The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

by Jamin Goggin

“The immediate reaction is to try to destroy the monsters, or hide them away, pretending that they don’t exist. Or we try to flee from community life and relationships with others, assuming that the monsters are theirs, not ours; they are guilty, not us. The heart of the message of Jesus is: Be compassionate as my Father is compassionate, do not judge so you won’t be judged, do not condemn so you won’t be condemned, forgive such as we have been forgiven. The heart of this is: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, speak well of those who speak badly of you, pray for those who persecute you. We think that you have to be strong, you have to win, you have to be the best. So we believe that we should all be winners, but we are not all winners. So our experience of being loved and accepted in community allows us to accept ourselves as we are. We are broken, but we are loved.”