A Kingdom of Non-Conformists
October 04, 2022
The God-Movement is a Kingdom on non-conformists.
John the Baptist was a non-conformist.
Jesus was a non-conformist.
Citizens of God's kingdom are non-conformists.
John was criticized as an ascetic.
Jesus was criticized as a libertine.
Jesus said that the greatest person on earth is surpassed by anyone in the kingdom.
We are not called to dance to the tunes of the village pipers.
The proof of God's pudding is in the eating. Wisdom is reveal and justified in our actions, our deeds, in the fruit of our lives.
We march to the tune of another piper.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Pipers pipe and true prophets and children cannot be manipulated.
God is the ultimate non-conformist.
Idolatry is the urge to manipulate God. True religion is acknowledgement that God is Other and is thoroughly beyond our manipulation. He does not dance to our tune.
----------------------------------------
Extra Note
In the post-Reformation phase of English Christian history, there was an interesting progression of movements to the emergence of the Baptists.
First there were Puritans who wanted to make the Church of England purer. Then came the dissenters and Separatists who felt that the only way to revive Christianity and express it was to get out. A number of groups emerged from that. Then came radicals like Quakers and Baptists. They all emerged from a sense of non-conformity. They were among the Nonconformists.
----------------------------------------
Luke 7:18-35
When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”