You can't get too far into the Gospels without noticing that Jesus made a pretty lousy apologist. Rachel Held Evans More Quotes by Rachel Held Evans More Quotes From Rachel Held Evans We millennials have been advertised to our entire lives, and we can tell when somebody is just trying to sell us something. I think church is the last place I want to go to be sold another product. Rachel Held Evans church trying thinking This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more. Rachel Held Evans tables kingdoms rooms Christianity isn't meant to simply be believed; it's meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of other people. Rachel Held Evans meant-to-be christianity people But the gospel doesn't need a coalition devoted to keeping the wrong people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting, "Welcome! There's bread and wine. Come eat with us and talk." This isn't a kingdom for the worthy; it's a kingdom for the hungry. Rachel Held Evans wall wine doors Perhaps the most radical thing we followers of Jesus can do in the information age is treat each other like humans-not heroes, not villains, not avatars, not statuses, not Republicans, not Democrats, not Calvinists, not Emergents-just humans. This wouldn't mean we would stop disagreeing, but I think it would mean we would disagree well. Rachel Held Evans hero mean jesus One of the most destructive mistakes we Christians make is to prioritize shared beliefs over shared relationship, which is deeply ironic considering we worship a God who would rather die than lose relationship with us. Rachel Held Evans ironic christian mistake What makes the Gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out, but who it lets in. Rachel Held Evans offensive Doubt is a difficult animal to master because it requires that we learn the difference between doubting God and doubting what we believe about God. The former has the potential to destroy faith; that latter has the power to enrich and refine it. The former is a vice; the latter a virtue. Rachel Held Evans differences animal believe Faith isn't about having everything figured out ahead of time; faith is about following the quiet voice of God without having everything figured out ahead of time. Rachel Held Evans voice-of-god quiet-voice following The truth is, a man can choose to objectify a woman whether she’s wearing a bikini or a burqa. We don’t stop lust by covering up the female form; we stop lust by teaching men to treat women as human beings worthy of respect. Rachel Held Evans lust teaching men Whenever we show others the goodness of God, whenever we follow our Teacher by imitating His posture of humble and ready service, our actions are sacred and ministerial. To be called into the priesthood, as all of us are, is to be called to a life of presence, of kindness. Rachel Held Evans humble kindness teacher God's ways are higher than our ways not because he is less compassionate than we are but because he is more compassionate than we can ever imagine. Rachel Held Evans imagine compassionate way No step taken in faith is wasted, not by a God who makes all things new. Rachel Held Evans taken all-things steps What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance. Rachel Held Evans millennials style church When we turn the Bible into an adjective and stick it in front of another loaded word, we tend to ignore or downplay the parts of the Bible that don’t quite fit our preferences and presuppositions. In an attempt to simplify, we force the Bible’s cacophony of voices into a single tone and turn a complicated, beautiful, and diverse holy text into a list of bullet points we can put in a manifesto or creed. More often than not, we end up more committed to what we want the Bible to say than what it actually says. Rachel Held Evans cacophony voice beautiful The Proverbs 31 woman is a star not because of what she does but how she does it—with valor. So do your thing. If it’s refurbishing old furniture—do it with valor. If it’s keeping up with your two-year-old—do it with valor. If it’s fighting against human trafficking . . . leading a company . . . or getting other people to do your work for you—do it with valor. Take risks. Work hard. Make mistakes. Get up the next morning. And surround yourself with people who will cheer you on. Rachel Held Evans cheer stars morning My interpretation can only be as inerrant as I am, and that's good to keep in mind. Rachel Held Evans interpretation mind I’m ready to stop waging war and start washing feet. Rachel Held Evans ready feet war We could not become like God, so God became like us. God showed us how to heal instead of kill, how to mend instead of destroy, how to love instead of hate, how to live instead of long for more. When we nailed God to a tree, God forgave. And when we buried God in the ground. God got up. Rachel Held Evans hate tree long What I love about the ministry of Jesus is that he identified the poor as blessed and the rich as needy...and then he went and ministered to them both. This, I think, is the difference between charity and justice. Justice means moving beyond the dichotomy between those who need and those who supply and confronting the frightening and beautiful reality that we desperately need one another. Rachel Held Evans beautiful moving jesus
