The Gospel of Niceness

This Sunday we'll hear Jesus say another one of his doozies, like the one we heard a few Sundays back when he told us that he didn't come to bring peace, but division.  I wrote about that a few Sundays back...

This Sunday you'll hear Jesus talk about the way we're supposed to hate our brothers and sister and fathers and mothers as we seek to follow him.  Ouch.  Really, Jesus?  You want me to hate my children?

Well, before you either completely ignore this little gem from Luke's gospel, or else use it to lodge another brick in a wall of skepticism about the whole Christianity, look at the very next line: "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." 

Many people think that the point of Christianity is to be a good person.  That's what it's all about: being good, being nice, learning how to be "good people."  In fact, a recent CNN.com article talked about the rapid spread of the "gospel of niceness," and the impact it is having on the faith lives of our youth.  I encourage you to read it.

But where is the cross in a gospel of niceness?  Where is the cross in a religion of "moralistic, therapeutic deism," as the CNN article calls the faith of many modern Christians?  Jesus would have us remember the crushing sacrifice demanded of him, and of all of us who would follow him.  Niceness isn't true to a world gone mad, rife with selfish pursuits.  Jesus would have us remember that the kingdom of his father, the kingdom inaugurated but not yet completed, is one that makes significant demands of us, demands that go beyond being "nice." 

When you ponder your own personal relationship with God, where do you see cross-carrying?  Is your discipleship defined by sacrifice?  Is your life a witness against the dominant social order, the powerful and elite?  Does your faith inspire you to completely humble yourself before others? 

Maybe you aren't ready to start hating your father and mother and children.  I can't blame you.  But it could be time to lay down the gospel of niceness and take up the cross...because that's where you'll find Jesus.