The Gospel according to John the Baptist

I have got into the habit of reading Dr Richard Becks blog, Experimental Theology, lately. He has some very thought provoking insights drawing from Psychology and Theology in an attempt to understand more of scripture. Recently a post of his "The Gospel According to John the Baptist" caught my eye as it is something I have never really thought much about before. What is the essence of what John saw as repentance, as preparation for the coming of Jesus and the Kingdom?

Referencing Luke chapter 3, Dr Beck summarises it as follows:

"Repentance, for John, looks like this:

If you have extra clothing, share it.
If you have extra food, share it.
Do not charge (or collect) more than what is fair.
Do not pressure or extort people for money.
Be content with your paycheck."

That is interesting, isn't it? Repentance for John the baptist is reflected in how we apply our finances and possessions. As Dr Beck says, it's more practical than emotional.

It seems to me that scripture never separates the practical day to day aspects of our lives from our salvation. We live out our salvation every single day through the choices we make in how we share what we have and how we apply our pay-check.

How do you fare on John's scale of repentance?

Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!

"I'm going to have a party, but I don't think,

that I'll ask Hooper Humperdink.

I'll ask Alice, I'll ask Abe.

I'll ask Bob and Bill and Babe.

I'll ask Charlie, Clara, Cora..."

Hooper Humberdink, this was my favourite book when I was little. I identified so well with poor Hooper. I shared his pain at not getting invited to parties. Always being the last chosen for sports sides. Living socially at the bottom of the barrel, as it were. I am clearly not alone either. I searched around the Internet for Hooper Humperdink and found a myriad of people who all identified with poor Hooper.

I have long puzzled over just what it is that makes some people the center of attention whilest pushing other to the fringes. Call it the 'X' factor or whatever. It's most clearly visible in teenagers. Teen 'A' is the life of the party and the center of all attention, attracting a large group of followers. Naturally extroverted, Teen 'A' enjoys all social interaction and thrives (or appears to...). Teen 'B', on the other hand, is naturally introvert, shy and quiet. Social interaction is difficult and uncomfortable. For some reason the world seems to say: "Everyone must be like Teen 'A'. Teen 'A' is better. Let's all be friends with Teen 'A'. Teen 'B' is a wierd loser!"

Of course I'm speaking in extremes here. There's much more to it than that surface analysis. But the point is that we all do this. We all have a built in set of standards by which we measure people. And according to those standards we elevate one person above another. One person is "better" than another because of how they act or socialise or even look. We judge others according to our own lopsided scale.

Enter Jesus into history. He came with a completely new scale. A completely new set of standards that levelled the playing field. It seems that He alone could truly view people as equal. He ate and socialised with the rich and the poor, with sinners and the self righteous. He touched the untouchables. He returned dignity and hope to a women scorned by all. He found time for rowdy children in the middle of a sermon. He chose the uneducated fringe people, fishermen and tax collectors, to be his disciples and attracted doctors and political leaders. Each person he met was treated as equal. Each person loved as an individual.

The challenge for us is clear!