James 24:7

Lately it seems that the critics of religion generally and Christianity specifically have increased.   I won't deny that there is plenty of room for criticism.  With the increase in religiously based terrorism, the political power-mongering of the so-called Christian right, the invisibility of the Christian left,  the self-absorption of the consumer-driven church, and the tackiness of many TV preachers, I can see plenty of room for parody and criticism. (Sometimes it's hard to tell where serious ends and the parody begins! As in this.....)

The other night I was watching Bill Maher on Larry King Live and he announced that he is in the midst of a film project that is critical of religion.  He added that it would hopefully be released next Easter.  Cynical, I know, but it's Bill Maher...

And then there is Christopher Hitchens, whom I actually enjoy at times, banging his latest drum that God is Not Great and that most of the world's hatred, bigotry, violence and oppression can be laid at the feet of monotheistic religion.  (As here with none other than Bill Maher....)

So all religion and especially monotheistic religion has come under great criticism of late.

Having said that, I must admit that I don't enjoy these kinds of debates.  I don't like getting into it.  I fear I am less like Martin Luther King..."Stand up for righteousness" and more like Rodney King..."Can't we all just get along?"

However, even with these critics, I hear very few criticisms of Jesus.  I hear critiques of the Bible, of the church, and certainly of 'religion' but few criticisms of Jesus or the teaching of Jesus.  Even Bill Maher, jokingly, listed Jesus as one of the people he'd like to have dinner with...(I think Larry King and Ghandi made the list too)

At any rate, what I'd like to do for a while is to ask the simple question: "Does Jesus teach us how to live well?  Does Jesus teach us a way of life that will lead us toward human wholeness?"

Now, at the outset, I confess to being a Christian.  I hope I am a disciple of Jesus.  I know I'm at least a fan.  I hope I am not just the typical Southerner like the ones Flannery O'Connor described as being a part of a Christ-haunted landscape.  In other words, I hope Jesus is more to me than a ghost who rattles my cage.

So for the foreseeable future, I'm going to blog little essays on what Jesus teaches us with regard to how to become whole...how to live well.

Stay tuned....And thanks for reading.