JC's Village

Radical love. Radical courage. Radical grace. Radical generosity. There was a time when these were the usual ways bureaucrats, political leaders, and the powered-and-moneyed elite of the day referred to Christians - a term which was originally meant to be derogatory and essentially meant "mini-Jesus". Jesus' followers co-opted the insult - because it so succinctly captured their sincerest and deepest hope - to BE a mini Jesus.

They earned this insult-turned-compliment by ... taking food - and even more importantly - Kindness - to prisons where young roman men were being held as they were marched to conscripted military duty - even if it cost them their lives, by selling off land to help feed orphans and widows, by crying out against what took advantage of the most vulnerable. These things were so radical to the Romans at large - that they felt threatened by them. They had other insults for the early Christ-followers too - one of my favorites was "pagan" - because Christians didn't believe in the roman pantheon. But the threat roman leaders felt by the Christian movement was real - they saw it as a force of social power that could destabilize the stabilizing effects of meaningless routine - the "bread and circuses" that those in charge used to keep the citizens cozily asleep in Pax Romana

I have a sneaking suspicion that what bothers most mini-Jesus's today about the current batch of derogatory terms we get painted with is the way they also hit the nail on the head - but not a nail we're proud of.

But the really good news is that there's probably an opportunity to be radical right now not far from where you are. Can you see it?