Today as alive emergent Christians we reaffirm that: 1) WE BELIEVE each human being is made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). That image and likeness confers a divinely decreed dignity, worth, and God-given equality to all of us as children of the one God who is the Creator of all things. 2) WE BELIEVE we are one body. In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender, identity, or class (Galatians 3:28). The body of Christ, where those great human divisions are to be overcome, is meant to be an example for the rest of society. 3) WE BELIEVE how we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner is how we treat Christ himself. (Matthew 25: 31-46) God calls us to protect and seek justice for those who are poor and vulnerable. Our treatment of people who are “oppressed,” “strangers,” “outsiders,” “marginal” and “refugee” is a test of our relationship to God, in equal divine dignity and love. 4) WE BELIEVE that truth is morally central to our personal and public lives. Truth-telling is central to the prophetic biblical tradition, whose vocation includes speaking the Word of God into their societies and speaking the truth to power. 5) WE BELIEVE that Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles (the world) lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you” (Matthew 20:25-26). We believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny. 6) WE BELIEVE Jesus when he tells us to go into all nations making disciples (Matthew 28:18). Our churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries.
Jesus' Love reclaimed in the 2018 world
David Price
Retired Priest
August 26, 2018
