Inclusion and Exclusion

More from this remarkable book by Shane Claiborne.

Writing on the rich young ruler, Matt 19:16-30 and parallels:

I think it broke Jesus' heart to let the man walk away. The text says the Jesus looks at him and "loves him" as he walks away. But Jesus doesn't run after the man saying, "Hey, it's a journey, just give half," or "Start with 10 percent/" He simply lets the man choose his wealth.
In our culture of "seeker sensitivity" and radical inclusivity, the great temptation is to compromise the cost of discipleship in order to draw a larger crowd. With the most sincere hearts, we do not want to see anyone walk away from Jesus because of the discomfort of his cross, so we clip the claws on the Lion a little, we clean up a bit the bloody Passion we are called to follow. ...
Jesus doesn't exclude rich people; he just lets them know their rebirth will cost them everything they have. (pp. 103-104)


I've more than once been accused of not being inclusive. It always feels bad to have this thrown at you. I think these words of Shane's begin to show me a way through this inclusive/exclusive stand off.

A desire to include everyone is good, I believe God calls everyone to Jesus, to enter his Kingdom through Christ. Inclusion is good. But we can't do it right. We would always make exceptions for our family, our friends, the people we like. This is where Bultmann started his demythologizing programme, make the gospel more palatable to modern humanity. But, if you give up on the gospel to include everyone all you are left with is a social club.

Jesus excludes. Yes, I think it broke his heart when the rich young man turned away, but Jesus let him go. Jesus and his radical teaching about the Kingdom excluded this man who loved his riches more than he loved Jesus. If you love anything more than you love Jesus you will end up excluded. Anything? Yes, anything: money, possessions, sexual preferences, family, work, ministry, anything.

Jesus knows more about the gospel than I ever will. I suspect those who seek to insult me by calling me non-inclusive would end up calling Jesus the same.