More Than Stone

I was reading Sojourners articles about Red Letter Christians.

Tony Campolo says that “purpose of this gathering was not to create a religious left movement to challenge the religious right, but to jump-start a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics.” Hmmm…a faith that transcends partisan politics. That sounds eerily like Jesus.

I decided to google them to see what kind of reponse this idea is getting. Again, I was shocked and dismayed by those in the church that use hyperbole and misrepresentation to describe to their audience what this organization is about.

Here is a little taste….

In the article Red Letter Liberal Christians: A New Front Group For Democrats, it states

“These “Red Letter Christians” are supposedly trying to alert American Evangelicals to the importance of living the words of Jesus as highlighted in red in many Bibles. Their idea of living the words of Jesus, however, is somehow reinterpreted to mean support for every liberal political agenda on the horizon.

These pseudo-evangelicals would have you believe that the Bible only contains the Word of God. True Evangelicals believe that the Bible — each word, each sentence — is the Word of God. This is how you can tell the difference between these pseudo-evangelicals and true Evangelicals.”

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission states

Dalmation Theology: The idea that the Bible is inspired in spots, and we’re inspired to spot the spots. The new group of “Red Letter” Christians founded by Jim Wallis is a good example.

In an article written by Matt Friedman, a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary, he states:

One wonders, of course, if the real reason they have decided to use Scripture this way is that Jesus never actually uses the terms “homosexual” and “abortion.” The Red-Letter designation ostensibly frees these passionate lefties from the issues they despise the most…

In an article by Mark Tooley, who directs United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, it states:

These Red Letter Fundamentalists are claiming to follow the words of Jesus. But most church goers will recognize that these “red letters” more closely resemble the editorial pages of The New York Times.

And last, but not least, in an article entitled No, Jesus Is Not a Socialist, Tom Snyder says

A group of self-described “progressive” Christian evangelicals calling themselves “Red Letter Christians,” and led by the left-oriented Sojourners magazine and left-oriented
Liberals and socialists like the “Red Letter Christians,” are violating the commands of Jesus Christ, who is God in the Flesh. They are also violating the commands that God gives all of us in the Hebrew Scriptures as well. If they truly want to follow the words of Jesus in the New Testament, they should stop their opposition to the real Christian movement in America and join it. One of the first things they should do immediately is help cut government programs for the poor.

Christians must stop the ungodly, immoral rape of American citizens with the totalitarian, socialist welfare state!

Pseudo-evangelicals. Passionat leftists. Liberals. Socialists.

Wow. I wonder if Tom Snyder ever had a child get sick without health insurance. I wonder if he had a child that needed medicine that cost $2000 per month. I wonder if Tom Snyder ever had to thank God for government programs because the church didn’t come through.

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