Call it Information Overload. Call it stuck in the News Cycle. Call it George. Whatever it’s called, it has caused my brain to be constipated.
Eyes have not seen; Ears have not heard all of the crap floating around in the air. Well, maybe that’s not entirely accurate. After all, there is truly nothing new Under the Sun.
But, all at once? I find that I must bore a hole in the back of my brain in order to let some of that stuff that’s clogging up the neural pathways to leak out. I had a Bag-O-Poop stuck to my belly to catch and dispose of the waste. Now, I need one of those to stick to my head to catch the crap that I must allow to escape.
To wear a mask, or to NOT wear a mask. That is the question.
Do Black Lives REALLY Matter?
How many verifiable lies have flowed from the halls of power today?
The Russians did WHAT?!?
How many people died in the last 24 hours from Covid?
Are those our local police? Or, is the the local Militia?
Who to trust; who to listen to?
Am I stuck in an echo chamber in which the same ideas that I hold simply bounce and rebound around the walls until I am lulled into a stupor, a complacency that renders me useless?
At what point must I scream, ENOUGH?!?!?
I don’t know. Truly, I don’t.
So many thoughts about Justice and what it might look like in our culture.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandia….Wait… No, Where in the World is God? Has the Holy Spirit gone to Jamaica for a vacation and a sip of rum? Where are the people who claim to follow Jesus? You know, the ones who have stood up at the altar with tears streaming down their faces calling out and professing their personal fealty to the King of kings?
All is silent.
All is calm.
Except for my soul.
It twists and turns trying to see the promised redemption of the Cosmos. It cries out to Yahweh in hopes of an answer; a whisper of hope.
It is beyond my strength to sit and do nothing, though. For me that would be to seriously Miss the Mark and fall short of the Glory that God prepared for all of us to share in. But, I must admit that I am tired. My brain is saturated. I don’t know where or how to start to release all that is pent up within those Little Gray Cells. Perhaps, this is a start. Just maybe simply sitting and throwing words up in the air to see where they may fall will begin a cascade of something meaningful.
Last week I wrote how my Dad reacted to the murder of MLK. My Dad grew up in a small town where there were few, if any, African Americans. He was a child of his time. Jim Crow was still the rule of the Land, if not the actual Law. Blacks were viewed not only as “Other,” but as “Less Than.” Outside of a few city slicker, bleeding hearts no one even thought twice about it. Most folks were like my Dad simply trying to get their piece of the American Pie. They really had no time to think about things like Equal Rights and Red Lining. Hell, I’m pretty sure my Dad went to his grave having never heard of Red Lining! No one cared. Period. They had their own worries and concerns. “Blacks? Who cares? Let them worry about themselves. That is, as long as they don’t show up in my neighborhood!”
My first contact with Blacks was when I was a very young child. I lived in a lily-white world. Except, on garbage day. That’s when the Negroes came down our street with the garbage truck to collect the stuff that we no longer wanted. The Garbage. Imagine my young, white mind seeing this. My dad went to work somewhere magical every day. Negroes collect garbage.
Of course, my parents never said anything to dispel that thought. As far as they were concerned my observations were spot on. Negroes collect garbage.
Throughout my youth I never had any other real contact with African Americans. Oh, yeah, they showed up on the news fairly regularly. But, with Dad’s commentary in my ear, there were no positive images seen or understood.
That is, until Music.
I remember the first time I heard “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the MG’s. Holy Shit! What was that sound? Do you feel that?
First the ears, then the eyes Opened!
Later, who’s that guy with the ‘fro? Jimi Who? Oh. My. God. Is that a guitar?
Mind. Blown.
The circuits in my brain began to search for new pathways to describe and explain the cognitive dissonance that I experienced. I had always heard that Blacks were something, (note “something,” not “someone”), to be at best ignored. They had no talent or ability that would interest a white person.
But, Bloody Hell! That guy could Play!
I picked up B.B King, and Albert King. Fats Domino and, of course, the King of Soul…James Brown. (My Dad had no use for Brown. He referred to him as a Screaming N-R.)
Once on a journey to the hinterland of Cleveland Public Hall to relish the sweet sounds and harmonies of Three Dog Night, I heard nature’s call. When I got to the Relief Portal I found that all of the stalls had a coin slot on them. So, now it costs a buck for a coke and a quarter to get rid of it. They had us coming and going. However, one young man, about 6 feet tall and ebony of hue, wearing a sheepskin vest and a wide-brimmed hat held the door open for me. “No way someone should have to pay to piss.”
More of the instilled hatred that my Father tried to pass on to me was flushed away.
Yet, my destiny seemed to be in following my white forebears through life. I got a job with a mostly white business. That business busied me for the next 40+ years. I had limited contact with folks who did not look like me. I found myself engulfed in the cultural tsunami that was Ronnie Reagan. Yes, I have repented of my youthful foolishness. My back striped from self-flagellation. But, the mantra of that time was, that nothing was more important than the economy. And, that economy is ‘Color-Blind.’ That meant that everyone and anyone had equal access to the same prosperity. All you had to do was work hard at it. See! Color Blind!
Unless, of course, you were one of those Welfare Mothers who became baby factories for no other reason than to suckle on the Government Teet. Or, you were one of those crack head, absentee fathers who stuck his dark wick into any willing receptacle. Of which, there were apparently an endless supply. (See Welfare Mother.)
No. Racism didn’t die when the laws changed. White folks thought it did. That’s why white folks invented the term Color Blind. You see, Lady Justice wears a blindfold. So, if the Law says ‘Equal,’ then that means that 400 years of oppression suddenly vanishes. Just like that White Jeannie with the skimpy harem outfit and the blink and nod thing. Gone!
Now that I’m older, so much older… I see that the only color that white folks are blind to is White. Yeah, I know that technically White is the absence of all color, but play along.
Who was it that affixed the moniker “Red Man” to indigenous Americans? What group of people colored the Asian “Yellow”? What enlightened culture labeled an entire continent, “The Dark Continent”? Oh, you thought that was because of the deep, dark jungle? Yeah, probably not entirely.
White people, the squeaky-clean, sparkling progenitors of everything good and worthwhile in the world have done more to demean and destroy anyone, or any culture, that may seem to set them in a poor light. White folks can’t stand to be “Losers” or “Also Rans” or anything less than King of the Hill.
I’m not really sure when it all began. I suppose part of it was when my elementary school teachers started telling my Mother the myth of my under-achieving abilities. “He’s not living up to his potential,” they all agreed. Yet, none of them could seem to tell us what that potential was. It was an elusive Olympus that created a legend of gold flowing from my mind only to be flushed away as so much waste after too many baked beans. Legends die hard, though. You see, even though the adult experts in my life told the myth, the results told a different tale. If I was indeed squandering this God-Given Gift, then why was I still in the upper 98th percentile on all their guiding metrics? Why did those quarterly reports of every student’s academic worth constantly contain the only vowel allowed? I could coast and still bring the gold. Yet, I was never able to make the Powers happy.
I did have one or two teachers throughout who thought that they could play the game better than I could. One, in particular, thought that by giving me and incomplete in his class would awaken the hidden genius within. So, even though I scored the highest of anyone he had ever taught on the season-ending Final Exam, he made good on that with a great big “I.” So, I figured, I’ll show him. I signed up for his class the following year. And, proceeded to receive another “I” for Idiot. Not even that stopped me. I graduated well above average in my class in spite of doing only about half of the work. Maybe they pitied kids like me.
Part of my issue, well maybe, more than part, was my inability to respect authority. I was a rebel from the beginning. I viewed most rules as mere suggestions. They were not meant to be bent or broken. They were simply beneath my consideration. Especially, the ones that made on sense other than, “because I told you so.” This attitude could have cost me dearly. But, I also developed an ability to speak the language. My dad had a sign at his desk where he worked that read, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then Baffle them with Bullshit.” I found that I was able to do both. Not a great combination for someone with a larger than life sense of Self.
But, that wasn’t really an accurate assessment.
I was, (and Am), extremely insecure. I developed the persona of a rebel thinker mostly because no one else at that point in my life had staked out that patch of real estate. I could hold my own with anyone who thought that they could actually reason with me. The ones that I had problems with were the people who wore their Bullshit Monitors. They didn’t speak my language at all. So, we developed a kind of mutual understanding. I wouldn’t BS them; they wouldn’t kick my ass. That worked pretty well.
As I grew older I met others who were far more human than me. I was just a little shit who could talk his way out of a beating. These others, who stood head and shoulders above me in awareness, were aloof to all of the petty crap that I tended to wallow around in. These were the ones who had read about the “Bay of Pigs,” and who knew about Jerry Reuben and Abby Hoffman. They were the intellectuals who were “woke” long before that term meant something other than what we all did in the mornings. They were the people who understood what that first “Moratorium” was about.
I, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how to get a girl to like me. I joined a band when I was 12. I was the rhythm guitarist. Which in my mind meant, Second Fiddle. For someone who had achieved greatness in his own mind, that was simply not going to fly. So, I left that band and through myself into playing the instrument. I strapped on my guitar when I walked in the house after school and it didn’t come off until I went to bed. I practice 8 hours every day and more on weekends. I played the grooves off of Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Led Zepplin, and James Gang. This was the first time in my life that I actually gave myself wholly to any endeavor. Eventually, my work paid off as I became a bonafide lead guitar player who could jam for hours with anyone. I had worked into a niche where I refused to learn other players’ solos. That was their voice. I developed my own. Improvisation ultimately led me to listen to other players. Phil Keaggy from a local band called Glass Harp opened my mind to the limitless possibilities of the instrument. Al DiMeola, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Steve Howe, and other players ushered me into the world of Harmonic Melody and piano style. Vast horizons of the Ether became accessible.
Yet, I was always what my dad called the “Also Ran.” You know, Johnny came in first place. Mike also ran.
Here I was, destined for greatness. I mean, just ask my third grade teach and my Mom! But, I got a job, joined the union, and put a sign on my desk in 1980, “Vote Republican for a Change.”
What happened?
One day I was watching as Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Bobby, James Earl Ray murdered Martin, and Chicago erupted while Mayor Richard J. Daly sat at the Democratic National Convention with his arms crossed not realizing that the world was giving birth to something new.
In all honesty, I was a thirteen year old kid whose dad muttered something about, “about time someone did something about that N——r” when MLK was cut off from the living. I didn’t understand any more than Daly what was happening. Hell, I just played the songs! I didn’t really listen to the lyrics. Even as young people fell on the grass and concrete of Kent State a few years later, I was more concerned about learning CSNY’s “Ohio” than about the message that Neil was shouting to us. “Wake up!” he was saying. “What key is this,” is all that I heard.
So, I guess it wasn’t at all unnatural for me to join the crowd of Republicans in the 80s. After all, the revolution never really got off the ground. Woodstock was the last hurrah of a tribe of coddled, over-indulged white kids who found out all too quickly that what was said in “Cabaret” was all too true; ‘Money makes the world go around.’
Maybe that deep sleep overcame many of us. We “grew fat and got lazy” as John Kay accused us. I don’t know for sure what kind of haze enveloped my mind. It certainly wasn’t Purple. I lost many years bowing to a god that was less than even my own ability to underthink and underachieve. It took crisis to put a fire under my ass. I walked into that fire and got burned. The scars are still visible. And, to my ever living shame, burned those whom I love. But, that’s another story for another time.
I believe that I’m opening my eyes a bit. The sun is shining through the windows of my heart and bring warmth. It’s also illuminating the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated in a rather lackluster lifetime. But, there are also some gems set in gold lying about that shine with brightness of burgeoning hope.
I’ve spent a lot of time at this blog thingy writing about my trials and tribulations as a card carrying member of the Fundagelical Tribe. A lot of the reason for that is simply so that I can process my thoughts and feelings. After all, this is my blog and I can write whatever I like. So, if I want to use it for therapeutic purposes, so be it!
I’ve spent the last 15 or so years deconstructing much of the theology and church stuff that I had been indoctrinated with. It takes a while to get 30+ years of stuff cleaned out so that you can take a clear look at what’s there. Good and not so good. Deconstruction can only go so far, though. Eventually, ya gotta start to con-struct something new. I began that process by reading and studying progressive religious leaders. At the top of that list were Brian McLaren, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, Rob Bell, the late Rachel Held Evans, and many others. I found their perspectives on following Jesus rather than holding on to some kind of orthodox dogma refreshing as well as freeing. These folks pointed toward what McLaren called, “A New Kind of Christianity.” For me, that book proved life-changing. I suddenly found a stream that flowed with crisp, clear water that I slake my thirst for spirituality. I thank God for this grace that opened my heart and mind to the possibility of a Really, Big God who embraced us and loved us. This was quite different than the little, vindictive god that I had been taught about for so many years.
Now, after the search for life in the Church I have found a home. At least for now. I no longer think in terms of concrete ideas or doctrines. I have killed the idea of certainty and grown in its place a kind of light touch for things. For, who knows, I may learn something tomorrow that will again shake the foundations of life and faith and catapult me into an entirely new reality. It’s happened before. There’s no reason to think it won’t happen again.
Anyway, I digress.
The reason that I’m writing this today is to call out my progressive pals. Yes, we have much in common. We seek to see justice carried out in our world…Now! We believe that God cares about the Earth. After all, God did say that it was “Very Good.” We know that Jesus cares about the Least of These and desires that we care for them. The “Other,” the widow, orphan, and foreigner are as precious to God as any who would claim to follow Jesus. We MUST consider them precious. I agree with most Progressives who see that God has placed in every human a Spark of the Divine. There is that Imago Dei, Image of God, that may be found in everyone. We must honor and help fan that Spark to Flame.
These are all good things. These are all Scriptural things. These are all Godly things.
Yet, there is a lack.
While I feel more comfortable with Progressives, there is still something that prevents me fully embracing fellowship, Koinonia, with them. There is a blockage of some sort that inhibits unconditional acceptance. I think that for many, (most?), Progressives there is a feeling of “Yes! We made it!” They consider themselves ‘Woke’ believers who are on the path to a truly just world. All we need to do is get more folks ‘Woke’ like us! (I’m surprised there’s not a book by that title out there!) For many of these folks the creation of a new World in which there is equality and justice and food and water and peace is something that the arc of history is inexorably bending toward. We just need to do our part to help bend it.
The Early Fathers had a name for this. Pelagianism. I’m not going to explain that right now. Y’all are capable of using Google. But, in essence, it’s a theology of self-sufficiency that Augustine and others rightly rebuked. This is not to say in the least the We Are Not Responsible for working for justice and peace. Jesus set us the example to do just that.
However, Jesus qualified his example. He told people who questioned him that the things he did and taught were nothing more than what he saw his Father in Heaven doing and saying. There is a lack in Progressive theology that doesn’t give enough importance to the Spiritual part of the equation. If equation is even a proper word to describe this. They have the human side moving well. Progressives are front of the line for helping those in need. Money, time, energy, and gifting are all willingly, and rightly, offered in the work that we all have before us. For people to sit on their hands and say that they’ll ‘Pray for You’ is a cop-out that totally misses the mark of Faithfulness. Those folks continue to ‘fall short of the glory of God.’ The Progressive folks seem to skip over the parts of Scripture that call out our neediness for the Grace of God. Paul wrote about these folks as being ‘of the flesh.’ Basically, that’s theology-speak for someone who has a connection with the Spirit of God, yet continues to do things according to the merely human. They don’t feed and grow that spiritual connection that is truly the Life Line for anyone who desires to follow Jesus.
The life of a disciple is not simply a matter of thinking and doing the right stuff. It is that, for sure. But, it is also so much more. It is sitting silently in God’s Presence listening. It is communion with the Holy Spirit that directs and empowers the actions that we take. It is child-like trust that God has ours and the Creation’s best interests in hand.
If there is one thing that I would encourage my Progressive sisters and brothers to understand, it’s that while we are in fact Children of God, Beloved and Cherished, Image Bearers of the Divine, we are also humans who Need God’s Empowering Spirit. We cannot change the world and make it more just and loving without this. The Kingdom of God cannot be established without God directly involved in bringing it to fruition.
Simply having our “Better Angels” guiding us is not enough. We must walk in the Light and Spirit and Grace that is God’s Alone.
Recently I wrote several posts about Unity in the Church. While much of that is applicable to our everyday relationships with anyone, I want to be clear that my main focus was on the Church. How do we strive for Unity within the Body of Christ? That was Paul’s focus when he wrote that letter to the Church at Corinth. And, it was mine while writing of our task today.
I also wanted to make it clear that I do NOT support the thoughts or “Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs” of some members of our Tribe. They are hurtful, hateful, and bigoted. They should be called out for what they are, “Barriers to keep “Others” out.”
There are other thoughts, though, that play a similar role. That of ‘Keeping Ours IN.’ If we are honest, most of us really desire to be a part of something larger than we are. We want to identify with the winning team. (Those of us in the Cleveland, OH area have difficulty relating to that!) We hope that the tribe that we align with will be regarded as ‘Good’ and ‘Strong.’ I remember when I first chose to follow Jesus I was part of a community of people who truly desired to follow Jesus just like the folks in the First Church. Part of our hope was that the people in the city where we lived would see us living together in love. We tried to embody the communal love of God conspicuously. We were convinced that if the World could only see how Christ followers could truly live together that they would start beating down our doors in order to share in the Love with us. But, alas, they only saw a bunch of hippies who had horses in the garage.
That didn’t stop us though, from trying to build a counter-culture that could speak to those who were Lost and Wandering in the Darkness that was Secular Culture. We developed our own music and art. We chose private Christian schools for our children. Or, homeschooled them so that they would not be tainted by the secular doctrines of death that were foist upon unsuspecting public school students. Our leaders began to show us how our way of thinking and living was the only true and virtuous way. And, the gatekeepers got stronger. Soon we had our own stores and businesses. Of course, we were all expected to patronize these because, well, they were Christian, Silly! It didn’t matter that they were not nearly as good as the secular places. They were members of our Tribe! The music that we developed was, at best, second rate. One singer asked the question in a song, “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?” Well, because ours was just bad!!! Yet, we kept forging ahead trying to develop “Real, True Christian Stuff” so that we didn’t need to sully ourselves with that worldly stuff.
Those who told us that they were anointed to lead us continued to direct us toward so-called Godly writers and teachers and other guides who would help us to become more and more transformed into the likeness of the god that we created.
People like James Dobson became our life gurus on how to raise children. Others, like Dave Ramsey, started groups to advise us on financial matters. These people, and many others, touted a Biblical Standard that would enable everyone who followed their practices to live free in an imagined “Bible Land” where we would thrive in Holy Peace.
In the community I was a part of the leaders actively taught these principles. And, because of the heavy-handed pastoral guidance that was part of our life together, many times demanded our compliance. Of course, this was done because the ‘loved’ us and only desired that we be free to worship God in Spirit and Truth.
So, we willingly followed like sheep follow their beloved shepherd. In fact, that very image was used to describe our relationship with the leadership.
Here’s the rub for me as I look back.
No one put a gun to my head and told me that I HAD to comply with this. I followed them willingly. Even when I knew that something didn’t sound or feel right. I rationalized away my concerns because I Trusted these people to guide me. I placed my life and my family’s in the hands of men who said that they were leading us along the Straight and Narrow path that would ensure our well-being, indeed, our very salvation. I chose that path.
Until, I didn’t.
The damage that I did to my family and myself is my own responsibility. I checked my brain at the door and lived in a world where I could say to God, “It wasn’t me, Lord! I just did what I was told by those guys that YOU PUT IN CHARGE! Not my fault!”
But, it was my fault.
We humans like to deflect responsibility from ourselves when there are negative outcomes. Just like Flip Wilson so many years ago, “The devil made me do it!” I could point at those leaders and say, “But, they told me to do that!” like it was some sort of magic get out of jail free card.
It wasn’t. I am still the only person responsible for my actions. And, they have not always been virtuous. Lack of faithfulness to my wife and family? — Check. Poor stewardship of my resources? — Check. Lousy parenting? — Yep, that too. Unloving son and brother? — Check.
I could go on and on.
The point of all of this is that I gave my God-Given responsibilities to people who were never supposed to take them from me. I did that. Me. Alone.
I bear the responsibility for my own failings. Unfortunately, others bear the the scars from my failings. For that, I am deeply sorry. I knew better. But, I did worse.
This is the danger of placing one’s trust in others who, themselves, are struggling and ignorant of the hurt that they inflict on people.
When I go to weddings the first thing I do is look at the program for the ceremony. In almost every case there is one passage from Scripture that appears that is one of the most misused passages, (and, there are Many!), of any. This passage is 1 Corinthians 13. The “Love” chapter. I cringe when I see that listed as a reading. Usually, it will be read by one of the bride’s friends from childhood. You know the one, she stayed up late with the bride doing each others’ hair and joking about the length of the quarterback’s, well, you know. The reason I find this particular passage so distasteful is because it was NEVER meant to be read only at weddings. In fact, the content alone is not about the love found in some fairy tale of wedded bliss. This passage was placed in this particular spot between chapters 12 & 14 for a specific reason by St. Paul. As we are learning in our Bible study at St. Barnabas, the Corinthian church had a serious identity problem. They were all excited about the personalities who came to visit them. Paul, Apollos, the M&Ms Guys…whoever. They were totally enamored by the kinds of Spiritual gifts that they could flaunt at one another. People took pleasure in standing up in the midst of their gatherings and saying something wise, or at least esoteric sounding enough to make people applaud them. They were all about what each of them thought of themselves. So, right in the middle of trying to straighten out their thinking on gifts and order and stuff, Paul tossed in “a more excellent way.” He wrote:
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 13:1–13). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Read that carefully. Note that what Paul was saying that Love is Hard. He wasn’t talking about some warm and fuzzy feeling in my chest. There are many people who follow Jesus who Do think about love that way. No. Paul talked about sacrificing his body and experiencing ecstatic plateaus of spirituality. He wrote of all knowing and understanding. All things that the church at Corinth prized as the highest reward for their troubles. These are also things that many in today’s church cultures most value. “I have the correct doctrine!” “I understand the hidden things of the Bible and prophecy!” “I am an enlightened progressive who really gets inclusiveness!”
But, there is a more excellent way.
John the Elder wrote:
“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (1 Jn 4:8). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
Jesus revealed what he considered the two greatest commandments. The second one,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Mt 22:39). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
That’s enough to make my point, I think.
I find that I can sit and spend meaningful time with those I disagree with. There are usually areas of common concern that we can talk about. Perhaps, we can disagree amicably. Even though it’s unlikely either of us will be swayed to think differently. There still is that part of us that shares faith in the One God who has called us to faith in Christ.
Can I sit down with someone whom I think is a bigoted, hateful Christian and share a meal? I would hope that I could. Would I let that person off the hook for their bigotry and hatred? Not on your life!!! They would get an earful from me. I would do my best to paint them into a corner where they would either need to repent or get up and leave.
There is NO ROOM in the Body of Christ for Hatred or Exclusion!!
Yet, as far as it depended on me, I would hope that I could extend the Unity of the Spirit toward such a person. For I am called to Love them. I may not succeed well. (Or, at all!) But, I would be compelled to try.
I am not responsible for siblings with whom I disagree. I can pray for them. For sure, I can rebuke them and encourage them to join me on a better path.
At the end of the day we are each responsible for our own thoughts and actions. As I lay my head down at night and take a time of Examen to consider the day, I can only take credit or blame for myself.
Is it hard? Damn straight it is!
Can I go to a church where I know that I will be triggered with anxiety? No. I know my limitations. Can I see Jesus in people who DO go to those churches? I hope that I can. I pray that I can. And, I try to enact that love and acceptance as best I can.
The last time I shared I wrote that the answer to my reader’s question about whether we should strive for unity with people whose faith is in opposition to ours. How can we achieve unity with people who are simply so far afield from us?
That leads us to what the real question is: Are those others even Real True Christians?
If we answer in the negative, we are essentially off the hook. “They aren’t part of the Church, so I don’t need to strive for unity with them. Hell, I don’t even need to talk to them!”
When we try to do this we commit the logical fallacy known as the “No True Scotsman” fallacy. This tack seems to let us proclaim that our brand of (fill in the blank) is what a true (same fill in the blank) looks like. Therefore, any deviation from what we think is (blank again) cannot be a True (fill in the blank).
This reader could then say, “Christians love others. That person doesn’t love everyone. Therefore, that person is not a Real True Christian.”
The argument is a fallacy because one changes the subject without any logical reason to do so. There is no, as some say, a falsifiable fact involved. It’s simply a subjective statement to try and create a false dichotomy.
The fact is, Falwell Jr., Franklin Graham, Bob Jeffress, et al are IN FACT CHRISTIANS!! We don’t get to make judgments about their faith any more than they get to do that about us. In fact, these people would come out and say that All Progressive Christians are NOT Real True Christians.
So, what do we do about the seeming disparity in what we believe about God and Jesus? It appears that the chasm is great and there is no way to bridge it.
Taking Jesus as our Exemplar once again, perhaps we can begin to see a way forward.
Those of us who have read the stories about Jesus, the Gospels, understand that Jesus was not a simple, monochrome person. He was solid as a rock about some things. A little more colorful or even ambivalent about others. One of the things that he was solid about was that many people who claimed to be leaders of Israel were behaving in ways that God simply was opposed to. Many of these people tried to confront Jesus and trip him up. One time when Jesus was eating with so-called “tax collectors and sinners,” those people questioned his judgment about the company he kept. Jesus said, “It’s the sick who need a physician.” In the 23rd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus pronounce ‘8 Woes’ upon those same people. He called out their hypocrisy, hate, and bigotry. His language was hard as he pointed out how they erred from the Way of God. Jesus used Judgment language to denounce cities where the people did not accept the miracles he performed as proof of God’s Presence among them. These were powerful and hard words.
Yet, at no time did Jesus say that they were not Real True Israelites.
In fact, I think that he was able to use that kind of language with them precisely because they were family.
Jesus example provides us with a way to engage others with whom we disagree. It’s not to point fingers at them and pronounce them “Unclean!” But, we may engage them and try to show them that there is another way to walk in Faith. We don’t need to be exclusive and build walls to keep out the “Other.” In fact, it’s closer to our job description to be demolition experts who tear down walls!
What if those others refuse to listen and rebuff us? Can we wipe the dust off of our sandals and walk away?
I really wish that I could say, “Yes!!! Just walk away!!!”
I’m not sure that I can say that, though.
Because, I think that there may be a “still more excellent way.”
But, that will need to wait til next time.
For now, perhaps we can reflect on what it means to be members of a dysfunctional family. We have no control over who our siblings are or what they will do. But, in the end, we ARE still Sisters and Brothers.
Yesterday I wrote a response to a reader’s questions. At issue is whether or not seeking unity is possible when there are others who hold such diametrically opposed positions on faith, belief, and praxis. In fact, it would seem that some of the differences that we see in today’s American culture are insurmountable. We would be better off simply not engaging with those folks. It would be better for our own sanity and peace. We could always cite texts within the Bible that state things like, “what does darkness have to do with light? Therefore, don’t associate with darkness.” Makes sense. Right?
Of course it does.
That may be the crux of the issue.
I wrote a few days ago, Here, about how evolution may play a role in how we view “Others.” In order to protect our tribe so that we can flourish, reproduce, and live our lives, we construct barriers that insulate ourselves against those others. Those barriers include ideas and beliefs. Even if we find ourselves in physical closeness with one another, say for commerce or other concerns, we still keep the barriers up. In this way we can clearly see any potential danger from outside influences. I highlight Influences because that is precisely what it seems that we do when when we listen to the voices of our own echo chambers. Whether those voices are conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, Muslim or Jew, working class or ivory tower Elite, we naturally gravitate toward the voices that resonate with our tribe. As I wrote then, I think that this kind of thinking is at the heart of many of the issues that we deal with in our society today. It’s all Us or Them. And, nary the twain shall meet. Period.
This was part of the problem that St. Paul saw in the fledgling church at Corinth. They had divided up into factions that ‘Liked’ one personality over another. Paul came right out and called these schisms. These schisms threatened to derail all of the work that Paul and friends had done with this church. The Koinonia, or Fellowship, that Paul saw as foundational to the Gospel that he proclaimed was in danger of fracturing. And, Paul was not having any of that nonsense. For, to him, it was nonsense. Over the course of this letter he will lay out what he sees, why it makes no sense, and what he expects the followers of Jesus in this community to do about it. So, we’ll touch on some of that later.
What I want to address now is the idea of Unity that Paul calls for. Does Unity really mean Unity? I mean, I can achieve some level of unity with folks who think like I do. But, what about everyone else? Do I need to strive for Unity with “Them”?
The short answer is ‘Yes,’ we do. Neither Paul nor Jesus leave us a way out of that.
Jesus told his followers:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 5:43–48). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
Pretty clear. Jesus felt pretty strongly about the idea of loving the “Other.”
Even in some of our own traditions the words of our Baptismal Covenant ask us, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” (Taken from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.)
I realize that all of this sounds difficult, if not counter productive to our own aspirations to work for peace and justice in society. We are simply going to have to admit that we will be up against stiff opposition from other tribes who are trying to maintain their own boundaries and integrity. Just like we are. So, let’s fight and press our position, our Rights, until we defeat those other folks. After all, we ARE right! Right?
Well, definitely, maybe.
While unity and respect, if not outright Love, are what’s called for, simple acquiescence to what those other folks think is NOT.
That’s a topic for another post. For now, take the time to think about your own positions on the pressing issues that face us today. Then, take a moment to place yourself in the position of someone who may not agree with you. Can we empathize with them at all? Or, are they so far off of the rails that only a crane will help right them on the tracks?
Because, looking intently at the “Other” and discerning the flicker of Divine Light, that Imago Dei, that may still dwell within them is what Jesus did. For those of us who claim to follow Jesus, he is our Exemplar in these things. He treated both friend and opposition this way. Perhaps, we should learn how He did that and follow.
Yesterday I wrote a little about what I think was St. Paul’s over-arching concern for the churches that had contact with. That concern was for unity. As he wrote, he desired that the folks in the fellowship of believers at Corinth would “be like minded and of the same consent.” So, it’s no surprise that one of my reader would pose the following questions:
“So is it possible to apply this call to unity as you understand it to the Fundamental/Evangelical portion of the church? What does that unity look like? Must unity be reciprocated or can it be only one way? Do I have a responsibility to pursue unity even if others don’t want to have unity with me? If you believe a group within what we would consider the Body of Christ holds hurtful, or even evil doctrines regarding women, gays, minorities, immigrants, etc. must we attempt to live in peace and unity with them? Can we express unity over spiritual matters but go to war with one another over political positions?”
Some of you reading may not understand the questions. They seem to be a way of dodging the responsibilities that Paul appeared to lay upon the folks at Corinth. “Of course! Unity is unity! We should strive for it with all people.”
And, for those of you who may ask that question I have a reply that may explain where such questioning may originate.
If you were never a part of a conservative, evangelical church you really have no idea how questions like those asked of my reader are important. Many of us came to follow Jesus at a time when there was a lot of social and political unrest in the U.S. We were part of the so-called “Jesus Movement” of the early 70s. We built our faith and identity on our understanding of the Church as it was described in the first few chapters of the Book of Acts. We willing gave away our belongings and identity in order to “follow Jesus just like the first Church!” Hallelujah! Part of our concept of how to do this was to become “Disciples.” We understood that the term Disciple shared an etymological root with the word Discipline. So, we instituted a church government that we believed mirrored that which Paul and Peter and the rest established in the first century. We had elders who held absolute authority over the church. We took the words that folks should not cause the elders any grief because they worked for God and not themselves. We believed that such elders or even so-called apostolic ministry was ordained by God for the building up of the Body of Christ so that we could live counter-culturally and witness to the Good News that the Bible taught us. As our churches grew, we got older. We began to see cultural issues as battlegrounds where our faith was tested. Abortion became a rallying cry for us. Secularization in government and wanton corruption in entertainment caused our leaders to decry how our culture had fallen from its original mandate to establish a City on a Hill that would beckon those seeking religious freedom to our cause. As you can see, our church culture was ripe for authoritarian abuse. Those elders and leaders we had entrusted our faith to led us into culture wars where we soon saw ourselves as a persecuted minority. Those of us who did not hold positions of authority were expected to do as we were told. We met when we were told to meet. We raised our children according to the ways prescribed by our leaders. We had marriage retreats where husbands were told that they were neglecting their duty as the “Authority and covering” for their wives and children. In some case we were told how to spend our free time and how to vote. The church was our life. We were instructed by people like second-rate psychologist and theologian wannab James Dobson on how to raise children. He was wrong on so many levels. But, we didn’t realize it at the time. We were becoming disciplined disciples who disciplined their children in a disciple-making manner. Many of us still suffer from the dysfunction that lingers to this day. Our elders controlled how wives should submit to their husbands in all things including sex. Wives, we were told, didn’t have control over their bodies, their husbands did. And, husbands were told that we were simply sexually driven animals who really didn’t have any control over their bodies either. This led to abuses, adulteries, slut shaming, and a purity culture that shamed girls and women.
Many of us, myself included, suffer today from some form of what is termed “Church PTSD.” Walking into an evangelical church for me is a triggering event that causes anxiety and anger associated with our natural ‘fight or flight’ reaction to perceived danger. I know people who absolutely cannot walk into ANY church because of the abuses they incurred. I’m not talking about physical abuse in my case. Emotional and Spiritual abuse, however, have left me and my family scarred.
So, for those of us who escaped from that milieu, we react viscerally when someone suggests that we should strive for unity with those we feel abused us. This is what leads us to ask the kinds of question my reader posed.
How can we seek unity with our abusers? Is there any common ground that we can find with the haters and bigots who were spawned by this fundalelical movement? Can we sit with the likes of Franklin Graham or christian nationalists like Robert Jeffress, pseudo-historian David Barton, or the Liar Tony Perkins?
From my description of these folks you may assume that I don’t see a way.
That may not be entirely accurate. I do take the Bible seriously. I take my trust in the Faithfulness of God seriously, also. So, what to do with our personal histories and beliefs? I think that we’ll continue this discussion for a while. We may even find some hope in Paul’s letter to that troublesome church at Corinth.
As many of you know, (by many, I mean all 3 of you!), I have been helping out at St. Barnabas by facilitating a Bible study for the last year or so. We have followed the texts that were selected for each week in the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer. It has been a good time to take a closer look at the texts that were read during worship every week. But, now I have decided to change things up a bit. I have wanted to look closely at Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth for about 6 months. In my own reading and devotional time I recognized similarities between the folks living in that ancient place and our own post-modern Western culture. Granted that social constructs and cultural mores and practices were vastly different and foreign to anything we know today. But, as I continue studying these ancient texts and read the work of sociologists and anthropologists who write about those times, the more I realize that “people is people is people” regardless of time and place.
So, this past Sunday we began at the beginning of 1 Corinthians.
The first thing that we had to realize is that we were truly reading someone else’s mail. Contrary to what many may think about this text, it was not written to us. It was written by Paul for a specific group of people for a specific reason. Understanding that fact goes a long way to getting even a small handle on the text’s purpose and meaning. What this means in practical terms for interpretation is that we CANNOT take the words Paul wrote out of their contexts and simply plop them down into 21st century U.S. and apply them like some kind of rulebook or users’ manual. Note that I wrote “contexts,” plural. There is the obvious context of the letter itself. All of the words written in this particular missive. However, there are cultural and social contexts that bear on ALL of the words written. These contexts are foreign to us. They must be considered along with the text itself if we have any hope of understanding Paul’s purpose in writing. Too many in Fundagelical circles do just that and completely miss what the text is really attempting to say.
With that in mind we look for hints that can provide us with a better understanding of what an inspired Paul may have been attempting to communicate. Once we discover that, then, perhaps, we can glean something that can help guide us in our own pilgrimage through this life together.
As we began the study we saw that Paul was very much a product of his era. The form and content of the letter conform nicely to the epistolary forms of the day. He began with a greeting that introduced himself, his credentials, and the person who was with him, presumable as a helper. After the greeting he offered a Thanksgiving for those to whom he wrote. In typical Graeco-Roman style, the Thanksgiving hints at issues or topics that will be addressed at length later in the letter. He praised the Corinthians for their wisdom and spiritual awareness. Nothing unusual at all about this. For, in fact, these are issues that Paul will deal with quite forcefully later in the letter.
Then, Paul wrote what many believe was his Thesis. The over-arching concern that will drive the letter forward. He wrote,
“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (1 Co 1:10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Apparently, there were, in fact, divisions within the young Church at Corinth. Paul will go on to speak to these divisions. And, he will condemn them. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that in ALL of Paul’s writings his main concern is for the Unity of the Faithful in their communities. He doesn’t advocate for ‘sameness,’ as some people tend to think. But, his goal and primary concern is for Unity in Diversity.
This takes work…Hard. Work.
In the above quote the words translated, “United in the same mind and the same purpose,” could be better translated, “United in the same Mindset and the same Consent.” Paul desired for the folks at Corinth to be focused on the same goal as followers of Jesus. As he continues through the letter we see that the people in the nascent Church really didn’t understand the power of their calling. They seemed more enamored by the Cult of Personality that they could attach themselves to. “I belong to Paul! I am on Team Apollos! No, Cephas is the Best! Yeah, you’re all wrong, I belong to Christ!” Just like today, people are hooking their wagons to personalities and causes that do nothing more than stir up strife, mistrust, and hatred. “MAGA!” “I follow Joe!” “My heart is in Dixie!”
However, the second part of that clause states that Paul desired the Corinthians to have the same “consent.” The wording may seem strange to us. But, the gist of it is clear. While we affirm the diversity that exists, we must also Consent to live within the Unity of who we are as people. That requires me laying aside some of my ideas and prejudices for the sake of Unity. If I am going to truly Love Others, I cannot demand all of my own rights and privileges at their expense. It’s hard work. No one ever said that living together is easy. I mean, for those of us who have been married, we get that.
Paul began this letter with a call for Unity in the fledgling Community of Faith at Corinth.
