When I was growing up I assumed that most devout followers of Jesus believed and practiced their faith the same way or very close to the way my family and church did. We have our encounter with the reality of Jesus and his kingdom in a certain place and among certain people. If you have the opportunity to travel and make friends beyond your tribe, you quickly discover that Jesus and his message are interpreted and applied in many different ways. An older Greek orthodox woman recently told me, “I can’t imagine anyone can be a Christian and a Republican.” And I told her, “Where I grew up, most people I knew couldn’t believe you could be a Christian and a Democrat.”
One of the more interesting challenges we face in our work and our world is serving and connecting with very diverse groups of people.
At the end of September I began teaching an online course on SOUL GRAFFITI through the GTU in Berkeley. You can imagine the lively conversation about Jesus and his message that would go on between agnostic seekers, catholic nuns, conservative and liberal Episcopalians, a traditional Presbyterian, several Baptist evangelicals and an equal number of gay and straight folks. People were very kind to one another, though it was evident that we each came to Jesus and his message from different life experiences, questions and struggles. Some people in the class thought SOUL GRAFFITI provided too literal a perspectives on following Jesus, while others wished that I had been more clear and definitive on certain theological issues.
Jesus was both enticing and perplexing to the people who heard his message in the first century—and we think it is important that we continue to allow him to challenge and perplex us with his alternative vision of life with God. He didn’t say what anyone wished for him to say and was conspicuously silent on many of the hot topics of his day. He surprised both his disciples and the crowds with the way he welcomed the outcast and scorned into his revolution AND by the way he cursed those widely regarded as the most orthodox and religious. Jesus was often misunderstood and prepared his disciples to “rejoice” when they were similarly misunderstood or judged.
In mid October, while on a speaking trip to Birmingham, I visited the Civil Rights Institute located across the street from the historic 16th Street Baptist church where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered an important speech after four girls were killed in a church bombing. In the mid twentieth century in Alabama, it was illegal for black and white folks to associate with one another. African American churches were bombed and many black people were lynched by angry mobs. I find it deeply disturbing that this occurred in the middle of America’s Bible belt—and that the leading pastors of Birmingham wrote an open letter condemning the civil rights efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King and the S.C.L.C.
I walked through a display showing people getting on buses to participate in peaceful marches. I like to think that I would have gotten on that bus—but then I thought of what it would have cost for a white person in Alabama to side with oppressed people when separation of races was the norm. You would have lost friends and reputation by getting on the bus. Then I wondered what getting on the bus might look like today. Advocating for more welcoming immigration laws during a down economy? Speaking up for gay and lesbian folks in a community where they are unfairly marginalized, judged and joked about? What does it mean for us to get on that bus and offer the welcome of the gospel today?
I believe we are invited to actively wrestle with the question, “What does it mean for us to follow Jesus and his radical message in our time and place?”
Whatever Soul Graffiti fans lack for in shear numbers, they make up for in pluck. James Best and his wife liked the message of the book so much that they got matching tattoos of the cover image on their arms for all posterity. They did this instead of getting rings when they joined The Order of the Mustard Seed. Jim wrote to me and said: “I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you thanks for your gift to Kingdom of God through your book, Soul Graffiti. I have read and re-read it several times. I also was inspired by the art on the cover of the book to make a tattoo. The art from the book spoke to me as signifying the love of Jesus needs the driving force in the life of a disciple of Christ. The spread wings … sharing that love with others. The crown the Kingdom of God at the center of everything. Your book gets mentioned a lot by us!”
Dan Kimball and family were kind enough to make the drive up from Santa Cruz to see our show in Oakland this summer– even though they had been displaced by the forest fires near their home. (Am just posting now because I finally figured out how to reduce photo size).
Today I started growing out facial hair again for that indomitable and loveable preacher A.L. Withee, who will be spreading revival wild fire with Big Brother Duke and The professor in Pittsburgh in a few weeks at the National Youth Worker’s Convention. This was my favorite photo of the Preacher from 
