My colleague and friend and ex episcopalian minister, Tamie Harkins is curating a blog of commentary to coincide with the advent. She has already given me the specific reading i'm supposed to do, so follow her on the facebook. There'll be some #realtalkbible commentary there. Meanwhile, this...

So, through the first ten Chapters of Acts, the disciples led by Simon Peter have heeded Jesus words and going forth acting as Jesus has acted find that they are able to do the things that Jesus has done – just like J.C. said. Over and over, J.C. said I am in the Father, the Father is in me as he’s in you as you are in him. Just act right and do shit in his name and my name and it’s all good. So they do just that, right. Now check it: this is the very first days of the Christian religion. The Pharisees is buggin out that even though Jesus is peaced out, that people are still on his jock. They’re trying to get Peter and John and em to chill but they’re like ‘wellll we can’t, cuz we don’t really fucks wid you. We fucks wid God.’ And they even lock them up and they just walk out (angels an shit during the night) and they continue going to the temple to pray, so the Pharisees and Saducees and them buss they ass and tell them ‘aight, we see you doing miracles an shit but don’t do that shit round here. You killin our shine.’ But here’s the first major Act they have everybody who is coming to Christ get down with. Everybody has to bring all their possessions, give it up to the apostles and then the apostles distribute it amongst niggas who don’t have shit. What?! Oh Snap! Simon Peter is a socialist?! In Jesus name?! Don’t tell the conservative right! Those fools will have a conniption. In fact, one dude, sold his shit and brought MOST of the money to Peter and Peter was like ‘where the rest? Why you trying to lie to O.G.? You think you gonna hide yo shit from God, nigga?! Fuck outta here!’ and dude dies; straight up, right there DIES! And then his wife shows up and Peter was like, what kinda broad is you? You ride-or-die for the wrong nigga! Fuck outta here!’ and she DIES! Right there! And they call dudes to just come bury them. Later on Saul, who’s just riding herd on Christians all around and fucking them up, gets struck down by a light and has his come-to-Jesus moment, and once he realizes that he need to be down with J.C. crew, he goes in for real and gets to do fly shit in Jesus’ name too.

Here’s the thing. Jesus, apparently is okay with if you fall and get back up. He stays in life, and in afterlife, calling crazy people to come chill with him, as long as they willing to try to ack right. What apparently that nigga is not cool with is you walking around saying you fittin’ to ride with him, but trying to half-step. How you gonna do good in Jesus’ name for people who need some goodness but you gon hold shit back like you aint seen how Jesus look out for his crew? Is you out your mind?

What’s also exciting about Acts is the historical context for Christianity here. The apostles are doing a lot of traveling spreading the word. There is a cultural and ideological battle being fought for the minds of everyone. Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Samaritans, centurions are all joining up, and the word being spread (and this is very important), is that no-one is too low and too common to hang out and be with the apostles and talk about J.C. God even sends Simon Peter a vision of all kinds of animals that was previously unclean according to law and tells him that he should fucks with them, and Simon interprets it to mean that everybody is all good to come through now.

This is where in a way the tension begins, where the foundation is beginning to be lain for Christianity as a tool of conquest rather than of equalization. Understand well that the first Acts of the Apostles; the re-distribution of wealth is the fundamental ideological underpinning of Christ’s teachings, and it is this that we find very soon, in the very first few centuries after Christ’s death, subverted in place of a more sinister imperative; the consolidation of lands. No wonder we find miracle makers more few and far between as the gospel gets spread. Fools ain’t really trying to do no shit in Jesus name for sure after that. It’s all dudes recognizing that they can holler Jesus name and use it to get more shit. And it brings us all the way to here, to the most shiniest Babylon of all, where it’s so crazy that a modern conservatism has managed to equate America’s virulent capitalism with the will of God (see Cornel West’s Democracy Matters). And it don’t stop, and it don’t stop…