Stoking outrage
scorched by fire and brimstone
the preacher enflames
the raging congregation
fists raised
hearts closed
A Gospel of Peace
When I think about the teachings of Jesus, I am reminded of the phrase, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Messages rooted in love tend to produce empathy, humility, and open hearts. Messages rooted in fear and anger often produce the opposite. The challenge is not simply to listen to what is being said, but to pay attention to what those words inspire people to become.
My Ideas Aren’t New
There is nothing original about the ideas behind this post. In fact, many writers and theologians have expressed them better than I ever could. C. S. Lewis warned about self-righteousness and tribal thinking in The Screwtape Letters and identified pride as the root of countless other sins in Mere Christianity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged performative faith and comfortable religion in The Cost of Discipleship. Leo Tolstoy questioned the gap between the teachings of Jesus and the behavior of those who claimed to follow him in The Kingdom of God Is Within You. Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination explores how authentic faith calls people away from fear and toward justice, mercy, and hope. If this poem resonates with you, I encourage you to spend time with these thinkers. Their voices are wiser, deeper, and far more enduring than my own.