The Rev. Mike Angell is rector of The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion in St. Louis.
Let me say clearly, if your god is the god of one race, your god is an idol. If your god is the god that blesses one nation at the expense of others, that god is an idol. If your god blesses one gender identity, one orientation, one political party at the expense of all others, that god is not the God Jesus preached, that Hosea prophesied, that Paul theologized. We don’t worship that kind of small god in this church.
I am becoming more and more convinced that our particular American understanding of evangelism, an evangelism that is all about the growth of a congregation, the “winning over converts” to our particular brand of faith, filling the pews and the church coffers, it isn’t what Jesus had in mind for his good news.
Jesus wants to focus his followers longing. He wants to give them peace, but for their sake, for honesty’s sake, he must redefine the term. He must re-orient them, give them new direction. Jesus does not give peace as the world gives peace.
