28 Quotes by Derek Flood

Jesus cares for us and is not calling us to passivity or irresponsibility. Enemy love is about ending suffering, not validating it.

We as humans are not infallible. But for precisely this reason we need to continue to seek and continue to question. This is foundational to the scientific method itself which does not claim to have all the answers, but rather operates by a methodology that continually seeks to grow and ask and look. It is good to think. It is good to question in the name of compassion. It is good to have a morality rooted in life and our shared human experience. These are essential elements of a healthy faith.

For Jesus, the correct interpretation of Scripture all comes down to how we love. The Bible was never intended to be our master, placing a burden on our back; it was intended to act as a servant, leading us to love God, others, and ourselves.

The incarnation is God’s shocking “Yes!” to fallen humanity. The resurrection is God’s defiant “No!” to sin and death, both in term of the hurt done to us and the hurt we do.

Fulfilling Scripture for Jesus means lovingly bringing it into its fully intended purpose.

Of all sins, the sin of abusive authority is particularly dangerous because it masquerades as righteousness, claiming to speak for God.

In other words, it is not the death of Jesus in itself, but rather the obedience of Jesus – his faithfulness to love – that acts to make us holy.

The primary way Jesus taught was by dramatic provocation. He speaks in ironic riddles that tell us to do seemingly absurd things like dying in order to live, and loving the people we hate. Jesus is constantly pulling the rug out from under us – saying things that are intended to shock, to throw us off balance.

The key difference between Jesus and the Pharisees described in the Gospel accounts is in which narratives they chose to embrace. Similarly, the question for us is not whether or not we will choose, but rather which narratives we choose to embrace, and how will we choose them?