary and others, Jesus surprises his fisherman followers when he stops for a seaside breakfast meeting)

"The door is only as open as the mind inside the office."

Luke 24:13-35 (Jesus met some of his followers, probably not inner circle but believers, as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus; they didn’t recognize him)

“People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense.”

John 20:19-31 (the demand of Thomas for proof and evidence gives us the name Doubting Thomas, along with the meme “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”!)

"I remember the time that you told me, you said, 'Love is touching souls.' Well, surely you touched mine because part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time."

John 4:1-30 (despite what most evangelicals today would describe as “living in sin” when she met Jesus at a well, He sent this Samaritan woman off to share the Gospel, telling people in her town Whom she had just met … and He didn’t order her first to move out of her living arrangement or “sin no more”)

"Old James Dean Monroe hands out flowers at the Shop-N-Go, hopes for money but all he gets is fear. And the wind blows up his coat, and this he scribbles on a perfume note: 'If I'm not here, then you're not here.'"

Matthew 28:11-15 (the right amount of bribery can hide/ignore almost anything)

"I rope-a-dope with righteous bobbin' and weavin', and let the good get even."

Mark 15:16-20 (abuses of power included assault, spitting, mocking, and more)

"But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet -- and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short, I was afraid."

Matthew 14:1-14 (it’s shocking that the execution of a prophet as a prize for an impromptu dance at a birthday isn’t the most offensive thing about the fate of John the Baptist, whose head was “served” on a platter before party guests)

"Sometimes shalom is disruptive. Sometimes peace making makes people uncomfortable. Sometimes these are conversations we'd rather not have or truth we would rather not acknowledge. Speaking truth to power is rarely comfortable for anyone."

Matthew 12:1-14 (whether by healing people or picking grain, Jesus broke the law constantly in the eyes of his legalistic critics)