Four cultural values entice us toward an Americanized messiah instead of the crucified Christ. Image: Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source images: Wikimedia Commons / Envato
As pastors immersed in Western culture, it’s difficult to disentangle our view of Jesus from the Americanized identity we value an identity measured mostly in terms of what looks good, feels good, and does good. The question arises: What does it mean for us to be cross-centered and follow the crucified Jesus in our context? What are the distinctions between the world’s discipleship and Jesus’ discipleship?
Four vices of worldly discipleship are deeply ingrained in the church. Just as Jesus taught the Twelve, we too must reject these four things categorically, not only because they are illusory and temporary, but because they damage us and the people we lead.
Imagine Moses climbing to the very top of the obscene Tumas-Gasan towers at Mrieħel. His task is to revisit the 10 commandments. Instead of stone tablets, he uses an electronic tablet to write on.
Given the secularisation of this cosmopolitan nation, Moses, instead of getting orders from a heavily bearded Lord dictating the Decalogue, tries to get inspiration from different sectors of the Maltese population.
What conflicting messages would he be bombarded with?
What follows is based on notes taken during the consultation process indulged in by Moses.
‘Thou shalt not criticise government’
This was the heartfelt desire of the Commissioner for NGOs. He has already decreed that if Repubblika dares to keep on criticising our benevolent government, they would be banished from the Garden of Eden (aka Register of NGOs). Criticism is a forbidden fruit and those who taste it do so at their own peril, was the North Korea style of reasoning.