From John Ortberg…
These gospel words of the early church were deliberately politically loaded. But they were not to be co-opted. They are to stand above every human party and candidate and political platform. The church historically has not done well when it gets too closely associated with empires. The gospel words must transcend higher to go deeper.
My daughter got a CD for me recently from an old Broadway show called Camelot. Richard Burton is singing at the end about how the dream of Camelot is about to perish in a great battle. He sings/speaks in a tone of unbearable wistfulness:
“Don’t let it be forgot,
That once there was a spot,
For one brief shining moment…”I wondered why that was so evocative. Until I remembered—there is a longing. But it is not really about Camelot, or King Arthur, or Shangri-la, or Constantine, or whoever your favorite candidate is. It’s for a carpenter-turned-rabbi, who once ran for Messiah, and got crucified.
John Ortberg is editor at large of LEADERSHIP journal and the pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California.
From Out of Ur, a blog of Leadership journal, May 6, 2008
