If Jesus Gave a TED Talk
The Patheos Blog has started a fab series which re-imagine Jesus’ sermons as TED Talks where “in which he Educates people in God’s new Design for a world that runs on the Technology called love.”
Here’s a snippet from the first one of the series:
Blessed are the poor, because this oppressive political-economic system is going down in flames.
Woe to you who are rich. Same reason.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, because a big plate full of that is on its way.
Blessed are those at the bottom of the heap, because the heap’s about to get turned.
You are the salt of the earth; and from the ashes of this civilization, we are going to cook up something really tasty.
Do not think I am a doomer. I have not come to abolish your hopes but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth: Not the smallest good dream from the most obscure sage, seer, or prophet shall by any means go unaccomplished.
Humans have a long history of trying to build good and just civilizations, which have an equally long history of destroying themselves. Some among us today are experts in civilization design, but the new kind of society God is building in the world right now—it’s going to leave the experts in the dust. What we’re creating will transcend the inevitable rise and fall of civilizations.
It’s time to re-think everything you thought you knew about designing human communities:
1. Re-think POWER. You have heard it said: “Thou shalt not murder,” but I say we can do better than that. Imagine a society that resists all kinds of violence, even its “soft” forms where we dehumanize one another through language, litigation, and scapegoating. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, don’t take to fighting; don’t take to flight; instead, take a stand. Wage peace aggressively. Love thy enemy. For real.
2. Re-think SEX. You have heard it said: “Thou shalt not cheat on your partner,” but I say we can do better than that. Imagine a society that resists all kinds of sexual dehumanization and exploitation. People are not sexual objects for us to acquire and then discard. It’s time for our species to explore the frontiers of what it means to be faithful to one another.
Read more at patheos.com, the second in the series is found here.
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