Tuesday, September 20, 2011

An unsettling gospel

Artist: Alessandro Allori
Image from Wikimedia Commons

One of my heroes said this. I refer, of course, to Oscar Romero:
A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don't bother anyone, that's the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.
~~~

1 comment:

  1. YES! And YES! again to this post. (I thought I'd already responded to this. Apparently I didn't type the word verification correctly and didn't notice) But Romero states exactly what I think about too many sermons. "Very nice, pious considerations that don't bother anyone." Though he might go on to say, "Or, if they might bother anyone, it is probably the "them" or "those people" who aren't present, in which case the sermons are pious but not nice or even loving or caring.

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