I’m going to take another day or two to reflect some more on the confirmation process that I’m currently taking part in at St. Barnabas.
There is a term that has been floating around for a few years now. That term is “Welcoming.” Most of us use it to describe a person or place where anyone, regardless of who they are, what they think, what color their skin is or what gender they describe themselves as. It has become almost a password for progressives. I can imagine someone walking up the the door in a 1920s speakeasy. The little port opens and a burly face with heavy eyebrows and a square chin looks out. “Welcoming,” whispers the person on the outside. The burly-guy then opens the door. The correct password was given.
And, for the most part, it’s really easy to say that we’re welcoming.
Especially, for churches.
I’ve been to churches where the priest or pastor stands in front, arms wide open and a big smile on their face as the proclaim, “Of course, we welcome LGBTQs here! I would love for them to come!” Unspoken is, “So we can show them the love of Christ by pointing out what filthy, wretched sinners they are. Hallelujah!”
But, welcoming is not enough, I think. Not nearly.
I think that something is bigger than that. And, far more difficult. Something that comes closer to how Jesus, himself, treated people.
That is Acceptance.
Let me explain. We can welcome a gay man into our group or fellowship. That’s really the easy part. Especially, if he doesn’t try to spread his gay cuties around. But, can we accept that gay man, who is married, as our priest and pastor? How about the divorced woman who was abused in her church? Can we accept her? Are we able to accept her pain as our own and allow ourselves to heal with her in our community? Can we accept her and the gifts that God has given her to be a fellow-worker in God’s garden with us? What of the person who struggles with emotional or psychological stresses? We surely can welcome such a person so that he may find comfort and healing. Right? But, can we accept such a one as a peer who is loved and gifted by the same Holy Spirit as we?
It’s easy to welcome and accept people who look, act, and think as we do. “But, how does that make us any different than the pagan?”, Jesus asks.
I am glad that I am both welcomed and accepted at St. Barnabas. I am ever so much more glad that St. Barnabas is becoming, not only welcoming, but accepting.
Last night was the first of six confirmation classes at St. Barnabas. Eleven of us showed up for Episcopalian lessons. I was excited to be getting on with this. As I’ve written before, St. Barnabas is becoming a community where the Love of God is beginning to blossom and bloom.
As the class began we were all asked to share a bit about who we are and why we were at this particular church. As we went around the room, each telling snippets of their personal journeys of faith, I was impressed with the diversity present. There are women, men, young-ish, older, high church, low church, and everything in between. Some were open and vocal. Others, reserved and quietly present. Some of us came out of churches where toxic theology ate at our souls. Others are simply seeking a place to call “home.”
One thing that we all seemed to share was a desire to be a part of a living, welcoming, diverse, and inclusive community where God’s love is openly shared with all.
Is that St. Barnabas?
Well…Maybe.
This church is currently still in transition. She is searching for her identity in the larger Body of Christ. After all, this church has fairly recently gone through a major upheaval brought on by previous leadership. Upheaval that was painful and steeped in theological error. Many people suffered…A Lot…because of the actions of those who were entrusted with the care of these people.
Fortunately, the leaders of the diocese were wise enough to provide emergency medical care to this parish. Over a period of several years they supported those few who were left behind after that messy split. They appointed interim leadership who provided the necessary treatment to stabilize the church. A bit over a year ago a new Priest was called to help the community, now stable, to work to become healthy. That’s where we are now. A diverse, some may say Rag Tag, group of people who desire to live with one another and serve one another and the larger community in which we live. We are people with scars and hurts and histories that would make the best fantasy novel seem like Dr. Seuss. We are learning. And, if we eleven who are beginning the journey in Confirmation class are an indication of the direction in which God is leading, well, let’s just say that this journey will be good.
Over the years I’ve heard a lot, read a lot, and generally had ideas about the so-called Spiritual Disciplines swirling around me like a swarm of mosquitoes. Yeah, I chose that metaphor purposefully. The voices from Church leaders and non-leaders have been little more than a buzz in my ears with the occasional blood-sucking bite on the neck. (Vampire bugs!) Richard Foster and his rather vacuous 1978 book “Celebration of Discipline” was a mainstay for so many. In the circles I was involved with, that book was pretty much used to shame us. It gave leaders another cudgel to condemn us. None of us could follow all that Foster wrote. Yet, when we failed we were reminded of how none of us were either strong enough or committed enough to perform even Foster’s simple exercises.
As I got older and gained more experience I began to understand that people can’t just ‘decide’ to ‘will’ their way into practices that allow the kind of practices that Foster and others prescribed. At best, then, these books and resources provide folks with a variety of practices that people have found useful over the years. They could offer us the ingredients, just not the recipes.
I found that only God’s own gravity of Grace can draw people into that orbit where that thing called Spiritual Formation takes place. No amount of self-will or self-discipline can move our hearts even a millimeter in that direction.
Once God does act, however, almost anything can become a Spiritual Practice that leads to new experiences. Experiences that enlarge hearts and create empathy. Experiences that bring freedom to speak freely to God without fear or timidity.
That brings me to the point of all of these words today.
I want to introduce a new Spiritual Practice. Well, I’m sure it’s not new. But, I don’t recall ever hearing about it.
It’s called “Argument.” Or, if you want, call it “Disagreement.”
With whom am I talking about Arguing with?
Well, God, of course. Who else?
That may sound strange. So many of us have been taught that God is all-knowing and, most importantly, ALWAYS right. For these people the idea of arguing with God is akin to heresy and is a fast-track to finding oneself in Hell. I feel kind of sorry for people who think this. Their god is too small. I mean, think about it. If God is Who we have been taught, you know, Supreme Being and all of that, do you think that this God could possibly be threatened or offended by our puny human arguments? Don’t think too hard about that. The correct answer in “No.”
There are precedents in the Bible. Abraham seemed to argue, well at least tried to ‘bargain,’ with God in that little matter of Sodom. Job tried to argue with God over his perceived wrong treatment. Jeremiah argued that he was unfit for the calling that God had for him. Shoot, Jesus argued with the Father in Gethsemane. “Father, please, don’t make me drink from this cup!” Now, in all of these, God’s side of things was ultimately followed.
That’s not the point I want to make.
I want to make and argument for, well, arguing!
And, that, as a Spiritual practice that can open us up to receive more of God’s Grace and Presence.
I’ve had many disagreements with the way I perceive God’s hand in my life. Like so many, I tried to stuff these feelings by believing that because I am just a human I must be wrong. “Not my will, but Yours, O God” is the mantra we’re taught to repeat.
I’m sorry, but that response is just so inadequate on so many levels. It makes the assumption that humans are little more than toddlers who have no idea what might be good and helpful. I makes God into a benevolent dictator who may or may not tolerate our perceived insolence. Both of those assumptions are categorically wrong. We are Ikons of God who carry within us the very image of God. We are fellow workers who are entrusted with the Stewardship of this world in which we live. Hardly toddlers. God may be benevolent, but God is No dictator. The whole idea of Free Will puts the lie to that.
Ok, so what? What does that have to do with argument and Spiritual Formation?
Everything!!
It reveals that we are taken seriously by God. God Listens! When I argue with God it implies that there are two voices interacting. No argument is one-sided by definition. So, I ‘hear’ God’s voice. That voice may rebut. That happens with regularity. Sometimes, though, the voice says, “About time you thought of that!” God seems to actually enjoy it when we use our brains to work through an argument and come to the correct and logical conclusion!
More importantly, I feel, is that when we feel free enough to argue with God, God is pleased. Our relationship is confirmed. Not as equals or even peers. But, as two parties in lively engagement. Some of the most intimate experiences I’ve had with God have been in the midst of real Knock-down, drag-out bouts of In-Your_Face disagreement.
In the end, I feel that God has honored me by engaging with me on a deep, visceral plane. And, I think God is pleased that I am not simply willing to be dragged along a willing fool.
So, yeah, I think that Argument can be listed among Spiritual Practices that Christ-followers should embrace. We should not fear to offend God. Nor, should we simply acquiesce to things that we think are unjust or simply wrong. God is not that dismissive Father who says, “Shaddup, Kid!” No, God seems to desire that we learn to BE intelligent fellow-workers in the Cosmos.
In the car for my morning commute, my mind sometimes wanders into strange and mystical places. Today I found myself considering a strange word. One that is tossed about without a second thought. A word that I think may be one of the most misunderstood, and frequently ignored, in our language.
That word is “Vow.”
Merriam-Webster defines it:
“a solemn promise or assertion
specifically: one by which a person is bound to an act, service, or condition.“
As I considered this word, I began to wonder why we use it. Some religious sects use it to bind individuals into some kind of ‘priesthood’ or other religious community like a monastery or convent. This, they claim, binds the person into service, (servitude?), for life. (Sometimes with devastating effect. But, that’s another story.)
Others swear vows of chastity until a certain time or event, like marriage. There are those who “swear off” alcohol, tobacco, or other substances that they consider harmful to their life and well-being.
Some courts of law require that witnesses get “sworn in,” vowing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
But, my mind led me to consider those vows that one may make at a young age that are considered binding for life. Because, I don’t really think that these are either helpful or realistic in real life.
It’s been said by people way smarter than I am that the only thing that is completely constant is change. People grow. Environment changes. Opinions are altered over time. Our journey is not static by any means.
So, if as a young man I swear to abide by certain vows, when I grow older and the world in which I live moves on, I may find myself stuck between growing with the world or holding on to some words that I spoke in a different time and place. I am not talking about ‘fairness.’ As in, that wouldn’t be fair. No, I’m talking about reality.
In recent years there has been a lot of news about certain clergy abusing others. Others who are usually most vulnerable to abuse. The shame and condemnation that are felt by all involved can be horribly devastating. Here is a person who Swore and Oath, who Made a Vow! Look at what has happened!
Now, not only is the innocent victim traumatized by this and may never recover fully. But, the Vow has been shown to be false and meaningless.
My question is, why make it in the first place?
Jesus, himself, told people NOT to swear or make oaths. He said that folks should simply say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked whether they would do something. Yet, we continue to insist on swearing and making oaths that there in no way can possibly be honored until death. The world doesn’t sit still for anyone.
Would it not be better to enter into a community or vocation or some other institution with intent to follow and live according to whatever conventions are in place until such time as the world turns? Then, with all seriousness and consideration be able to say, “It’s time. Time for me to move on. Time for me to move away from the temptations that plague me and deal with who I am and what I am Now called to do. And, most importantly, to be able to do that with honor and dignity. To be blessed by those who we’ve shared a short season with. To grow with the world without the shame and guilt that comes from “breaking the Vow.”
Recently, I’ve spent considerable time and energy investigating the reality of Emotion and Passion. These have been sorely neglected and misunderstood by me, and I might add, especially the theological tradition that I spent so many years immersed in.
While looking at these things, I have neglected one of the things that some of you have enjoyed over the years. That one thing is looking at the Bible and what it may, or may not, actually say, mean, or how it impacts us.
This morning I want to share an essay by Dr. Pete Enns. Those of you who have followed me know that Dr. Enns and I share many common points of inquiry when it comes to the Scripture and Evangelical tradition.
The essay is fairly long. It is also geared more toward an academic response to an Evangelical opinion. So, take that for what it’s worth. Dr. Enns is responding to a review of his book, How the Bible Actually Works, that was written by Evangelical pastor and writer, Geoff Holsclaw. I hope that you find it instructive. And, may it help you to Break the Chains that Bind.
I read this today and think that it’s an excellent way to talk about God’s Grace and how that relates to who we are vs. who we aspire to be as Christ followers. So, Enjoy!
“Confession showers your soul and conscience in my mercy, rather than asserting you have no need for it. Confession opens your heart to welcome Grace to transform the Way of your being. Confession reminds you that sin is a failure of love, and I’m calling you back to love. It opens your ears to hear me call you to back to the Father’s house. It calls you, also, to forgive others and to seek their forgiveness. Confession, in short, is a discussion with Grace and a surrender to divine Love. We have this conversation often, not because your heart is rotten, but because the plaque of sin obscures your truest self. It wants removal so that you shine brightly in this world.”
Listening
to the news and current events can be disheartening.
Conflict
rages all around the globe.
Corporations
fight other corporations and governments in order to guarantee
themselves a bigger slice of the economic pie.
Religious
groups wage holy war against other religions and even factions within
their own religious communities.
Conservatives
and liberals line up in battle lines much like our ancestors did.
Firing rounds indiscriminately hoping to hit someone on the opposite
side.
It’s
an understatement to say that we, as fellow inhabitants on this
planet, have become polarized.
What
is even more disheartening for me is the way in which those of us who
chose to follow Christ are divided.
We
kick and claw at one another.
“No,
you’re wrong!” says one faction.
“How
can you say that? The Bible is clear that YOU are in error!”
screams another.
“I belong to Apollos!”
“I follow Paul!”
“No,
you’re both wrong! Peter has the true way!”
It
seems that this thing called the Church is not only vulnerable to all
of the forces of human nature, it is also quite fragile.
It
breaks and fractures easily.
The
broken pieces crash to the floor and scatter every which way.
It’s
almost impossible to not become discouraged and lose hope.
So,
I did the only thing that I could think of in order to wrap my head
around these things.
I
prayed.
I
asked God to put those of us who follow Christ in the shadow of God’s
wings. Not to protect us. But, to empower us.
For
what?
I’m
glad you asked!
To
empower us to be the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation that the
Scriptures claim that we should be. To be harbingers of the Reign of
God in this world. Here. Now. Just as Jesus of Nazareth was 2
millennia ago.
Not,
however, as so many people who lay claim to christianity do.
Recently,
I’ve been studying Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia. In it,
Paul had some interesting things to say about the state of affairs in
that church. After Paul and his friends had established the young
community and moved on to other places, it appears that some other
folks came in to stir things up a bit. These others were, according
to the text, teachers of the Jewish Law who also followed the Jewish
Messiah, Jesus. They claimed that in order to be Real True
Christians, the people in Galatia had to conform to Jewish rules that
set them apart from other people. These so called works of the Law
were male circumcision, dietary restrictions, and observation of the
Sabbath and other Jewish Holy days.
The
Galatians were confused. But, they listened to their elder brothers
in Christ and began to embrace these requirements.
When
Paul got wind of what was happening he just about burst a blood
vessel. He wrote a rather pointed letter in which he called these
later teachers, “Accursed!”
No,
he wasn’t happy at all.
He
then spent the rest of the letter explaining what the problem with
these practices were and why they were so dangerous.
The
underlying point to all that he wrote was, “What makes you think
that what was started in the Spirit could possibly be completed in
the flesh?”
To
clarify, Paul’s usage of the term “flesh” in this entire letter
refers to conforming to the Jewish rules of purity that those other
teachers had insisted be followed.
And,
to be equally clear, one of the most egregious results of following
those rules is that they erect barriers that separate people from one
another. And, in Paul’s argument, they can also separate people
from God.
Ok,
so what does any of this Paul stuff have to do with why I feel
disheartened and in need of God’s empowering?
Because,
many in today’s church follow the example of those Jewish teachers
way back when. They say that they follow God and God’s Spirit. But,
in reality they lay obstacles in the path of people who need God in
their lives.
“You
can’t follow God if you’re gay!”
“If
you don’t stand for the national anthem, you can’t possibly be
Christian!”
“Abortionist!
Murderer! Not Christian!”
I
could go on and on with the works of law that many people require of
any Real True Christian.
That’s
not what I see Paul saying to the people who were trying there best
to follow the Way of Christ.
“What
was begun in the Spirit must be completed in the Spirit.”
While
that seems a simple statement, it requires the empowerment I wrote
about earlier.
It
requires people who take the idea of Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation
seriously enough to realize that the rules and laws that so many
people try to enforce simply have no place in the Kingdom of God.
Since June 2 I’ve had the opportunity to lead an adult Bible study at the church I currently attend. The priest here had started a similar study in the weeks before Lent. It was set aside as we all entered into the Easter season. It happened that several people thought that the study should be resurrected, (pun intended). So, Fr. Alex asked me if I would be open to help. So, here we are.
We are currently following the Revised Common Lectionary reading for each Sunday. Fr. Alex stated that it might be helpful to take a closer look at some of the passages that would be read that morning. So often these are simply read during the service without a great deal of reflection. This Bible study could help to provide tools with which they could reflect more fruitfully.
That all sounds ok.
I’m glad to help out with this. Especially, since I have the training and education to take on this role.
As we started things I knew that at some point Fr. Alex and I would touch on a common text. And, we would have divergent ‘takes’ on that text. I wondered how the folks who sat in on the Bible study and listened to Fr. Alex’s sermon might hear those different views. And, how I might address them.
Well, this past Sunday we did just that. We both spent time on the same passage from the Gospel according to Luke. And, yes, we looked at the passage from two distinct perspectives.
The text was from Luke 8:26-39. It’s the story of a man who was possessed by many demons. He lived among the tombs in the region of the Gerasenes on the eastern end of the Sea of Galilee. The story tells of how he could not be restrained by any means as he ran naked through the tombs. When Jesus and his disciples showed up, the man confronted Jesus and begged Jesus to not torment him. Jesus asked his name. The man said, “Legion,” for many demons dwelt in him.
The story goes on to state how “Legion” begged Jesus to send them into a local herd of pigs, who subsequently ran down a slope into the sea where they drowned.
Now, there’s a whole lot in this passage. People a lot smarter than me have argued about who the man was; where exactly did this happen; why pigs?
Fr. Alex shared from the pulpit how this passage demonstrated a clear political message that would have resonated with the original hearers of the story. He explained how Roman troops, who at the time occupied Israel and the surrounding territories, could be assembled in a group of about 6,000 soldiers called a Legion. Also, around this time a particular legion known as the Legio X Fretensis occupied Jerusalem and had on their banners the image of a boar.
You can begin to see where Fr. Alex was drawing similarities between the story and actual events.
His point was that the people who heard this originally would have understood the references and seen the story of Jesus overcoming the evil forces brought by Rome and “bringing justice into the midst of human suffering.”
He then reminded us of a message he gave on Pentecost Sunday in which he explained how we, as the Body of Christ, are the very hands and feet of Jesus in our world today.
If we are that, then we have the obligation and task to be the bringers of justice and deliverance to the oppressed people that we encounter. He cited the grave humanitarian catastrophe that is currently happening on our southern border. He challenged us to consider how we might each respond to the mounting injustice.
AMEN! Preach it!
But, then…there was my take on the story.
You see Fr. Alex had been inspired to share his liberationist understanding by news articles during the week that exposed what was happening to people. People made in the Image of God. People for whom Jesus gave his life.
I, on the other hand, was inspired by another of our Sunday lections. This one from Is. 65:1-9. The first couple of verses in this text reveal God desperately seeking God’s own people. God cries, “Here I am, here I am,” to people who ignore God. Isaiah wrote that God was sitting at the city gates with arms outstretched. This would have been how a beggar acted.
Certainly not God.
Yet, here we have an image of God revealed as a servant in order to help the people God so loved. I saw God allowing Godself to be seen and known by a people who had no interest.
The bottom line there was that God DESIRED to be seen and found. God was open for business. Come on in!
Similarly, at least to me, in the Gospel text my mind zeroed in on Jesus’ encounter with the possessed man. Jesus said,
“What is your name?”
Wow!
Here was a man who was obviously tormented. He had been chained and tied. He lived among the dead. He was naked and cast out.
And Jesus looked into his eyes and asked, “Who are you?”
Jesus, like God in the Isaiah text, made himself vulnerable to someone who was in desperate need. Someone who was potentially violent. Someone who had been cast aside and rejected.
Someone who was made in the image of God and for whom Jesus was willing to give His life.
Yeah, Fr. Alex and I came at the same text from two very different places and came to two different conclusions.
But, are they really that different?
Fr. Alex saw the text and gave us an actionable charge. As a pastor, that’s what he’s called to do. He energized us to get involved to help however we can with time, money, prayer.
I came to the text as a contemplative and revealed, I believe, a piece of God’s heart that will also lead to action. Albeit, a different flavor. I desire people to see, feel, touch, and know God intimately. To live and experience God’s deep love for all of the Cosmos. Then, to share that with others. Perhaps, especially with those who are suffering at the hands of a strong oppressor.
So, different takes on the same text. Both speaking God’s Word to those who can hear.
It should really be a no-brainer. In fact, it seems that if you love God you will necessarily love your enemy.
Right?
For anyone whose home isn’t in some cave deep in the jungle that statement would ring true. But, for those of us who live and breathe in the U.S. things are a bit more nuanced, to say the least.
I spend a lot of time reading blogs, essays, and news reports from various sources. (Admittedly, Fox News is not one of them.) These pieces cover subjects from climate change to koalas with VD.
There is one topic that seems to garner a bit more than its fair share of coverage. That is, White Evangelicalism.
What is this, you ask?
White Evangelicalism is the broad umbrella that folks use to cover White conservatives who share some kind of Evangelical faith in God. These are the folks who voted overwhelmingly for Donald “Pussy Grabber” Trump. Some polls show that a good 83% of these people who profess to follow Jesus of Nazareth voted for him.
White Evangelicals are largely conservative politically and socially. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. I respect their right to make those choices and will go to the mat with anyone who would try to take that right away. However, many of these people go well beyond simply supporting conservative causes. These others actively work to deny the rights of others to express themselves in a like fashion.
People like Steven Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church. Pastor Anderson is vocally anti LGBT. His hatred for LGBT people has gotten him banned from several countries in Africa and Europe.
There’s Robert Jeffress of First Baptist in Dallas. He is a noted supporter of Mr. Trump and other hard-line, nationalist conservatives. In his mind it seems that there are only two groups of people, White Evangelicals and Everyone Else. Everyone Else is, well, you get it. He and others whom historian John Fea refers to as Court Evangelicals have an agenda that seems to desire an American theocracy with White Evangelicals at the helm. No other solution to what they see are the ills that plague this nation is possible. For them it is a zero sum game where any gain by Everyone Else is necessarily a loss for White Evangelicals. Period. End of story. This causes Pastor Jeffress and others like him, say, Franklin Graham, Jim Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jr., and others to view Everyone Else as enemies to be vanquished.
So what? Who really cares what a bunch of crotchety old white guys think, anyway?
Well, me for one.
Yeah, I consider myself part of Everyone Else. But, that’s not why what these people think or say. The thing that bothers me is that they spew their hatred for Everyone Else in the name of Jesus. And, I’m sorry, that doesn’t cut it. These people don’t get a free pass to hate others in the name of a Person who hated no one.
So, a few days ago as I was praying I had to confess to God that I felt that these people were enemies of the Gospel. That also made them my enemies. This was hard for me to say. After all, I lay claim to faith in God through Christ. Just like many of those White Evangelicals do. Shouldn’t I consider them my sisters and brothers? After all, not all siblings get along real well. But, they’re still siblings none the less.
Well, maybe. I supposed sisters can grow up in a way that will alienated them from their sisters and brothers. They could technically become ‘enemies.’
But, what I feel is different. It’s like these people are illegitimate children. Bastards born of a different lineage all together. How was I to deal with this? Should I attack them like they attack Everyone Else? No, that doesn’t sound right. Should I embrace them and engage with them with the love of Christ? That sounds like enabling. I don’t think that’ll work either. What then?
So, I prayed.
A couple of days before this I led a Bible study at the church I attend. One of the texts we looked at was Psalm 8. In that Psalm is this line: ” Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger,” NRSV. I don’t like that translation so much. Looking at the original language I think a better translation would be, “Out of the mouths of children and sucklings You have established a stronghold that will silence Your foe and avenger.” It seems that the praise of those who are the weakest and most vulnerable is capable of silencing the loud clamor of those who stand opposed to God.
I realized that I don’t need to take White Evangelicalism to task. I really don’t even need to deal with them at all. My first obligation is to praise God and live in a manner that reveals God’s heart for EVERYONE, (White Evangelicals included). By doing that and encouraging others to do likewise, the voices of the Enemy will be silenced.
Should we love our enemies? Yeah. But, that doesn’t mean that we must engage with them on their terms. Our first responsibility is to love and engage with God. Anything more is just noise.
How long has it been? 40 years? 45? Such a long time to be alone. Yet, not alone. Or, was I simply lost in a crowd? Maybe that’s closest to the truth. Lost in a crowd of people who claimed to be family. Yet, they weren’t quite. Am I alone? Or, am I part of something larger?
In our Western, particularly U.S., culture an odd creature was birthed. This creature had no apparent need for anyone else. No nature; no nurture. It just sort of “appeared” in our collective popular mythos.
Over time this creature became known as “The Rugged Individual.”
Those of us old enough to remember will recall this creature
seated atop a strong horse with mountains in the background. He was smoking a
Marlboro cigarette.
Perhaps this creature was born out of our nation’s desire to cut ties
with ancestral homelands and make a go of it as a New Nation that needed no one
else. No king or pope or other “authority” was going to tell us what to do. We
are an Individual Nation.
Or, maybe the whole idea of the Rugged Individual has always
been somewhere sleeping, latent within our individual psyches.
I really don’t know.
What I do know, now, is that while this creature surely exists,
it is surely a lie.
It is a dangerous lie, to boot.
Now, I can take this idea in several directions.
I could make it a defense of Socialism. After all, isn’t Socialism ultimately a
critique of individual accomplishment? Doesn’t it strike at the heart of MY
will and well-being having preeminence over the will and well-being of the
collective?
No, I’m
not going there. Maybe some other time.
I could touch on Hillary Clinton’s 1996 book “It Takes a Village” to
discuss how we must work together as a “village” to properly raise our
children.
While that is an excellent topic for discussion, it’s not what I have in
mind here.
No, I think that I want to touch on something a bit more
personal. Something that has impacted me, my family, and my community at a
visceral level. It has chipped away at my soul and my mind to create something
that doesn’t
quite resemble the Rugged Individual. Nor, does it quite fit as a piece of some
ethereal ‘Whole.’
It actually quite resembles the confused person described at the beginning of this post.
For quite a long time I’ve tried to discover my place in life. You
know, trying to answer those unanswerable questions like “Why am I here”? What’s
the meaning of life? Why is there air? (Uh, no, that’s not one of them. The
answer to that is obvious: to fill soccer balls.)
When I first came to faith in Christ as a 16 year old idealist, I was taught that God loved ME. In fact, God loved ME so much that if I had been the only human on earth, Jesus would still come to give His life so that I could live. I participated in a Billy Graham event where he preached a message that claimed that I could not be saved unless I made a confession of MY PERSONAL sin and received Jesus as MY PERSONAL savior. It was all about ME and MY and MINE. Graham wasn’t the first to explain faith in this way. The concept he preached has been around since at least the time of John Calvin. But, it found fertile soil in this nation of Rugged Individuals who saw God vindicating their Rugged Individualism. God didn’t save a collective. No! That was a communist plot! God saved ME!
But, then I met a bunch of hippies who believed in God. I
started to hang with them. We were part of a larger movement that became known
as the Jesus Movement. (Profound. I wish that I could have helped them come up
with a better handle. Anyway, I digress.) Together we began to play around with
the concept of Community. We tried to model this new thing after what we
understood about the early Church as described in the first few chapters of the
Acts of the Apostles. These prototype Jesus People sold their belongings and put
the proceeds in a community account that all could draw from as needed. COOL!
They cared for one another as sisters and brothers in a large extended family.
STILL COOL! They shared all things in common and lived together in peace and
harmony. WAY COOL!
We found out that the Bible talked a lot about how we should
live together in love. We were a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. This is
the language of community and togetherness. And, this all came at a time in our
nation’s
trek through history when we desperately needed such a concept. We had become
fragmented as a people. Race; War; Politics. It seemed that all of the powers
of the Universe had conspired to break our world into little pieces. We needed
to try and find some cohesiveness. There was something embedded deep in our
human DNA that cried out for an end to the splintering of our world. So, these
ideas from the Bible resonated with us.
But, we still held on tightly to our identities as Rugged
Individuals. After all, that concept had been drilled into us for generations.
It would not simply sit back and say, “Oh, right, community. That’s cool. I’ll
just pack up and leave.”
No. We still, after all that we were learning about our
interdependence, militantly held on to our independence. So, we changed the
story a bit. We started to preach that God made us for one another. To live
together in true Christian community. But, to join you needed to confess YOUR
INDIVIDUAL sin and accept Jesus as YOUR INDIVIDUAL savior. Hmmm…not much of a difference
there.
Eventually, we made some emendations. We elevated Family to the
place of an actual individual. So, now our community could be called a Family
of Families. Isn’t
that sweet? This became a point of contention with me at a former church. The
church leadership insisted that the Eucharist, the celebration of Communion,
should be celebrated within the confines of the family unit. So, the head of
each ‘household’ came up and received the bread and wine. They then took the
elements back to their INDIVIDUAL families to share. For me, this practice was,
and is, antithetical to the whole concept of the sacrament. But, that’s a
subject for another post.
So, why have I spent this time and more than 1,000 words to say all of this?
A week ago the priest of the church I now attend talked about a parable that Jesus taught. It was about a certain shepherd who realized that one of his sheep was missing. Now, he still had 99 sheep that were safe and sound. But, being the dutiful shepherd, he left the 99 and sought out the missing sheep. This story has been used over the years to show how much Jesus cares about the INDIVIDUAL. He will abandon 99 and leave them to the elements and go off in order to seek and save the lost ONE. Wow! I’m really pretty important to Jesus!
And, that my friends, is the point that people using this text
want to make. It appeals to our emotions in a deep way. It paints the portrait
of No One Left Behind. It appeases our Rugged Individual.
Is that what God intended for the story?
Well, maybe. In part.
But, perhaps there is another take away from it. A way to
understand it in the light of one of the overarching themes of the entire
Bible.
Throughout the Scriptures there is the idea that God is forming
a People. He is in the business of Nation building. Images of sheep, (plural),
and goats and lambs and flocks abound in its pages.
What if the story of the lost sheep is more about the condition
of the flock than the lost sheep?
What if it’s
the flock,restored to wholeness, that is the point of the story?
I think it is.
I think that unless we can get beyond ourselves as individuals
and drive a stake into the heart of the Rugged Individual we, as people, will
suffer. Unless we can reach even beyond that and somehow see that we are not
just a single species, but part of a greater community made up of all of the
Cosmos, we will suffer.
God, in the beginning created Adam. He created THEM. And, then
graciously placed THEM in a Garden full of their fellow creatures to live and
thrive TOGETHER.
