And they came to him again, and said, ‘No really, who IS our neighbor’?
And He said, ‘that bag lady on the corner inexplicably talking on a cell phone’
The more leftist of the group kind of liked that answer, but they all wondered how in hades the bag lady could afford an honest-to-god flip-top cell phone.
But, then He had more to say, ‘Jerry Falwell was your neighbor’…
One of the more vocal of the bunch exploded: “you’re f***ing kidding me. That jackass set the movement back three hundred years. He is the poster child of how people confuse the church with your message. I’m glad that guy finally bit the big one’.
He said, “I didn’t say you had to like him. Do you want to hear more about your neighbors”
Suddenly they all had appointments and things that must be tended to and left the mountaintop. One of them was heard muttering as he descended to the valley, ‘If that prick was really my neighbor, I’d move’.
16 Comments
May 15, 2007 at 6:55 pm
You just made me laugh so hard that I got the hiccups.
May 15, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Point taken, but Falwell was still a contemptible bastard. He was the type the Carpenter Dude kicked out of the Temple that day he pitched such a fit.
May 15, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Point taken, but Falwell was still a contemptible bastard.
Was the point TRULY taken?
May 15, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I think maybe it wasn’t, KC.
Amen–and ouch–Hutchmo.
May 15, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Man, I really like the gospel of John.
May 15, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I love this. It’s what I wanted to say on my own blog, but all I could muster was to just ask people to be nice for the sake of his family. Thanks [says the youth, with no ironic shackle in sight].
May 15, 2007 at 8:23 pm
[...] the lip service we like to pay from time to time about mercy, forgiveness and humility, I believe Hutchmo is [...]
May 15, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I think maybe it wasn’t, KC
Sure it was, Rob. But there’s that whole “hate the sin, love the sinner” thing (which the evangelical Right loves to quote). I have ‘thumpers in my own family as rabid as Falwell, and I love them because I know them, and because they’re family, and because they fit the definition of “neighbor.” That doesn’t make their world views any less odious. People like Falwell are a toxin in our society, and it is perfectly within the Christian framework to recognize them as such. He was a noxious bastard. He was human, and therefore worthy of respect and personal love and empathy. But he was still a divisive, hateful bastard in his words and deeds.
May 16, 2007 at 7:07 am
John, thanks for another installment. Please make sure to compile these one day; I swear they’d make a good book.
I want to post on this later, but there’s no way I can top Hutchmo’s simple, elegant way of putting things.
But Russ, you remind me of a phenomenon that seems to dovetail with the advent of the internet:
We now believe that a person’s views are the person. Our views are “us”. This could not be more wrong. Our views and opinions are a very,very very small part of our being.
I am a conservative, but that’s maybe 25 on the list of what makes me “me”. I am a follower of Christ, a father, husband, church member, computer programmer, keyboard player, Vandy fan, overemotional weight loss expert. And so much more.
These are the kinds of things we mourn when one passes; especially for the children, the wife, the fellow church members, the coworkers, the bandmates, the fellow fans.
When I go, if I go before my wife, the last thing she’ll remember is my view on homosexuality.
When we can stop putting people in little boxes, even people who do a little “boxing” themselves, and just see each other as struggling, scared, flawed people, no better or worse than ourselves, this is when progress can be made.
May 16, 2007 at 10:55 am
Well done.
May 16, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Brilliant, as usual.
May 16, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I liked it, John. Your thoughts reminded me of Philip Yancy’s book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” We can spot the need for grace in other people, but too often we assume that the grudges we hold are well-deserved. Good job, bro.
May 16, 2007 at 2:29 pm
[...] really want this man to write a [...]
May 16, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Thanks for the exhortation John.
Russ said, I have ‘thumpers in my own family as rabid as Falwell, and I love them because I know them, and because they’re family, and because they fit the definition of “neighbor.” Well Russ, if you care what “the Carpenter Dude” said, you ought to read the parable of the Good Samaritan.
May 16, 2007 at 3:34 pm
[...] Salem’s Lots: And they came to him again, and said, ‘No really, who IS our neighbor’? [...]
May 16, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Jesus said that we should do good to those who persecute us, so that we might be able to win them over.
Ok, that’s how we should have treated the man.
But on understanding just what was wrong with what he did we have this from the bible:
1 Corinthians 13
Love
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.