Bible From The Margins Summary

The Other here represents those still outside of God's kingdom, these are the ones who may go to church every Sunday, say their prayers, they believe in Jesus and God; however, they may lack the willingness to give up their all, in service of the kingdom of God. In, Reading the Bible from the Margins, De La Torre does his best to hammer home this very concept. "It appears that for the rich, Jesus determines salvation by how they interact with the poor" (De La Torre 2002, 139). This concept remains a major theme throughout the entirety of his book. He also addresses the reason how Christians have become so oblivious to this facet of salvation, and why the poor and disenfranchised do not receive the help they should from their community of believers. …show more content…
Because many modern churches read this in a metaphorical sense, they can conclude that "...the wealthy of today must also be willing to give up everything for Jesus but they don't really have to do it or radically change their lifestyles" (De La Torre 2002, 140). De La Torre's point here is that everyone can say they would be willing to give up everything they have to serve Jesus, however, this is the easy stance to take, this stance requires no action, no giving on your part, as long as you can say you're willing, then that is all that God cares …show more content…
How do we move them to action? We must stop taking readings metaphorically and understand that Jesus was talking literally. He was pushing for a new radical lifestyle, one that did not promote individual gain and privilege. His actions moved forward the kingdom of God, a kingdom in which all people are on equal footing. "Salvation is grounded in imitating the actions Jesus took toward bringing about liberation, not in the intellectual acceptance of a belief" (De La Torre 2002, 144). When Jesus told us that those who lose our lives for his sake will save our lives, he meant that literally. Jesus died for all of our sakes, and if salvation comes to those who imitate his lifestyle that means that as Christians we should be willing to lose our lives. We should be ready to leave our comfortable life to further the kingdom of God and bring it those who truly need it. The Other need to understand that they are Zacchaeus in their own stories, Zacchaeus didn't metaphorically offer everything to the poor, he acted in a way that made him apart of the kingdom of God, he stepped on to the radical path that Jesus walked