Jesus and the Scum

Scum of the earth? A punk rock Jesus Christ? Am I offended? Actually, no, I'm not.

Denver's Westword magazine pushes boundaries with this published article about Scum of the Earth church during the week of Christmas 2010. I'v read it several times, and the magazine has been in my car for weeks.

The image is striking- and the name more so. Yet the name of the church and the focus of the article actually comes from the Apostle Paul's God-inspired writing to the Corinthians:
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;when we are slandered, we answer kindly.We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of this world- right up to this moment. (I Corinthians 4:11-13)

Paul was doing the work of an evangelist, a writer, an apologist, and just being a follower of the God Made Man for Our Sake. Sometimes he spoke up clearly to his accusers and challenged them, sometimes he took it all in stride. Ultimately, the people of earth treated Paul just as they treated His Lord and Savior. But he kept on going, giving glory to God by the way he lived his life with integrity. A call we all must make. Friends of the Only Living God and therefore scum of the earth, or are we friends of all the world embraces leaving Jesus Christ behind as a good man and as a philosopher. Jesus' question to Peter still stands today- and our eternity rests on the answer- "Who do you say that I am?"

(Art copyright Westword magazine)