a risky faith

Many Sundays I include a video clip in my sermon. This week it was from Romero, the story of Oscar Romero's time as archbishop of El Salvador in the late 70's and his conversion to a faith that engaged the powers of the world... It is a powerful film. Try to check it out if you haven't seen it. It is out of print and may be difficult to find but it is worth the search.
Then in Sunday School this morning we looked at an excerpt from an article in the August edition of Harper's Magazine by Bill McKibben. In it, McKibben questions the American propensity towards a faith that emphasizes personal piety and reward above what he sees as the clear teaching of Jesus which emphasizes help for those who need it the most. He goes so far as to say that as a nation we are "simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior." He builds a good case for that statement.
I think it is time that our American "Christian" leaders have a conversion like Oscar Romero had... a conversion that brings them into solidarity with the poor, a conversion to a risky faith that makes a difference rather than one that supports a status quo that is less than God's yearnings.