Two young men had the opportunity, the intelligence, the home life, and the talent to become highly-respected members of their community - lawyers, generals, senators, governors - but instead they turned from conventional society and wound up in jail.

The first of these young men, in spite of his good upbringing, was continually in trouble with the authorities for disturbing the peace. His favorite targets were religious leaders. His attacks on religious leaders often went no further than name-calling, but at least once resulted in violence on church property.

This was just the beginning. As time went on, he defied more and more laws. He founded an underground organisation which the government considered so dangerous that it made it a federal crime to be a member. Its leaders were in and out of jail on all sorts of charges from prostitution and drug addiction to inciting riots and conspiracy.

The second of these young men was a member of that organisation. We may recognize peaceful demonstration as a basic human right, but have you heard about the "nude-ins"? This guy staged one of the first. His own father admitted his son was an unprincipled thief. He was not a draft-card burner - he was a deserter!

Here are some parallels between the lives of these two young men:

1. They both came from good families - upper middle-class, no fatherless homes, no divorce.
2. They both, according to neighbors, kept bad company.
3. They both rejected their political, social and religious heritage.
4. They both attracted crowds of barefoot, bearded followers.
5. They both wound up in jail at one time or another.
6. They both died with nail-holes in their hands and feet.

They were Jesus Christ and Francis of Assisi.

If Jesus drove/walked into town today, what would he do? Where would he go? Who would he identify with? What would he say about our perception of God, our form of worship, our denominational institutions, prominent political and social issues, our attitude toward our neighbours, our spending habits?

Sometimes I wonder whether, despite their heritage and learning, evangelical Christians are busy reinventing their faith in their own image rather than the image of Christ, re-forming it into a comfortable, middle class religion of their own making.

Dave Andrews of the Waiters Union, a Brisbane-based ministry to the poor, was asked by On Being magazine in 1997 about trends he saw in Australian Christianity.

"At present," he said, "I see a growth, not in the servant spirit of Jesus Christ, but in the triumphalist spirit of fundamentalist Christianity; where people tend to relate to God not as Father but as warrior; to our neighbours not as brothers and sisters but as enemies; to the gospel not as grace but as conquest - and that worries me very much indeed" (On Being, Dec. 1997/Jan. 1998: 26).

We must resist the temptation to sacrifice principle at the altar of conformity, and we must allow God to shape our thoughts and our lives through radical, cruciform discipleship.

"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead," Jesus said. "You're not in the driver's seat - I am ... If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendour in company with the Father and the holy angels" (Luke 9:23, 26 - The Message).

Rod Benson
Sydney, Australia