Taking Jesus Seriously
What if the God that Jesus reveals is better than the one we have been taught to defend?
And what if taking Jesus seriously changes more than we expect?
So this is the story we tell ...
That God created this astonishing world.
He looked at it and said it was good.
But we are spoiling it - quite badly.
Yet … God loves us.
Even though we argue, divide, and fight to protect our own interests.
Even though we hurt one another.
Frequently.
Still, God loves us.
Made plans to rescue us.
We celebrate that.
We hang banners outside our churches declaring “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!”
We love what Jesus did for us.
We are grateful for what he still does and will do for us.
But let's face it
We are not nearly so enthusiastic about what he said.
Awkward things. That cut across our instincts.
Love.
Give freely.
Forgive again. Always.
Be kind when you are insulted.
Serve the poor and the powerless.
If someone strikes you, do not strike back.
Reorder your life so that you take the lowest place.
When a thief robs you, give him something in addition as a gift.
And if we are honest, we rarely live like that.
Because we prefer to preserve our position.
We want to fight our corner to protect ourselves.
And because we prefer justice that feels like payback.
We want what goes around to come around.
We want people to get a taste of their own medicine.
Yet Jesus says God the Father is not like that.
He says that God sends sun and rain so that crops grow for everyone.
Good people and bad people alike are fed.
The contradiction
Sooner or later, those we tell about God’s love discover something else...
... that many Christians believe that those who ignore God’s forgiveness before they die, will suffer.
Suffer something unimaginably terrible.
.....ENDLESS..... .....TORMENT..... .....LIKE..... .....BEING..... .....BURNED..... .....ALIVE..... .....ENDLESS.....
And that the God who loves them will prevent them escaping that agony.
At which point, they walk away.
Can you blame them?
What this site is about
This website exists to challenge that version of Christianity.
We set aside emotion, outrage and any subjugation to tradition.
And follow a careful, determined study of Scripture, prioritising the words of Christ.
Together we turn over the stones and look at what lies underneath.
We examine the beliefs we have inherited, including the ones that quietly contradict each other.
We dare to believe that the God who gave us minds intends us to use them.
Not to lean arrogantly on our own understanding, but to bring even the hardest questions before the Holy Spirit.
And we trust that God is able to rescue us from our assumptions, traditions, cultural blind spots, and fears.
So that, slowly and honestly, we may be led into the truth.
Walk with us.
Here's the first step: Taking Jesus at his word.
Or you might want to see the whole route before you start out.
Or wander a little. See what you find!
