Chis –
You have stirred The Great Angus and he wishes to address your comments. Our carnality makes us self serving by default. To me, that is the very definition of original sin. That is the underlying reason why the church ends up using the “believers only” defense for not helping the homeless guy at the intersection; or, the “he’ll just spend it on…” rationalization for not giving the beggar a dollar. What’s really bad is that the “believers only” defense doesn’t jive with Luke 6:27 – 49 or Matt 5:43 – Matt 6:7.
The “believers only” defense and our self serving nature has turned the modern church into very subject of Matt 23: 15-39. The world (the ones we are supposed to ministering to and serving) see us as a hypocritical, overly judgmental, joke. We serve ourselves by preaching and attacking rather than serving and loving. Why can’t we just be who Christ wants us to be? Why can’t we be like Christ at Matthew’s or Zacchaeus’s house for dinner?
There is so much work to do and so many different kinds of people to serve and we (the church) spend all of our time finding ways to rationalize our inaction.
I would be willing to guess that the same people who take “brothers of mine” so literally, would also be the ones that deny the real presence in communion. As Luther said, “is means is”.
The Great Angus thinks that its time to put up or shut up.
Angus has spoken – So let it be written. So let it be done
