Most of us do Christianity like I write with a pen after twenty years of typing—white-knuckling it, shoulders at our ears. In John 17, Jesus doesn't pray that we'd try harder. He prays we'd be pulled into the very life of God. Sanctification isn't climbing a ladder. www.parrott.ink/loosen-your-...

New Post: Being Held https://www.parrott.ink/being-held/

Is growing to a larger size of church simply more likely to require relying on coercion, authoritarianism, and control? We don't demand weekly attendance or tithing. We have shared values, sure. But the rest is... messy. Turns out, messy doesn't scale well. www.parrott.ink/not-supposed...

The truth matters more than approval, and justice matters more than comfort. Sometimes the message that wins converts is the wrong message. Palatability can come at the cost of virtue. Making everyone feel okay about the conversation means nobody actually changes. www.parrott.ink/the-value-an...

Two thirds of Americans are not Trump voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/a-lot-of-p...

If a pastor has ever used the Bible to tell you that being a good Christian means staying in an abusive relationship, or that questioning harmful treatment makes you "unforgiving" or "bitter"—they were wrong. Biblical enemy-love is never about enabling greater harm. www.parrott.ink/saving-enemy...

In which I compare the speeches of Goebbels and Stephen Miller. Same dehumanization: "You are nothing" Same civilizational claims: "Our ancestors built everything" Same "awakened dragon" metaphors Same martyrdom-to-escalation patterns www.parrott.ink/comparing-go...

You, Jesus, are you not also a mother? Are you not the mother who, like a hen gathers her chickens under her wings? Truly, Lord, you are a mother. For longing to bear sons into life, you tasted of death and by dying you begot them. So you, Lord God, are the great mother —St. Anselm of Canterbury

I really loved The Weep duology by K. Eason (@svartjagr.bsky.social) and I'm super upset that there's not any more of it!

Thanks to Christian Nationalism, we have a form of Christianity that has hollowed out the gospel, scooped out its heart, and put on its husk like a skinwalker. It calls empathy sin. It blames the poor for poverty. It treats immigrants like invaders. www.parrott.ink/when-rome-we...

Roman philosophy said the poor deserved their poverty. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor." Rome said foreigners were threats. Jesus said, "Welcome the stranger." Rome said empathy was weakness. Jesus wept.

The ethics of Rome are back in style—the poor get what they deserve, foreigners are dangerous, the sick and infirm are a burden on society—wearing a Jesus name tag.

If I, a native-born citizen, were to move into a neighborhood of immigrants, I would be statistically more likely to commit a crime than my immigrant neighbors.

Meritocracy is a lie. The poor don't deserve to be poor; the rich don't deserve to be rich. But, equally a lie, is that we solely the product of capricious fate. www.parrott.ink/we-keep-swin...

Christlike theology cancels records of people’s debt. Christlike theology disarms the rulers and authorities. Christlike theology exposes the world’s oppressive powers to public disgrace.

Making salvation depend on how certain you feel about your beliefs is psychologically traumatizing. It assumes God is controlling and domineering rather than loving.

According to 1 Timothy, the aim of instruction is love. Biblical instruction should lead to three things: Love A good conscience A sincere faith This means: If it leads to hate, violence, or cruelty rather than love, throw it out—that's the biblical thing to do.

I've been told by congregants many reasons why another church had denied them Communion: Divorce Being LGBTQ+ Disagreement on some theological point It fills me with something close to righteous anger. Jesus's act of hospitality turned into a membership card. www.parrott.ink/the-longest-...

I'm too old to have a PTA board meeting *start* at 9 PM.

I’m a DC resident. The thing to understand about what’s happening is that folks like me (white American with a regular income) will likely not be affected But if you’re Black, poor, homeless, or an immigrant, you’re screwed. It’s a retrenchment of Jim Crow Folks like me have some decisions to make

There are at least 3 reasons people continue to connect with religion that have nothing to do with whether they think every doctrine is literally true. And understanding these reasons might just save us from the exhausting binary of "believer" versus "non-believer." www.parrott.ink/four-reasons...

Grace creates more grace, more love, more fruit that feeds others. The whole point of grace being received is that it becomes grace that's given. In a world obsessed with scarcity and competition, God's economy operates on abundance and multiplication.

"The apostasy from Christian will not come about by everybody openly renouncing Christianity; no, but slyly, cunningly, by everybody assuming the name of being Christian." Soren Kierkegaard

He’s the one people sing about in their dances, "Bush has lost has thousands but Trump has lost his tens of thousands."

"Heresy" has a specific meaning in theological discourse—it's not just shorthand for "viewpoints I disagree with."

God transcends and includes gender. Our limited human categories will always fall short of capturing divine fullness. Perhaps by embracing multiple images and metaphors—including those that make us uncomfortable—we might glimpse more of who God truly is. www.parrott.ink/encountering...

If it offends you to picture God as a Black woman, but not as a white man, you’ve got some deconstructing to do.

If you're beginning to question whether your religion is capital-T True, that's okay. It doesn't mean you have to abandon your tradition immediately. You can still find meaning, community, beauty, and wisdom within it, even as you wrestle with doubts. www.parrott.ink/four-reasons/

I came upon this website of pre-made social media posts that churches can use. You can see the common thread of "this isn't our home...heaven is!" This theology is damaging. It's escapism, designed to form people who ultimately have no responsibility to care for their planet or their neighbors.

From the perspective of the Roman Empire, the feeding of the 5,000 looked like an unsanctioned protest. To conservatives, it looks like welfare. To MAGA, it looks like a scary mob of immigrants. To Wall Street, it looks like missed profit opportunity. To Jesus, it looks like the Kingdom of God.

The Tower of Babel is the story of an empire attempting to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Genesis 10 describes the many nations & many languages of Noah's descendants. Genesis 11 then says "the whole earth had 1 language." How is that possible?

A lack of empathy is a clear and unambiguous sign of emotional immaturity. Declaring empathy to be a sin is just outright blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

There’s nothing in the text of John 4 to suggest that the woman at the well was sinful or promiscuous. Jesus does not call her to repent or to go and sin no more. It’s much more likely that she was a survivor of patriarchal forces treating her as an object instead of a person.

This past Sunday our church: - commissioned a queer woman as a pastor - taught our students that bodies are good and sacred - made Valentines for nursing home residents - launched a fund for DC workers who lost wages due to Trump/Elon The resistance lives on in small but significant acts of love.

Why dismantle programs that help people survive: foreign aid, Social Security, Medicaid? Because capitalism has trained some to see everything through profit & loss. When your brain is marinated in market logic, the question becomes: why give away what could be sold?

I pastor in Washington, DC where federal and foreign aid workers have already lost wages or jobs due to executive orders. Our church has created a community support fund to offer financial assistance to those in need. If you are in need of support or are able to donate, head to DMVSupport.org

In my self-defense classes I focus on how most people are socially conditioned to follow the norms of a civilized, polite society — and there is a MENTAL SHIFT required to use violence to defend from violence. I'm reminded of this while watching our elected officials dithering and delaying. 1/

Religious liberty, everyone. But at least we can say “Merry Christmas” again.

I am a theologian trained at one of America’s top conservative evangelical theological seminaries. This is *not* a Christian concept; it’s a western individualistic one.

Judgment is the healing action of God. God, we need a lot of judgment right now.

If I genuinely believe that God stands with the oppressed and marginalized (which Scripture repeatedly affirms), and if I believe that the marginalized should be centered in leadership (which liberation theology compellingly argues), then what am I even doing here? www.parrott.ink/the-pastors-...

What the hell is this headline and lede? "Without citing evidence." That's called lying. "Suggesting." No, blatantly declaring. "Reflected his instinct to immediate frame major events through his political lens." Is intentionally sowing discord, propaganda, and hate through diatribe and rhetoric.

I mean yes, there is such a concept in Christianity. It appears quite notably in the letters of Paul, for instance, where it’s a concept he *relentlessly* argues against, and in the Gospel where it’s a concept Jesus very much repeatedly scorns. So it is technically in there!

“Fuck” is an entire prayer

What BIPOC- and LGBTQ-led Christian networks and denominations are out there that need to be supported, elevated, and lifted up?

Being against Critical Race Theory, anti-woke, anti-DEI—these are all different ways of saying the same thing. Being anti-Black. It’s a way for white folks to say the n-word without saying the n-word.

I got to hear David Gushee speak this morning and let me tell you the absolute; "the time of education has passed now is the time to use all that we have built in service to the oppressed" energy you are gonna be seeing from this account from now on...

Yes, Paul called for unity in his churches. But it wasn't unity for unity's sake. It was unity for the oppressed, poor, and marginalized. Those who don't unify around honoring those must vulnerable to harm are the divisive ones, not those who are siding with the vulnerable.

For decades, the religious right has claimed persecution while simultaneously being the most privileged religious group in America. Think "War on Christmas" while Christmas music plays in every store from Halloween onward. 1/4