One of the Bible Guys at my church, a group that I haven’t attended much since the end of the COVID pandemic, posted this in late January. “These sentences are the chapter titles from Philip Gulley’s book, ‘If the church were Christian.’
Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship. Affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness. Reconciliation would be valued over judgment. Gracious behavior would be more important than right belief. Inviting questions would be more valued than supplying answers. Encouraging personal exploration would be more important than communal uniformity. Meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions. Peace would be more immortal than power. We would care more about love than about sex. This life would be more important than the afterlife.
As I shared a decade ago, “Every time Jesus mentioned the equivalent of a church tradition, the Torah, he qualified it with something like this: ‘The scriptures say thus and so, but I say…'”
In response, someone wrote this concerning Lent-
The Call to Fasting
Fast from bitterness – feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern – feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety – feast on eternal truth.
Fast from anger – feast on patience.
Fast from words that destroy – feast on words that build.
Fast from discontent – feast on gratitude.
Fast from discouragement – feast on hope.
Fretting
I must admit that not yielding to anger and discouragement is particularly difficult for me. For instance, I fret most about how Christianity has been co-opted. Last year, I wrote: “Christian nationalism makes an idol of the nation.”
So I am somewhat comforted by this December 2025 piece from NPR, “Since January [2025], religious leaders from local pastors to Pope Leo have rallied against the [regime’s] detention and deportation of thousands of immigrants. Clergy are filing lawsuits, accompanying migrants to court hearings, and leading protests at ICE facilities across the country. Altogether, this activity adds up to one of the largest surges of faith-based organizing in recent history, and it’s growing.” Amen!
Today, Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent. Here’s the origin of the word Lent.
