I have had question on my mind for a few weeks that I have only recently decided is worth asking.
Is it important that we speak compellingly about Jesus?
The answer might seem obvious. Of course, as a Christian church, we need to speak compellingly about Jesus.
And yet, I don’t hear that many preachers–even good ones–speaking compellingly about Jesus. I don’t know of many dioceses in which Episcopalians are being taught to speak compellingly about Jesus, and even when people say that we need to preach the Gospel, I experience this as a call to spread certain values, rather than as an invitation to figure out what Jesus was up to.
I am not an evangelical. And I understand the contemporary seekers might not immediately be interested in a set of Christological propositions. I am aware that the Bible has been used as a club against minorities and marginalized people of all kinds. Still, if we aren’t offering people a deep and abiding encounter with Jesus, then I don’t understand what we are up to as a church. To my ears, we don’t sound like a church that takes this encounter as its reason for existing. But perhaps I am wrong about our purpose, or am not listening to the right people.
Thoughts?