Wes Howard-Brook teaches at Seattle University. He is the author of Unveiling Empire, Becoming Children of God, and “Come Out, My People!”
Posts By This Author
The Revolution Will Not Be Sponsored
Letter to the Editors
Apocalypse Soon?
It's all too easy to make fun of the extreme examples of prophecy belief that we encounter on bumper stickers and best-seller lists.
The Myth of Democracy
THE RECENT ISSUE of Sojourners seemed to me ironically to carry the seeds of its own critique.
When Community Comes Apart
"And so the disciples returned to their own homes..." —John 20:10
No Secret Disciples
What is it like to be confronted with the presence of Jesus?
In the Beginning Was the Word
THE EXPERIENCE is a familiar one. A small, struggling community of believers searching for truth and justice finds the Spirit present in its midst. They are set aflame with the joy and peace of deep insight into God's call for them and for the church as a whole. They rush to their sisters and brothers in the larger church, offering the gift of their new revelation. But instead of open acceptance, they hit the brick wall of institutional rejection. Rather than being embraced, they are ignored.
If they insist on their version of truth, the reaction stiffens into anger, hatred, persecution. Eventually, they must decide: Do we in turn reject the institutional church in favor of our own Spirit-filled vision of justice and peace? Or do we continue to witness to the religious powers, no matter what the price?