Nigger Lover
What's your Jesus look like? Is He the heroic, blond-haired, blue-eyed majestic prince that rides in triumphantly and makes everything daisies and cotton candy? Is He the dour-faced wimp of the artistry of the middle ages? Or is He something worse...someone who looks like you? I beg that my Southern brothers bear with me for a bit on this and approach the following with an open mind and more importantly, a pure heart.
It was undoubtedly one of the most dramatic sermons ever delivered at Eastern College. "Jesus was a nigger," began the visiting Black theologian, shocking his student audience into attention. Not that Jesus necessarily had black skin, he continued, for being a nigger had to do with what you were in the eyes of the world. The word refers to the downtrodden, he explained, the spat upon, the cursed, the humiliated, the rejected, the despised. This was the sense--the very real sense--in which Jesus was a nigger.
"There's no way you can read chapter 53 of Isaiah and not come to this conclusion," he said. That prophet writes that the Messiah would be despised and rejected, spat upon and cursed--and then we would hide our faces from him."
"You want to be like Christ?" He leaned into the lectern and spoke quietly. "Then you must become a nigger, too. You must be ready to empty yourself of the wealth, status, power that has marked you life. Because in the end, only niggers can be saved."
--ADVENTURES IN MISSING THE POINT: Theology by Tony Campolo
Let me just say that I hate that word, but I think that this makes a powerful point. The Lord of creation became accursed for me. If I were the only one, His decision would have been the same. A lot of people believe in a lot of different things...I believe in this nigger. Wouldn't you like to be a nigger too?
It was undoubtedly one of the most dramatic sermons ever delivered at Eastern College. "Jesus was a nigger," began the visiting Black theologian, shocking his student audience into attention. Not that Jesus necessarily had black skin, he continued, for being a nigger had to do with what you were in the eyes of the world. The word refers to the downtrodden, he explained, the spat upon, the cursed, the humiliated, the rejected, the despised. This was the sense--the very real sense--in which Jesus was a nigger.
"There's no way you can read chapter 53 of Isaiah and not come to this conclusion," he said. That prophet writes that the Messiah would be despised and rejected, spat upon and cursed--and then we would hide our faces from him."
"You want to be like Christ?" He leaned into the lectern and spoke quietly. "Then you must become a nigger, too. You must be ready to empty yourself of the wealth, status, power that has marked you life. Because in the end, only niggers can be saved."
--ADVENTURES IN MISSING THE POINT: Theology by Tony Campolo
Let me just say that I hate that word, but I think that this makes a powerful point. The Lord of creation became accursed for me. If I were the only one, His decision would have been the same. A lot of people believe in a lot of different things...I believe in this nigger. Wouldn't you like to be a nigger too?
posted by lee at 7:07 PM
2 Comments:
Just when I think that you're tired of being controversial... great post, man.
Good stuff. John Lennon said once that a woman is the nigger of the world.
You are bold.
Peace,
Rick
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