Sunday 9 September 2007

Barbarian Way

Today we began our journey on the '
barbarian way' taking a road of uncertainty were our faith is unleashed. What's unsettling is that two thousand years on from Christ we have become more of an institution than a revolution. Even sadder for alot of people it seems that the longer we know Jesus and the longer we are connected to the Church, the more uncomfortable we become with Jesus.We begin with a barbarian invasion, we are passionate followers of Christ,who have chosen love but sadly we somehow sign up to a religion called Christianity, where we become civilised and domesticated.

Getting the Barbarian into the room is the healthiest thing for Church if we don’t have a barbarian invasion we become like any other world religion we are more about rules, commands and regulations and traditions. We need a Barbarian Invasion it keeps alive. We get embarrassed because we have learned to separate what we do here on a Sunday with the rest of our week life, we have become slick and reserved.

There is a barbarian invasion when someone first gives their life to Christ.

Maybe some of us have given into a religion called Christianity and left our raw, simple faith that followed Jesus. You see barbarians are emotionally and passionately charged people who are fueled by love.
Mark 12: 28 – 30
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

The barbarian way is to choose love; a love for God and humanity.
Reborn to see the Kingdom
In some ways Jesus seemed to burst the confines of what the prophets had expected, yet he seemed unwilling to reveal the total expectation of the kingdom, pointing instead to a final, cataclysmic intervention.
The mystery of his person and the blindness of the nation created a confrontation expected by the prophets but understood by few - his message and his following began to collide with the religious authorities, He became the enemy of the religious establishment. If you choose this path you will not be welcomed among the civilized and feared among the religious.

He becomes the enemy of the religious and then dies a barbaric death on a tree, it’s not a beautiful story, He was spat at brutally attacked and beaten. If you cannot see the passion and love God has for humanity it makes no sense at all.

It began with a barbarian invasion, Jesus rejecting the religious way and embracing the cross. He calls us to follow on a road where we cannot take our religious baggage and where we say Jesus I will follow.

4 comments:

Wanderer said...

Hey bro! Agree totally mate ... tho are you sure this isn't an excuse for you to wear more make-up just?? :o)
Here's to a year of Barbaianism and getting completely messed up in the process!! Bring it on methinks!!

Wanderer said...

Oh ... and seeing as we're getting in touch with our roots ... a few Gaelic phrases for you!! This is just written ... phonetically I'm not sure how it works ... tho get yourself over to the Auction Rooms on Thursday nights and maybe you'll find out!
grá, dílseacht agus cairdeas ... means love, loyalty and friendship ... if we get that right, we'll be some Barbarian horde!! :o)

Wanderer said...

Laoch nos Nósanna Barbaraigh

Warrior of the Barbarian Ways!

Stick that on your tag and smoke it ... though only if it's outside and you don't get hooked!! :o)

Wanderer said...

Laoch nos Nósanna Barbaraigh

Warrior of the Barbarian Ways!

Stick that on your tag and smoke it ... though only if it's outside and you don't get hooked!! :o)