#36 / Jonestown Theology: Lenten Explorations in the Valley of Death

#36 / Jonestown Theology: Lenten Explorations in the Valley of Death March 26, 2017

Wikimedia / Nancy Wong
Wikimedia / Nancy Wong

 

“It’s too late. I’ve been running too long. Not gonna change now…” -Jim Jones

 

I’ve heard talk like this many times before. The older people get the more likely they are to speak like this. Are things ever too late? “I can’t change.” “I’m set in my ways.” “It’s too late to live differently.” Such talk means, “I don’t want to change.” or “I don’t want to grow.” Jesus never stops changing. Jesus never stops growing. Change is synonymous with Jesus. Since Jesus is changing with and in us, Jesus is the same change yesterday, today and forever. Despite his claims to the contrary, Jim Jones was obviously not Jesus. Interested in manipulating the community, Jones didn’t want to change because he was ready to die and wanted to take the community with him. There is a need to be careful around those who resist change. They’re the biggest threat to our future.

 

Amen.


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