Some people may not like Sacrilege. If you like religion; if you like things nice and neat and tidy; if you like things to remain the same; if you want to be comfortable. But if you want to be real; if your life is lived in the middle of complications; if your bored and are finally wondering what would it be like to live like Jesus...Sacrilege may be just what you need to re-boot your faith.
This is a book which encourages us to reexamine Jesus and ourselves. Jesus is shown to be the untamed Lord that He really is. Hugh Halter insists that we take steps outside the confines of the pages of the book, to interact with God and others as we begin and continue to learn to be be apprentices of Jesus...in the midst of our neighborhoods.
What we need to understand is that people did not sit through Jesus' teaching like we do through a sermon. Instead of obedient silence and perhaps a smattering of 'Amens', there would have been shock and awe. Imagine gasping, scoffing, reaching for stones and disbelief and I think we get a bit closer to the reactions Jesus would have become accustomed to.
Halter's book will be a challenge for anyone who bought into a church sized gospel, rather than the gospel of the kingdom of God.
I like how Halter defines the Ministry of Reconciliation. He writes: "Because I kicked down the barriers for you, I want you to kick down any barriers you find that keep people at arm's length from my love and acceptance... That's revolutionary. That's sacrilegious." [158] But sadly, too often, the church builds barriers, a maze of do's and don'ts, of belief before belonging.
Near the end of the book, Halter tackles communion and the walls that get built around this celebration. We build walls to keep people away from the table and remove as much joy as possible. What a travesty! I am with Halter here. Communion is not a reward for "holy" living. We so easily forget that Jesus served Judas and Peter the bread and the cup. We don't need to protect God from people who misuse the Bread & the Cup - "He's a big boy!" [166]
One of the other sacred cows Halter tears down is the idea of "holy ground" in church buildings. He writes: "Sacred space is where light breaks into darkness." [202] He needs to cue Leonard Cohen's The Anthem here: "There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in." Often we see sacred ground in the midst of the filth, addiction and poverty on inner city streets.
Using your own Bible Halter takes a bulldozer to your preconceived and ill-conceived notions of Jesus and shows you the shocking truth that Jesus was the most sacrilegious "religious leader" who ever lived, and if we truly are to follow him, that implies some sacrilege on our part. Like it or not. Beware, you will be blown away by the shocking implications of the real Jesus of the Gospels. I hope you disagree with Halter, because if you don't (and I suspect you won't) you will be forced to change how you live as a Christian.
Sacrilege is an excellent read. Hugh Halter keeps bringing us back to the real God of the Bible - not the churchified one.
