No Conviction

I cracked open Peter Rollins' new book "The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales" this morning while waiting on my mom at the doctor's office. The first tale that Peter Rollins' tells is a parable called "No Conviction". In this tale following Christ has been deemed an illegal activity. A man stands trial for being a follower of Christ .... In favor of not ruining the story for others, who might wish to pick this book up, I will merely give my response to this parable. This tale hinges on the idea that in order to follow Christ one must bear evidence of it (Jesus calls this fruit). Can we really call ourselves followers of Christ if we are not bearing fruit? Is there a difference between belonging to the institution known as Christianity and following the resurrected savior? I believe that there is a difference and one can belong to the institution and not truly follow Christ. In the West Christianity for many has been reduced to task, ritual, and weekly meetings like that of the Boy Scouts (mind you the Boy Scouts probably do more good on average). In the words of N.T. Wright "Jesus came to turn the world right side up" to make things the way they should be, not to put up with the way things are. If we are the tangible, incarnated body of Christ in this world our lives should be marked by passion and action for turning things right side up. If our lives are merely marked by task, ritual, and weekly meetings, I would hardly call that following Christ, and the truth is I don't think He would say we were following Him either at that point.

Oh by the way you should pick up the book, it's a great read.