“In order that the gospel in the New Testament might be made as palatable as possible to as many people as possible, its rough edges have been shorn off and the radical edge of Jesus’ preaching as been replaced by a respectable middle, of which “niceness” is now God. When Jesus came preaching, it was to proclaim the ends of things as they are and the breaking in of things that are to be: the status quo is not to be criticized; it is to be destroyed…
“Anyone can evade responsibility by attempting the impossible and failing; what Jesus asks is that we do what is possible, and that is the challenge that makes life interesting. Jesus does not ask us to behave as he did; he asks us to behave as we ought—which is why asking “What would Jesus have me do?” is far riskier than asking what Jesus himself would do.” —Peter J. Gomes, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus
Hat tip to Herb Montgomery.