The Injustice of Christian Individualism

The raving madness of a liberal trying to justify their madness with the Gospel. Total nonsense.

Why anyone would read anything from patheos.com is beyond me....

 
I don't think the American attitude if individualism and capatalism plays out very well in the body if Christ, I kinda agree with the article
 
Recovering IFB said:
I don't think the American attitude if individualism and capatalism plays out very well in the body if Christ, I kinda agree with the article
Click to expand...

Really????

Did Jesus rail against the economic system of Rome?
 
No, but He didn't establish of a government of the people for the people either, by the people either, ;)
 
[quote author=christundivided]Did Jesus rail against the economic system of Rome?[/quote]

Yes.
 
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21 ESV)

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets."

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." (Luke 6:20-26 ESV)

Especially...

And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21 ESV)

...and lots and lots of other passages contrasting the rich and the poor.
 
So.... what does this have to do with an economic system?

The rich and power exist throughout every economic system that has ever existed.... including Israel.

Name one in which this didn't exist. Just one?

Why are you blaming such conditions on an economic system instead of the individuals?  THE message of the Gospel has always been individual responsibility. The message of the Christ was individual responsibility. Judgement is about individual responsibility.
 
Ransom said:
Ransom said:
rsc2a said:
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Not really. How about you?
Click to expand...

So, I guess that's "no" then.

Couldn't have been all that interesting an article.
Click to expand...

It's obvious that you don't understand the compassion and intelligence of the emergents or care about the poor, needy or the chil'rin. Or else u would immediately take a vow of poverty and send your money to the poor.
If you want to do the right thing, I'll send you the address of a poor man....mine! :)
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
It's obvious that you don't understand the compassion and intelligence of the emergents or care about the poor, needy or the chil'rin.
Click to expand...

While that may certainly be true, it's more fundamentally true that I have no patience with posers who like to ask questions but never seem to suggest answers.
 
christundivided said:
So.... what does this have to do with an economic system?

The rich and power exist throughout every economic system that has ever existed.... including Israel.

Name one in which this didn't exist. Just one?
Click to expand...

And?

You haven't addressed the point, and that is that Jesus was specifically criticizing the Roman economic system, especially in the parable of the rich man and the barns.

[quote author=christundivided]Why are you blaming such conditions on an economic system instead of the individuals?  THE message of the Gospel has always been individual responsibility. The message of the Christ was individual responsibility. Judgement is about individual responsibility.[/quote]

Said no first-century Jew ever.

See also: Gen., Exod, Deut., Isaiah, Jer, Amos, Hosea, Hab, Jonah, Zech, Zeph, Dan, Obad, Mal, Matt, Rom, 1 Pet, Rev, and a bunch of others.
 
Ransom said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
It's obvious that you don't understand the compassion and intelligence of the emergents or care about the poor, needy or the chil'rin.
Click to expand...

While that may certainly be true, it's more fundamentally true that I have no patience with posers who like to ask questions but never seem to suggest answers.
Click to expand...

Sure. I answer questions. Plenty of them.

I posted the article to hopefully elevate the discourse, but if you're rather have 300 posts about CCM, another 200 about alcohol, 500 about the KJV, and none that consider how Christianity systemically affects the world, enjoy yourself.
 
rsc2a said:
I posted the article to hopefully elevate the discourse, but if you're rather have 300 posts about CCM, another 200 about alcohol, 500 about the KJV, and none that consider how Christianity systemically affects the world, enjoy yourself.
Click to expand...

Or, you could post a link to the article, ask for "thoughts," yet offer none of your own. You sound like a fourth-grader trying to get everyone else to do his book report for him.

As I said . . . no patience with posers or their vacuous non-opinions.
 
rsc2a said:
And?

You haven't addressed the point, and that is that Jesus was specifically criticizing the Roman economic system, especially in the parable of the rich man and the barns.
Click to expand...

Well... I thought I had. I was attempting to say what you posted has nothing to do with an economic system..... Maybe I failed in your eyes.... BUT... Its rather clear that Christ wasn't blasting the economic system itself...... but rather how the individual dealt with their condition with in that system.

Are you saying it doesn't have anything to do with how the individual deals with his position in any economic system?

Said no first-century Jew ever.

See also: Gen., Exod, Deut., Isaiah, Jer, Amos, Hosea, Hab, Jonah, Zech, Zeph, Dan, Obad, Mal, Matt, Rom, 1 Pet, Rev, and a bunch of others.
Click to expand...

Typical.... The first century "Jew"... Jesus Christ had plenty to say about personal responsibility. Why are you twisting His words?
 
Ransom said:
rsc2a said:
I posted the article to hopefully elevate the discourse, but if you're rather have 300 posts about CCM, another 200 about alcohol, 500 about the KJV, and none that consider how Christianity systemically affects the world, enjoy yourself.
Click to expand...

Or, you could post a link to the article, ask for "thoughts," yet offer none of your own. You sound like a fourth-grader trying to get everyone else to do his book report for him.

As I said . . . no patience with posers or their vacuous non-opinions.
Click to expand...

He's playing post police...... He is your typical liberal who wants to cry about supposed "injustices"..... if he can't really find any... He'll manufacture a few by distorting Scripture.
 
Ransom said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
It's obvious that you don't understand the compassion and intelligence of the emergents or care about the poor, needy or the chil'rin.
Click to expand...

While that may certainly be true, it's more fundamentally true that I have no patience with posers who like to ask questions but never seem to suggest answers.
Click to expand...

Is there a particular topic in which I haven't made my views known on here? I would bet most know my views on pretty much every matter we discuss here. Kind of odd for someone who "never seems to suggest answers". But then, I feel that discussion between Christians should consist of more than name calling.

As far as the particular article I posted, I realize it was deeper than the "Is CCM/drinking/bikini-wearing evil?" threads that are so prevalent here, but I would hope the ones would would rather discuss more substantive issues would eventually outnumber the folks who want to talk about Schaap's latest gossip.

As far as the article in question, I agree with the author that our churches generally seem to function on some kind of caste system with the equality spoken of by Jesus, Paul, and James just winked at where it is not outright ignored. And I think that a lot of that is driven because we (especially Western Christians) don't often pay attention to the lenses by which we see the world, lenses that create a broken and distorted picture of what Creation is supposed to look like, lenses that cause us to ignore the systemic problems with how the world operates, systems that we have brought into our churches. Instead of transforming our worldview to align more closely with the ideals of God as presented in Scripture, we allow our own fallen worldviews to invade His called-out Body.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top