a rolling stone waiting to be set in motion

"The religion of tomorrow will be less concerned with dogmas of theology and more concerned with the social welfare of humanity. When one sees the church spending its energies on the assertion of antiquated dogmas but dumb as an oyster to the poverty and misery all around, we can't help but recognize the need for a new interpretation of Christianity."- Tommy Douglas

I feel like we're still waiting for the religion of tomorrow to come. I mean it's here now, some of it, in pockets. Breaking off from evangelical traditions are the Emergent Church (conversation) movements which have a high focus on communal living and engaging the communitites we are in. Part of me sees this swinging to an extreme of monastic living, eventually leading to Christian bubble communities. But there is great possibility in some of these movements.

On the other hand, main line traditions have, to varying degrees, carried on some of the social gospel movements that started in their midst during the depression (and earlier). That's not to say that whole denominations have moved towards this 'religion of tomorrow'. Certainly even within the United church, there can still be found conservative parishes'. But there has been and continues to be an opening to a new (or possibly old) way of interpreting the bible. Getting away from the 'individual's problems' to looking more wider social problems.

Still it seems to always be a minority, a struggle. Maybe that's what it's all about, maybe that's what it comes down to.

Jeremiah 22
15 "Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.

16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the LORD.

(to defend and help the poor is to know God. After all this time I thought I knew God, but maybe not as well as I thought).

Matthew 25:31-46 The sheep and goats
The last part says:

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 'Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

so basically those who treated the poor wrongly went to hell and those who treated them well went to heaven (whether or not they know the four spiritual laws). You could say that in order to go to heaven you have help the poor, advocate for them and so one. Or, to put it another way, If we ever want to see heaven on earth, then we need to take the cause of the poor seriously, as serious as we take Christ.