“JESUS – RADICAL FOR OUR TIME”

“Jesus & The Wrong Kind of People”

In his book, Meeting Jesus Again For the First Time, popular Jesus Seminar Scholar, Marcus Borg says the “meals of Jesus embodied his alternative vision of an inclusive community.” He then adds, “ultimately, the meals of Jesus are the ancestor of the Christian Eucharist.” Thus, the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion was to be inclusive.

Some Christian denominations have “closed communion” or a “fenced altar or table”. Only those who are members of that denomination “in good standing” are allowed to participate in the Communion or Eucharist. Other Christians are not allowed. What would Jesus think of this arrangement? Do not churches have the right to serve Communion only to those properly qualified? Do not they have the responsibility to uphold their teachings and standards? Do they not run the risk of trivialization and banalization of the “sacred meal” by allowing just “anybody” to participate”? What do you think? Why?

Church growth experts have said their studies show that Churches grow the most with homogenous constituency. If the members are of the same race, socio-economic class and educational standing, the church is more likely to grow than those of multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-class constituencies. In many ways, the church growth experts have been proven correct. And this applies to minority as well as majority churches.

What would Jesus think of this? Would he advocate growth over the class, race and socio-economic inclusiveness? Would he say it’s “better to worship with your own kind” and “birds of a feather flock together?” Would he say there are plenty of people in our own group who need compassion without trying to pull in outsiders? What do you think? Why?

Marcus Borg, the popular Jesus Seminar scholar suggests that we have our own secularized “purity codes” and “purity systems” by which we become exclusive. For example, we are maximizing rewards for success by phenomenal salaries and bonuses. The rich separate themselves from the middle class and poor by memberships in exclusive clubs, participation in high-priced activities, and life in guarded, gated communities or buildings.

Would Jesus approve of this socio-economic stratification or would he advocate more egalitarian measures, especially among Christians? Would Jesus favor churches, schools and communities organized along class lines or would he prefer churches, schools and communities which included all class levels on an equal basis? Would not rich and poor feel uncomfortable in the same church, school or community? What do you think? Why?