the vampire lady listens

I have been doing a lot of work with the book, Simply Christian, by N.T. Wright, this summer. Wright is a bishop (Durham) and theologian of the Anglican Church. He is a man after my own heart: a liberal to extreme conservatives and a conservative to extreme liberals. Just like I like ‘em. A deep thinker.

Simply Christian is about as fine of an explanation of what it means to be a “Christian,” as you will find out there. Having read other books by Wright concerning the New Testament, first century Judaism, Paul’s teachings, and such, it is refreshing to see him put it all together in one book.

That and the front cover testimony by, of all people, Anne Rice. She is the “vampire” writer, as in Interview with the Vampire, who has come to a strong faith in Jesus. Now she is writing Jesus books, the first being, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. If you can move from sucking blood/sexual thrillers to the blood of the Lamb, you probably want to learn from a guy who is an influence on her.

Mull over this key passage from the introduction of Simply Christian over the weekend. I’ll be back Monday.

The point of following Jesus isn’t simply so that we can be sure of going to a better place than this when we die. Our future beyond death is enormously important, but the nature of the Christian hope is such that it plays back into present life. We’re called here and now, to be instruments of God’s new creation, the world-put-to-rights, which has already been launched in Jesus and of which Jesus’ followers are supposed to be not simply beneficiaries but also agents.