I have been writing about most churches operate under bounded sets, and how the written and unwritten rules of such churches keep out those who believe and behave differently.

The comments on some of these posts have gotten a little tense, so here is something to lighten the mood.

The perfect illustration of a bounded set is when Mr. Bean Goes to Church, and tries to follow along with the rules, but fails miserably. Enjoy!

Full-length unofficial version (low quality):

Shorter Official Version (High Quality):

The following is written with thanks to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One hundred score years ago, a great servant, in whose sacrficial life we now stand, died on the cross and rose again from the dead. This momentous event came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of enslaved humans who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But two thousand years later, humanity still is not free. Two thousand years later, the lives of most people are still sadly crippled by the manacles of religion and the chains of spiritual blindness. Two thousand years later, the average person lives on a lonely island of separation in the midst of a vast ocean of the divine offer of community. Two thousand years later, the average person still languished in the corners of dark despair and finds himself an exile in his own mind and home and neighborhood. And so we’ve come here today to imagine a way out of this shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to hold God true to His promises in Scripture. When the architects of Christianity wrote the magnificent words of the Gospels and the Letters to the Early Churches, they were giving evidence to a promissory note to which every person in the world is heir. This note was a promise that all people, yes, men as well as women, of any race, and tribe, and tongue, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Faith, Hope, and Love” in a community of other believers. It is obvious today that the church has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as most of her members are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, the church has given the people s cheap substitute, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of true community is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity for the church. And so, we’ve come to pursue change, a change that will release the riches of freedom and the security of righteousness.

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