All posts in Kingdom

  • February 21, 2013

    The Radical Alternative of the Gospel of Peace

    Christ Mocked by Soldiers

    The Radical Alternative of the Gospel of Peace
    by Brian Zahnd

    Christians call Jesus the “Prince of Peace.” But what does that mean? Is it just a Christmas card cliché? Does it merely mean some peace of mind in an anxiety-ridden world? Or might it mean something more substantial? Perhaps much more substantial. Might it mean that Jesus offers the world an alternative arrangement that could best be described as peace? This is what I have come to believe. Jesus is the savior of the world in a real, wonderful, and urgent way — the Prince of Peace who can lead humanity out of the madness of arranging our world around power, violence and war.

    I have my own story of how I moved beyond a misguided allegiance to that tired paradigm of violence by discovering the radical alternative of the gospel of peace. This was not an easy move, but it was worth it. And it’s a story worth telling.

    But I’m most interested in telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth and the revolutionary ideas he preached — especially his ideas about peace. This first century Jew from whose birth we date our common era, this one who became the heir of Isaiah’s ancient moniker of “Prince of Peace,” preached a new way of being human and an alternative arrangement of society that he called the reign or kingdom of God. It was (and is!) a peaceable kingdom. My claim, which I’m told is audacious by some and naïve by others is simply this: Jesus Christ and his peaceable kingdom are the hope of the world.
    Read more

    10 Comments / America, Christianity, Jesus, Kingdom, Peace, Violence /

  • July 2, 2012

    The Unquiet City

    painting_Nardelli-Holiness

     

    I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world… I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world… They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. —Jesus (The Gospel of John, chapter 17)

    Tonight I was reading Thomas Merton. I never read Merton without profit. He is undoubtedly the greatest of the modern Christian mystics. He is one of the wise ones. We should listen to him.

    Anyway…

    While reading from New Seeds of Contemplation I came across this little gem in the chapter entitled “A Body of Broken Bones”…

    What is the “world” that Christ would not pray for, and of which He said that His disciples were in it but not of it? The world is the unquiet city of those who live for themselves and are therefore divided against one another in a struggle that cannot end, for it will go on eternally in hell. It is the city of those who are fighting for possession of limited things and for the monopoly of goods and pleasures that cannot be shared by all. There is only one true flight from the world; it is not an escape from conflict, anguish and suffering, but the flight from disunity and separation, to unity and peace in the love of other men.

    I don’t know about you, but I still need to be saved.

    I need to be saved from the unquiet city.

    Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

    BZ

    (The artwork is Holiness by Linda Nardelli.)

    5 Comments / Kingdom /

  • June 28, 2012

    From Word of Faith to the Church Fathers

    EngagingOrthodoxyFrom Word of Faith to the Church Fathers

    Trevin Wax is the managing editor of The Gospel Project and an influential blogger through his regular posts at Kingdom People. He’s a reader, a thinker, a writer, and a lover of Jesus.

    I first became aware of Trevin Wax when he did a review of my book Beauty Will Save the World. (You can read his review here.)

    Trevin recently interviewed me regarding my theological journey. I thought you might find the conversation interesting so I’m sharing it with you. (The Kingdom People post can be found here.)

    I like the title Trevin gave his post. I’m glad he didn’t entitle it, “Has Brian Zahnd Lost His Mind or What?”

    BZ

     

    From Word-Faith to the Church Fathers: A Conversation with Brian Zahnd

     

    A few weeks ago, I reviewed a book by Brian Zahnd – Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity. Some pastor friends quickly connected me to Brian, and in our subsequent conversations, I discovered how interesting his theological pilgrimage has been. One friend said Brian used to preach like Joel Osteen but now sounds more like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I invited Brian to the blog to talk about his journey and how it has affected his congregation.

     

    Trevin Wax: Brian, you’ve had an interesting theological journey in ministry – from Word of Faith type teaching to a celebration of Christianity’s core teachings throughout history. First, tell us about your ministry at the outset – what you were about as a preacher of God’s Word and the vision you had for your local congregation.

    Brian Zahnd: I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in the -60s and -70s but was most influenced by the Jesus Movement. I experienced a rather dramatic conversion when I was 15, and within a couple of years I was leading a coffeehouse ministry; it was primarily a Christian music venue with an emphasis on evangelism. By the time I was 22 the coffeehouse ministry had become a full-fledged church (Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri).

    From my earliest days as a teenage Christian leader my passion was to call people into a life of following Jesus. That passion has remained consistent over the years. Because the Jesus Movement was closely associated with the charismatic movement our church took on many of the aspects of charismatic Christianity.

    By the late -90s our church had grown to several thousand, and my primary emphasis in preaching could be described as “faith and victory.” Though I think I can honestly say I eschewed the more egregious forms of “prosperity teaching,” I was certainly identified with the Word of Faith movement. The common thread from the Jesus Movement to the Word of Faith movement (whether I was being influenced by Keith Green or Lester Sumrall) was a deep desire to bring people into a vibrant and authentic Christian experience.

    Trevin Wax: What initiated your movement away from Word of Faith teaching to something more in line with historic Christian orthodoxy? 

    Read more

    6 Comments / Books, Christianity, Kingdom, Theology /

  • June 10, 2012

    Cannonball Jesus

    Easter_004

    Cannonball Jesus
    by Brian Zahnd

     “You cannot bear to hear my word.” -Jesus (The Gospel of John)

    “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” -T.S. Eliot (The Four Quartets)

    “Ya can’t look at much, can ya man?”     -Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna)

    It seems to me that what we really want is a tame Jesus, a domesticated Christ.

    We want a Jesus who will “save our soul” — not so much now, but later on.

    We want a Savior who tweaks the status quo, making slight improvements on the basic scheme of things.

    We want a divine “life coach” to make us winners in The Game. Read more

    3 Comments / Jesus, Kingdom /

  • May 2, 2012

    The Beatitudes (BZV)

    SermonOnTheMountTwo

    The Beatitudes
    (BZV)

    Blessed are those who are poor at being spiritual,
    For the kingdom of heaven is well-suited for ordinary people.

    Blessed are the depressed who mourn and grieve,
    For they create space to encounter comfort from another.

    Blessed are the gentle and trusting, who are not grasping and clutching,
    For God will personally guarantee their share when heaven comes to earth.

    Blessed are those who ache for the world to be made right,
    For them the government of God is a dream come true.

    Blessed are those who give mercy,
    For they will get it back when they need it most.

    Blessed are those who have a clean window in their soul,
    For they will perceive God when and where others don’t.

    Blessed are the bridge-builders in a war-torn world,
    For they are God’s children working in the family business.

    Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for the right reasons,
    For the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst such persecution.

    BZ

    (The artwork is The Sermon on the Mount by Gerald Shepherd.)

    1 Comment / Kingdom /

  • September 12, 2011

    That Preacher of Peace

    Pilate-Jesus

    That Preacher of Peace
    by Brian Zahnd

    In his bizarre and surrealistic novel, The Master and Margarita, the critically acclaimed 20th century Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov creates a fascinating conversation between the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and the Galilean preacher Yeshua. When asked about his views on government, Bulgakov’s Yeshua says, “All power is a form of violence over people.” Yeshua goes on to contrast the governments of power and violence with the peaceable kingdom of truth and justice. In response Pontius Pilate rages, “There never has been, nor yet shall be a greater or more perfect government in this world than the rule of the emperor Tiberius!” When Pilate asks Yeshua if he believes this kingdom of truth will come, Yeshua answers with conviction, “It will.” Of course, Pilate cannot and will not stand for this.

    “It will never come!” Pilate suddenly shouted in a voice so terrible that Yeshua staggered back. Many years ago in the Valley of the Virgins Pilate had shouted in that same voice to his horsemen: “Cut them down! Cut them down!”…And again he raised his parade-ground voice, barking out the words so that they would be heard in the garden: “Criminal! Criminal! Criminal!”…“Do you imagine, you miserable creature, that a Roman Procurator could release a man who has said what you have said to me?…I don’t believe in your ideas!”

    It wasn’t so much the man who upset the Roman governor, but his ideas. Ideas. Ideas are powerful. Ideas are dangerous. Ideas shape our world. Ideas can change our world. Change—what shall we say about that? Slight change is one thing. When slight change is perceived as positive we call it progress. But paradigmatic change, radical change is another thing altogether. We call that revolution. Revolutionary change is precisely what those in positions of privilege and power—people like Pilate—are most threatened by. And this is what makes Jesus and his ideas dangerous. In The Master and Margarita Pontius Pilate seems to have no personal animosity toward the wandering Galilean preacher, but he hates his ideas. In the end what forces the Procurator to condemn Yeshua to crucifixion is the preacher’s revolutionary ideas about power, truth, and violence. If Yeshua had been content to confine himself to the dreamy world of afterlife expectations and not harbored revolutionary ideas about human social structure, Pilate would have seen little reason to bother with Yeshua, much less crucify him. But Yeshua did have revolutionary ideas. And it was Yeshua’s ideas about an alternative arrangement of the world—an arrangement that might best be called “peace”—that resulted in his death by state sponsored execution. Read more

    2 Comments / Christianity, Jesus, Kingdom, Literature, Violence /

  • June 6, 2011

    Blessed are the Meek

    St_FrancisPreachingtotheBirds_Giotto

    “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” —Jesus

    At the top of a list of things Jesus said that we don’t really believe I would place the third beatitude. Here are some of my thoughts on this most unsettling saying from Christ.

    What is Jesus really saying in the third beatitude? Is it something like this?—

    Blessed are the quiet and content, the humble and unassuming, the gentle and trusting who are not grasping and clutching, for God will personally guarantee their share when heaven and earth become one.

    Matthew tells us that the multitude which formed the audience for Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was a mixed multitude coming from different places and representing diverse ethnic, religious and political backgrounds (see Matthew 4:25). There were religious Jews from Judea with their devout commitment to Torah observance and keeping kosher. There were Galilean Jews for whom synagogue life, though important, was not the obsession it was for the Judeans. There were non-observant Jews who, having dropped out of religious life altogether, were dubbed “sinners.” There were Greeks from the Decapolis region with their sophisticated love of art, philosophy, and athletics. And of course there were the Romans—the triumphant foreign occupiers from the dominant superpower. What Jesus has to say in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount he addresses to all of these people. His sermon is not instructions on how to be religious or how to be Jewish (or Christian)—Jesus’ instructions are on how to be human. Jesus is revealing to the human race the narrow way that leads to life. Jesus is teaching us the counterintuitive way of God that makes life livable.

    Perhaps the most counterintuitive of all the Beatitudes is the third blessing Jesus bestows. Jesus blesses the meek—the quiet, the gentle, the non-assertive, the non-aggressive—saying they will inherit the earth. But I doubt we believe this. We would say something different. Something like—“Blessed are the meek, for even though they come in last, they’ll be called a nice guy, receive a certificate of participation, and be named ‘Miss Congeniality.’” That’s what we think about the meek—but it’s not what Jesus says! Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. Inherit the earth?! Really? Read more

    6 Comments / Jesus, Kingdom /

  • August 4, 2009

    Crassus and the Appian Way

    (A slightly reworked rerun. I was digging around in my archieves and decided to bump it up.)

    Marcus Licinius Crassus

    I promise you a new Rome.
    I promise you a new Empire.
    -Marcus Licinius Crassus

    Went down the road to Damascus,
    The road to Mandalay
    Met the ghost of Caesar
    On the Appian Way
    He said, It’s hard to stop this binging
    Once you get a taste
    But the road to empire
    Is a bloody, stupid waste
    And it’s a long road out of Eden
    -The Eagles

    And I discovered that my castles stand
    Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand…
    Just a puppet on a lonely string
    Oh who would ever want to be king?
    -Coldplay

    It shall not be so among you.
    -Jesus

    The Appian Way.
    The Great Road to Rome.
    The Road of the Roman Triumphs.
    “All roads lead to Rome.”
    I hope not.
    I believe there is another way.
    A better way than the Appian Way.
    The King’s Highway.
    Read more

    3 Comments / Christianity, Jesus, Kingdom /

  • July 19, 2009

    Fallen

    In Frederick Buechner’s novel Godric, the twelfth century holy man makes a pilgrimage to Rome seven centuries after its fall and says…

    I carried Aedwen on my shoulders up a hill where goats leapt at their lecheries and dropped their berries through the fallen halls where Caesar and his lords had hatched the laws that ruled the world. Poor folk grew cabbage there.

    Two provocative sentences from Mr. Buechner’s pen.

    The glory of Rome fallen to a haunt of goats and a cabbage patch for the poor.

    Yes, the centuries roll on relentlessly and empires do fall. Read more

    9 Comments / America, Kingdom, Poetry /
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