Christendom is to the Kingdom of God as cancer is to the human body. It's a corruption that insidiously warps and seeks to kill our Lord's spiritual vision. That's why it's beyond tragic that so many Jesus followers today hear the words "Kingdom of God" and conceive of something vaguely akin to Medieval Christianity where the institutional church exercised hegemonic power over … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Sees Christendom As Nauseating to the Kingdom of God
Hope
Beatnik Christianity Defines the Gospel As Jesus Putting the Whole Creation to Rights
In some circles, it has almost become cliché to say that the Gospel isn't intended as a "get out of hell" card. Yet even in those spaces there isn't a widespread renewal of what the Gospel actually is. There's seldom a compelling vision capturing its true depth and breadth. Instead what we often find is this rather clumsy refitting of a deeply flawed paradigm. It's like … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Defines the Gospel As Jesus Putting the Whole Creation to Rights
Beatnik Christianity Celebrates Racial Diversity
Jesus is King. His Kingdom is a transformative, counterculture movement for a peaceful world living into God’s perfect will for human flourishing. The principles undergirding this movement are love, truth, grace, compassion, forgiveness, hope, humility, justice, mercy, sustainability, redemption, and wisdom. It is a beautiful vision that transcends such barriers as sex, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Celebrates Racial Diversity
Beatnik Christianity Eschews Toxic Positivity for the Liminal Space of Holy Saturday
Brené Brown and others have recently normalized the term "toxic positivity." My preference remains "oppressive optimism," but it's the same basic idea. According to the psychology website Right as Rain, "Toxic positivity involves dismissing negative emotions and responding to distress with false reassurances rather than empathy. It comes from feeling uncomfortable with negative … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Eschews Toxic Positivity for the Liminal Space of Holy Saturday
