Sojourners Blog Blasphemously Compares The Occupy Movement To Pentecost

  • The only thing that might save a post at Jim Wallis’ blog Sojourners from being considered blasphemy is that the post is posed in the form of a question. I guess the Religious Left was tired of claiming Jesus would be a supporter of the Occupy movement, and now may be looking to say that it is ushering in a new religion of sorts. The article is titled, “#Occupy: The New Pentecost?“:

    For those who re-discover their faith by taking seriously the vision offered in the second chapter of the book of Acts, the Occupy movement may appear to them as the New Pentecost. Note the similarities between the ancient story and the contemporary movement:

    In Acts, the emergence of new power occurred when the “gossip” about the Resurrection became a life-empowering message that transcended all lingual differences: “each heard in his own language.” Likewise in Occupy Wall Street: in the development of a new means of communication, people of diverse backgrounds both spoke and heard in a common language. It was, indeed, a New Pentecost.
    The roster of nationalities was inclusive of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, back then, and New Yorkers, Californians, Texans and Washingtonians—ad infinity—today. There was a commonality about the message that only those who had been left behind by empire greed were able to comprehend.
    Perplexed, uninvolved citizens were bowled over, not simply by the diversity of involvement, but essentially by the commonality of communication of these disenfranchised masses. “What the hell’s going on?” they demanded. “They’re just drunk!” came the cynical answer.

    The passage in Acts is about the Holy Spirit coming to empower Christians to preach the Gospel, not “gossip” that Jesus has risen from the dead. People who comprehended the message of Jesus were broken from realizing their sin was an offense against God, not because of some materialistic awareness about how empires function. The new Christians were not “disenfranchised masses”, they were people who repented from their sin, realizing Jesus was the only way of salvation. The article goes on to undermine the miraculous.

    But to those who paid attention, some minor miracles could be noted. Deprived of loud speaker technology, for example, they invented a more human method of broadcast. Because they lacked appointed or elected leaders, the newly evolved community devised ways of organizing. In contrast to Wall Street methodology, the newly resurrected human community shared their food and goods with one another.

    A “mic check” is a minor miracle? This community also stole from one another, beat one another, and raped one another. The article concludes with this.

    Emerging out of the New Pentecost is the promise of a New Creation that will transcend the endless, hollow, self-destructive promises of raging empires.

    This is to emerge out of a movement that essentially wants to make the State a new false god. The rest of the chapter in Acts completely rebukes this nonsense since it puts the focus where it should be, on the Gospel.

    29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

    “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
    35 until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’[f]

    36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

    37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

    38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

    40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:29-41

    I would be willing to bet that if a group of Christians came to an Occupy event and preached the Gospel that they would be met with contempt and maybe even violence. Liberalism, religious or secular, stands in total antithesis to Christianity and this article is a prime example of that truth.

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    January 4th, 2012 | bluecollartodd | No Comments | Tags: , ,

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