The Gospel that Jesus proclaimed
was of the imminent reality of God's Kingdom.
He spoke to the needs of a people living under tyranny.

Later theology explained The Resurrection as a proclamation
that forgiveness of sin was certain for those who believed in him,
and then as a deed that ensured an eternal life of bliss for the faithful.
The message of Jesus put self second, even going as far as death.
The corrupted Gospel put self first, even after death.

We are inheritors of that Corrupted Gospel, centred on self.
It is a message that must be revised, if Christianity is to survive
the advent of critical thought and a well educated population.
But it is a message giving power to those in leadership
and is thus rigorously protected by the church.

If Christianity is to be true to its founder,
it must return to the message of Jesus:
"The Kingdom of God is now at hand"

But maybe it needs to look more widely
beyond the narrow world of a Judean peasant.
Maybe that Kingdom now includes other concerns
such as Care for Creation, Climate Change,
ethnic, sexual and national inequality.

These are the things that bother a moral thinking man
These are things around which protesting groups gather.
Surely these are concerns that Jesus would focus on today!
Notably, these are things for which people give their lives
rather than focusing on their own eternal existence.
We need to express a new Gospel message!