article: chirpy chirpy church church
...I predict that a defensive reaction to [the Da Vinci Code] by the church will mean that it loses the opportunity to walk the path of humility and try to bring on board honest enquirers. Brian McLaren points out that books and films like the Da Vinci Code open the opportunity for those of us with a realistic view of the institutionalised church to confess our 'shared frustration with status-quo, maled-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone organized Christian religion' and he goes on to suggest that 'we need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown's book is more interesting, attractive and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church?'dave wiles, writing in the frontier youth trust newsletter, summer 2006.
The Jesus that I am seeking to follow, and who is increasingly real to me each day, seems so radically different from the institutionalised church one! He seems so interested in those who are left out, He listens to and includes young people, He is passionate about justice, love and mercy and I can barely keep up with His challenge to follow in his amazing upside down Kingdom! Sadly, some people seem to have gathered around traditions, illusions of power and control and they cling to their respectability rather than embrace the radical nature of a living Lord! This is not the way it should be...