Last week I wrote a rather harsh post directed toward those who say that they follow Jesus. I am so frustrated with my sisters and brothers who, like Esau who gave away his birthright as the firstborn because he was hungry. The quintessential short-sighted person. The Church has given away its birthright as well. And, for an equally short-sighted reason. Political power and control. Such a fickle mistress is politics. I have been around a long time and have seen political fortunes ebb and flow with the tide of public opinion. For the Body of Christ to embrace such nonsense is truly beyond frustrating. I know that many, (most?), who read this think that I’m over reacting. All of this is simply a passing thing. Once humanity advances a bit more and becomes more empathetic and kind, these stone age ideas will pass just as the Neanderthal. There’s a problem with that thinking. Neanderthal DNA is still present in modern Homo Sapiens. It has persisted far beyond it’s original form. So shall the ideas and cultural baggage that my fellow pilgrims on this Way. Let me give a couple of examples that I heard this past weekend. I was with some others having coffee. One of them spoke about someone who was a tad more liberal than he. Another person interjected something along the lines of, “What, is she some sort of liberal? Does she recognize the “Trans Movement”? The other said that it wasn’t about the “Trans Movement.” The exchange was biting and hostile. And, a purely political exchange. The same person who had replied to that earlier exchange shared a story about being in New York City for the Macy’s parade. After the parade there were apparently protesters outside of Macy’s. They were protesting Macy’s selling of mink coats. This person said that he went up to the protesters and made the statement that they must be Pro-Life. After all, if they protested the slaughter of animals they surely must be against the slaughter of innocent unborn children. He emphasized his argument until some of the protesters became uncomfortable. But, to him, this was a victory for God. I think that if he wanted to actually do something helpful he should have joined the protesters. After all, he is Pro-Life! These examples seem to be insignificant to most people. Maybe you, dear reader. The ramblings of people who have no idea what the culture is moving toward. Ok. I’ll give you that. For me, however, these are people who claim to believe in God the Father of Jesus. Their faith is wrapped up in how they interpret and understand the Scripture. The same Scripture that I love. This is painful for me. These folks have walked away from their First Love in order to embrace a particular political position. Then, they say that their position is godly and the Only True Way to Christian. In their judgment any deviation from their narrow, conservative political position amounts to heresy. And, heretics are to be stoned. When I decry the way the Church has been compromised by the powers and politics of humanity I am sharing the pain that I feel. The pain that Jesus and the Church are being misrepresented by hateful people. The pain that the Church has allowed herself to be dragged down to such a level where she can no longer be the voice of God’s Love and Good Grace to the world. And, the pain that so many of my sisters and brothers are bound up in the chains which have lies for links. If anything that I write or teach or preach may break some of those links, then I will rejoice. If God’s Good Grace and Love may find a way into this world to reveal health and healing, that will answer prayers. If I, and others, (I’m surely not alone in this), can represent Jesus and the Church in a way that honors both God and Humanity, my job will be done well. So, when I rant about the Church and the ways in which she has been slandered and mislead, grant me some grace. This is my heart and my passion.
A whole bunch of years ago a co-worker who followed my blog told me that when I wrote about myself; my passions; my heart that the writing was much better. I allowed some of the ‘me’ that I keep bundled up in the corner to peek out. She said that when I wrote about technical stuff like the Church and theology the writing just wasn’t compelling. I took that to heart. Of course I want people to read what I write. That’s why I write it! Her comments sent me down a road of constant concern for how I present myself through these little blog thingies. A problem that I found with this is that there are things that I am passionate about that don’t necessarily reveal anything other than my thoughts on various topics. They’re not some kind of heart revealing story that may be anywhere near what my co-worker spoke about. But, they are things that I am passionate about. I am passionate about God. Who God is. What God speaks to me. Where God leads. I am passionate about worshiping this God. The act of sharing my heart with God is irresistible. I am passionate about sharing this God with others. Not in the way evangelicals do. But, in ways that I think may actually introduce the God I love to others. ANY others. In all of this, I am passionate about Orthodoxy. Not the Eastern kind. The word ‘Orthodox’ is made of two Greek words. Ortho, meaning straight, right, or correct. And, Dox derives from a word that means belief. So, literally, Orthodox means Correct Belief. Now, as a disclaimer, I am making no claim at all that what I believe is all correct. Nor is it my belief that everyone else follows what I think. I’m just an old white guy with some opinions. Nothing more than that. As an open disclosure, I find my way to Orthodoxy within a fairly large community. There is my local parish and the people who attend there. They get to listen to me and respond to the things that I think. We don’t always agree. But, that’s ok. I am part of the larger diocese of Ohio as well as the Episcopal Church in the U.S. Again, we don’t always agree, but I find that the larger church does have some guardrails in place that help me to not go flying off of the road. I am in constant dialog with the Academy and the Scholarship that comes from it. Greater minds than mine have wrestled with the same things that I do. I avail myself of that. And, my community includes the ancient Church and Church Fathers who produced our framing documents defining Orthodoxy, the Creeds. All of that to say, when I write on technical issues that affect faith and the Church, I stand on a fairly firm foundation. That foundation allows my passions to gain their footing and present to the world.
There are many others who make claims to a form of orthodoxy. They, like me, define orthodox as correct belief. Their right belief, however, is in dogma and doctrine rather than the Scripture, the Church, and the Tradition. Many of them reduce God to a series of systematic attributes. They call that Systematic Theology. The church I came from used a particular book as their sole education to theology. Reading the book, they said, was all that was necessary to be orthodox. If you read the book and believe what the writer said, you’re good to go. The problem with that is that people who write systematic theologies are usually old, white guys who are trying to justify all of the money that they wasted on education. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Wayne Grudem. God for them becomes little more than bite-sized bits of scripture texts taken out of context. These ‘theologies’ offer nothing that may actually bring life to people. It’s sterile academics at its worst. Probably, a lot like my co-worker thought of some of my blog posts. Because of my passion for God, I will continue to push back against those who would put God into a systematic or doctrinal box. Too much of that has been done over the centuries. And, millions have suffered because someone said, “This is the only way to serve God. Follow these rules. Memorize these propositions. Do what I say. Not what I do.” If that’s to technical or doesn’t reveal who I am, so be it. I can only write the words that express what I am passionate about. This IS me. Deal with it.
Those of us who live in Ohio are becoming aware that this August 8 there will be a special election. The issue to be voted on will change the Ohio Constitution making it more difficult for certain constitutional amendments to pass. Currently, the threshold for approval of an amendment is 50% + 1. For those of us who struggled with math, let’s just call that a Simple Majority. That’s kinda how majority rule in a democracy works. The folks who put this amendment on the special election ballot want to change that to 60% of voters necessary to approve. That’s called a Super Majority. That creates a higher bar for any amendment to the Ohio Constitution to receive approval.
Now, I know the ramifications of this particular vote. I’m not going to get into that. I know how I’m going to vote. You all are intelligent folks who are capable of making a reasoned decision. Just make sure that you get out and vote!
What I want to address today is a sign. A sign that I saw in someone’s front yard. An election sign. Whoever put the sign in the yard apparently wants everyone to vote Yes on the issue this August. A yes vote will change the constitution to require that Super Majority thing I mentioned above. The subtext of the sign reads, “Protect the Constitution.” Ok, I get it, I think. Make things harder for special interests to change the constitution. Of course, special interests are supporting a Yes vote. But that’s a story for another time.
What struck me was the subtext. Why do we need to protect the Constitution and not the people whom that document is meant to serve and protect? Why are people concerned about legalities when ethics are tossed to the wind?
That, too, I think I understand.
So many folks in this country talk about how the U.S. is a nation of law. We tout the idea that no one is above the law. If people just obey the law everything will go swimmingly. The law is considered the bedrock of our democracy. We need to protect it at all costs. Just look at Jan. 6, 2021. We shouldn’t be surprised by this. While this country was not founded as a Christian nation. (Anyone who says otherwise is simply ignorant. You can walk away from them.) It was built upon a Protestant ethic. The reformers, particularly Calvin and Luther, set in motion the importance of the written word and the Law. Luther famously touted “Sola Scriptura”! Scripture alone is all that is required to know about salvation. The written word of God. Calvin carried the ball much further down the line. He established the criteria by which people could live and prosper. He even tried to establish a theocracy in part of Switzerland. The Law of God would rule people justly. Of course, that’s until people actually get involved. That, too, is another story for another time.
In time, this reformed notion of the written word morphed into legalism. The importance of the written law was finally established right here in the U.S. of A. From the very beginning the law and the courts became the final arbiters of what is right and what is wrong. Human ethics and morality became less important than the letter of the law. I hope that you can see where I’m going with this.
We, as a nation, have decided that it’s possible to legislate morality. People are set aside for a legal declaration of what’s good and proper for people’s lives. Rather than encouraging and teaching ethical behaviors that lift communities and empower people to live their best lives, we clamp a lid on that with laws that cannot do anything but hold people down and oppress them.
It is written, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” That comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. I wrote a bit about that here. Yet, people are putting signs in their yards so that we will protect the letter. They would have us abandon our humanity and our conscience so that a piece of paper filled with words can continue to hold people down rather than seeking ways to lift people up.
On August 8 there will be an election.
Please vote with your humanity and your conscience.
A couple of weeks ago in Akron, Ohio, a grand jury made a decision that was legally correct. They decided not to bring charges against police in the shooting of Jayland Walker. For those who aren’t familiar with this case, Jayland was driving a car with a tail light out and a missing license plate light. When police tried to pull him over, he fled. During the chase, Walker fired a shot from a gun out of the car window. When he finally stopped, he jumped out of his car and ran. He was apparently wearing a mask on his face. At some time during the chase Jayland appeared to turn and move his arm in a manner that the officers interpreted as reaching for a weapon. Eight officers then opened fire. More than 90 rounds were fired. Over half of those rounds struck Jayland killing him. Rightly, I think, most people thought at the very least that was excessive. Ninety + rounds? For a broken tail light? Ok, there was the apparent gun shot early in the chase. And, a gun was found in Jayland’s car. But, not on his person when he was shot. I’ve never been involved in anything like that. I cannot even imagine the fear that filled both Jayland and the eight officers. At times like that, with adrenaline pumping by the gallon, rational thought flees and the amygdala takes over. Fight or flight? In this case both were present in shooters and victim. The grand jury considered the use of force and found that it was reasonable in those circumstances. I think that was probably the correct LEGAL decision. But, was it the correct MORAL decision? Of course, the law doesn’t give a flying fuck about morals. You can’t judge morals. Laws are easy. They’re black and white. A person either follows the rules or they don’t. When they don’t, well, there are consequences. Our country is proud of its Rule of Law. No one is above the Law! Well, maybe a lot of people find themselves pinned under the law. Jayland Walker was one of those people. One of the things about the Rule of Law is that sometimes, (many times?), people equate following the letter of the law with being right or moral. If I follow the law, even if I act in a morally reprehensible manner, I’m OK. No harm; no foul. The law vindicates my actions. Look at Me! I’m a Good Law-abiding Citizen! Yay, me! I think that’s part of the problem with the Rule of Law. It gives law enforcement, in particular, the illusion of having the moral high ground. Almost anything that law enforcement do can be justified legally. After all, they represent the People. Right? And, as such they are given almost complete discretion to act in ways that they interpret as in the public’s interest. That’s a very large canvas to paint on. Any decent lawyer can come up with some argument to show that no matter what law enforcement does is in the public’s interest. I think that this is grossly abused by the powers that be. Laws are written and interpreted in order to vindicate the use of force, many times deadly, so that almost any act can be justified. It is Morally Wrong. We can never allow what is simply correct by the letter of the law to stand higher than the Moral mandates of being human beings in society. We’ve stood by and watched abuse after abuse, particularly to those who are the weakest and most marginalized in society. And, time after time after time the abuses have been blown away like smoke on the wind. The unimaginable inequities that allow the powerful to get away with murdering, executing, people who the powerful don’t give a damn about must end. Somehow. I don’t have a clue how to see that happen. Do we vote? Do we protest? Do we write blog posts? Paul the Apostle wrote to the Church at Corinth about this. Even in ancient time people hid behind the law. It gave them the so-called freedom to do anything that fell within the bounds of that law. Paul, however, clarified some things for those folks. He wrote that God has made us adequate, not be the law, but by the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit give life. The letter is written, says Paul, not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the human heart. If anything is this rant makes sense, I hope it’s that the Letter of the Law cannot justify acts of immorality against other human beings. It is not capable of that. It was not created for that. Even though the powerful write laws to protect themselves, they cannot write away the love of God that demands we treat one another with redemptive justice.
Those are two of the Reddest Red States! Aren’t they filled with all of those conservative christian types? How can you say that they are the New Sodom?
I’m glad you asked those questions.
First, Yes! Yes, those states boast a large percentage of the population who are christian. They believe the Bible and claim to read it and live their lives accordingly. I’m sure that if anyone from one of those “righteous” states reads this they will begin to gnash their teeth and say, “How dare that liberal commie punk say that about us!”
Ok, whatevs.
I have a pretty strong case, though. In recent days there have been a couple of things happen that may or may not find air time on your favorite news channel. (I’ve found that the media, main stream or other, don’t report on these types of stories very often. I sometimes wonder why. Then, I remember, “Oh, yeah, $$$$.)
Immigration to the U.S. has historically been a problem. From banning Chinese immigrants in the 19th century to not welcoming Catholics and Irish and Italians and whoever the group du jour happens to be.. Americans, a nation of immigrants, has issues with allowing immigrants.
I get the concerns. Will there be adequate housing, jobs, schools, etc. to support any influx of people from other countries. And, while I think many, if not most, of those concerns are over-blown, there is reason for them. After all, when guests come to call the host needs to think about how to care for them.
I get it.
And, I agree that the Federal govt. really needs to pull their collective heads out of their asses and address this issue. It will not simply go away if it is ignored. That’s why we elect those folks.
However, what two governors have done is not helpful. In fact, it is criminal. (Or, should be.)
In order to score political points Greg Abbott has been loading illegal immigrants into buses and sending them north to New York, Chicago, and D.C. He claims that it is to highlight the border problem in his state. There is a problem there. I don’t think that anyone would deny that. People streaming across the border without any structure in place to adequately accommodate them is a big problem. The strain on state and local governments is real. The local economies are not designed to handle the sometimes staggering number of people crossing. Federal, State, and Local law enforcement are overworked and simply not trained to handle all of the issues they are confronted with.
BUT…
Treating human beings, children, women, and men like pawns on a chess board in order to score political points is simply wrong. These are folks trying to escape crushing poverty and civil unrest. They are literally running for their lives. Gov. Abbott should be ashamed of how he is treating these people!
Florida Gov. Ron “Vecna” DeSantis is following Abbott’s lead. He recently sent two planes filled with immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard. (See NYT article here.) He did not give the folks there a heads up. He simple used taxpayer funds to fly people out of his state. Fortunately, the good people of Martha’s Vineyard ramped up quickly to help. They welcomed the immigrants and began helping them get the support that they needed. They fed them and in one case gave someone a pair of shoes because he had none. It seems that those people understand the words that Emma Lazarus wrote that are etched on the Statue of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
From Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus”
I don’t fault Local and State governments their frustration. Immigration is an issue that needs to be addressed. But, treating people who are hungry, lost, and afraid like this is truly a sin that must be reckoned. As the prophet Ezekiel wrote to the leaders of Jerusalem:
“As I live,” says the Lord, “your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. This is the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefor I removed them when I saw it.”
Eze. 16:48-50
As near as I can tell from this, both Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis are sodomites.
There is currently a bill in Congress, H.R. 5, that is commonly referred to as the “Equality Act.” This bill is designed to add protections for LGBTQ people to the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. It’s description is “To prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.” I’m not going to dwell on the content of the bill. Y’all can read it yourselves here. What I am going to write about is the response that many conservative, religious folks are saying about the bill. Well, actually, I’m not going to discuss so much THEIR responses as much as I am going to respond TO them. In particular, I am going to single out Sen. Mitt Romney, (R-Utah), for his response. Like so many others, Romney has seemed to be a voice of sanity among all of the craziness of conservative politics. But, under the veneer of moderation he is still far to the right of moderate. The Equality Act was introduced into the House last week on the 18th. Later, a spokesperson for Sen. Romney released the following statement: “Sen. Romney believes that strong religious liberty protections are essential to any legislation on this issue, and since those provisions are absent from this particular bill, he is not able to support it,” said Arielle Mueller, a Romney spokesperson, via email to the Washington Blade in response to an inquiry on the Equality Act. For several years people have tried to cloak their personal biases and opinions under the mantle of “Sincerely held Religious beliefs.” This is pretty much what Romney said. People who believe in various religious texts say that those texts prohibit them from agreeing to certain practices or beliefs of others. In this case, they cite a Biblical prohibition of homosexuality and “clear” statement that God created two distinct genders in all species. Ok, I’m not going to address the religious side of this. I could. And, I could present opposing views of the very same texts that they allude to. That’s the nature of Biblical interpretations. That’s what they are; Interpretations. No, I want to go in a different direction. I want to talk about what may be referred to as the “accidents of nature.” Or, perhaps, even as Acts of God. I currently live in a middle-class American suburb. I have a house and a garden. I own a car and have time to write silly blog posts. I wasn’t born into a developing nation where houses are patchworks of whatever materials I can forage. Where such things as running water and sanitation services are non-existent, let alone computer or internet access. I don’t think that anyone would argue that the above is an accurate account of an Accident of Nature. I had nothing to do with where I was born. Nor, did the individual in that other culture. We both have privileges and lacks in both. For those who like to explain things in terms of Divine Providence, I was Providentially born into the life that I now have. Now, let me ask you. Is the fact that some are born left-handed an Accident of Nature? Of course they are. They had no say in the fact that they have a gift that is divergent with the majority. How about people who may be born with a cleft palate? Are these folks somehow responsible for this? Did they choose to be born this way? Of course not! It’s obvious that somewhere in their development something happened that allowed them to develop this particular trait. My wife is a nurse. She tells me stories about children who are born with any number of issues. Some have a hole in their heart that needs to be repaired surgically. Others have incomplete bowel development. All of them are what we could call Accidents of Nature. There is another condition that doesn’t get a lot of press. It is referred to as Intersexuality. This is a condition where a child is born with two sets of sexual organs. There may also be a difference in chromosome identity with the actual sexual organs present. A child born with female chromosomes who is born with apparent male genitalia would be an example. Some children are even born with both sets of genitalia. Many times at birth, the parents are asked to choose which gender the child should be. What if they make the wrong choice? What if their child with female chromosomes is surgically altered to give them a son? Even in nature such things may occur. Recently, I saw a news item about a cardinal that appeared to be half red and half white. They reported that this was in fact a bird that was two genders! I don’t share this because it gives credibility to Intersexuality in humans. It doesn’t. But, it does show quite clearly that Accidents of Nature happen! Let’s take this discussion a step further. What if a child’s genetics are clearly male and there biological sex is also physically male. Now, let’s suggest that as this boy grows up his body produces hormones differently from other boys. This is all hypothetical, mind you. And, let’s say that these hormones, that would naturally cause this boy to find the female body attractive, are different. In his case they cause him to find pleasure in the male body. In fact, just as I am attracted to females, his attraction is to males. He desires another male in whom he can confide and grow with; another Person with whom he can bond and love. That’s not a far-fetched idea. In fact, for millions, it is the reality of their lives. I share all of this to make the point that when people talk about LGBTQ issues, they are not talking about religion. There is nothing religious about an Accident of Nature. Unless, of course, you want to call it an Act of God. No, this entire issue is about Civil Rights. It’s about the unalienable right guaranteed in our founding documents that are granted every citizen. So, Mr. Romney, in framing the Equality Act in religious terms, you are making a horrible category error that threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of your fellow citizens. Many of whom are your co-religionists. I urge you, and all other Senators to truly engage in these issues and set aside biases and bigotries that hurt rather than heal.
I have to say that I’m pretty pissed off right now. Yeah, I know that I should be glad that the trump reign of incompetence will soon end. And, there’s hope that new vaccines will knock down Corona virus. But, these are very things that piss me off.
Let me explain. As most of you who read this blog thing regularly know, I fled from the world of Evangelical Christianity. I spent over 30 years within those walls. I was formed by the teaching and fellowship of that tribe. I was glad to consider them my family, my sisters, my brothers…my friends. Many of them I still count as friends and family. That doesn’t mean that I agree with what they currently stand for or believe. In fact, I found that I had to run from the bubble that so insulates that world as to suffocate those locked inside. Once outside, I had to “shake the dust off of my shoes” in order to begin a process of cleansing. And, as a witness against that world.
Ok, so I’m out and allowing God the Holy Spirit to build anew in my life. So, why worry about what once was? Why not simply embrace the present and look forward to a blessed future?
The answer is actually quite simple.
EVANGELICALISM HAS BECOME A THREAT TO OUR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING!
Over the years the Evangelical Church, in particular, the White Evangelical Church has become radically political and conservative. Thanks to such people as Jerry Falwell, Sr., this brand of Christianity climbed into bed with the Republican party. Over time, like a parasite, Evangelicalism gorged itself on the power that they were acquiring in the political arena. Christian nationalism grew and the so-called 7 Mountain movement came into its own. This group seeks to install like-minded Christian leadership into every public area in our society. Conservative values became Christian values. Single issues like abortion or gay rights became a rallying call that could muster the faithful to elect more cultural conservatives. Evangelicals and political conservatives began to fear-monger in order to activate their political bases. “Oh my God! Our culture is being overrun by homosexuals and demonic abortionists! Soon, they will take over the schools and the government! We will lose our power and our voice as ‘Muricans!” We saw the result of this first hand in 2016 when 81% of White Evangelicals threw their lot in with Donald Trump. EIGHTY-ONE PERCENT!!! In the 2020 election, 76% still supported the pussy-grabbing, lying, pornstar sleeping, adulterous, thrice married bigot. Much of that was a reaction to that uppity Black guy, Barak Obama. The nerve of him thinking that he could actually be President of these here United States! Most, however, was that the power that Evangelicals felt as their savior took the oath of office made them giddy with delight. They could finally impose their will on the majority of citizens because The Donald would give them whatever they desired. And, he rewarded their faithful loyalty by doing just that. Nominees to all of the federal courts were approved conservatives. Three of those to the Supreme Court. But, that wasn’t all. Evangelicals are expert at playing the persecution card. If someone doesn’t agree with their particular brand of Christianity they claim that they are being persecuted. Don’t want to sell to gay people? “I’m being persecuted because I can’t let my religious bigotry keep ‘those’ people out of my shop!” The biggest lie that these people tell, however, is costing lives. There are many large Evangelical churches and organizations who think that the minimal requirements for curbing the current Covid-19 pandemic are an affront to their rights. When businesses were shutting down because of the spread of Covid, churches were often exempt from those orders. And, how dare some politician tell ME that I have to wear a mask or social distance! I have rights, you know. In particular, there is a church in California pastored by Covidiot John MacArthur. He heads Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He spent much of the summer in litigation with state, city, and county officials over his refusal to do anything at all to help stem the spread of the virus. For him, his religious rights trumped the health of the community. I single him out, but there are many, many more church leaders like him across the country. One of the tacts that MacArthur and his cohort take is to cite scripture for there defiance. They say that the writer of the Book to the Hebrews has a verse that commands them to gather together. That verse is in chapter 10. It reads:
“not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing.
[New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Heb 10:25). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.]
They make the claim that this verse demands that they obey God rather than humans. They are compelled to gather together because told them “Not to forsake our own assembling together.” This is what most people refer to as ‘Proof texting.’ People have a belief in something, so they pour over the Scriptures until they find a verse that “Proves” that belief is correct. (Actually, it only Proves their ignorance.) Proof texters yank any verse or passage out of its context just so they can say that they have a Biblical basis for their opinion. In this case, that verse does NOT provide them with the clarity they so desperately desire. In its context, the writer of this book was trying to encourage people to maintain their faithfulness to God. It seems that some were becoming discouraged. Their old friends and relations had rejected them. They weren’t welcome at the clubs. Some may have been getting a ‘side eye’ from people on the street. And, they had been taught that Jesus, himself, was going to return and vindicate them. That day seemed further and further off. Some had apparently given up and left the fledgling church to return to their own lives. At least there they would be treated with the respect and dignity that they just knew that they deserved. This was the social context that Hebrews was written to address. If people really want to get an idea of what the writer was getting at, we must look at a couple other things. First, the previous verse provides a reason for the above encouragement. It states,
“And let us pay attention to each other for the provoking of love and good works.
[Translation by Gareth Lee Cockerill in, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Joel B.Green, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 2012, p.464.]”
The writer encouraged the readers to love others and do good works. How was the best way for these 1st century believers to do that? By gathering together to encourage one another. He especially called on those who did find themselves discouraged, who may have developed a ‘habit’ of sleeping in on Sunday, to be of good cheer and gather! Jesus was King and Savior! He sits on a throne next to the Father in the heavenlies! He will bring his reward for those who remain faithful! That is what the writer called for. There is no command in this. There is no imperative anywhere in this verse. “Don’t forsake one another. Especially, as you see the Day (of the Lord) approaching.
Are there ways that we can fulfill this writer’s words of encouragement today? Do these ways absolutely require us to gather together and disregard the health and safety of our sisters and brothers in the faith? Of our families? Of our co-workers and friends? Of our communities? Yes! There are many ways that we can do this task without the dangers of virus exposure. But, it seems that the Evangelicals would rather exert their own rights to disregard any so-called government meddling that might cause them a bit of discomfort. “I Have My Rights,” say the people who claim to follow a Lord and Master about whom it was written,
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
[New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Php 2:5–8). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.]
God would NEVER, let me say it again, God Would NEVER require the faithful to do anything that could bring harm and suffering to anyone. Let that thought sit in your mind and grow roots. Let the Love that sprouts from those roots grow and bear fruit that may bring blessing, not curse, to us all.
This post is written in loving memory of, Bob Mertes, a dear Brother in Christ who recently walked on after a battle with Covid-19. Rest in Peace, Bro! We’ll catch ya on the other side!
I’ve often heard folks say, “the writing of history belongs to the victor.” There are few people who would disagree with that. After all, how many white people in the U.S. were aware of “Juneteenth” before 2020? Does anyone know what the Lakota People call the Battle of the Little Big Horn? (ans.: Battle at the Greasy Grass. You can Google it yourself.) The inherent danger in the victor producing the main accounts of history, is that there is only One Side accounted for. We get to see all of the honor and courage of those on the winning side. While, at the same time, the cowardice and shame of the defeated is illuminated. In every event, whether armed conflict, economic systems, religion, or you insert the name, those whose effectiveness in arms or wealth or prestige are the ones who tell the story. A case in point are the recent post that I shared on the Civil War. In school we were taught that the war was fought over the issue of slavery. That’s one part of the story. That’s the part of the story that raises the honor of the White government and army so that they are considered “liberators.” The blood shed on the battlefield won a great victory for the benevolent people who had all of the power. See? We’re not all vicious slavers. Not All White People Are Like That! Yet, while it’s absolutely true that many White Americans had purely altruistic motives, the actual Powers-That-Be were those who controlled the economy. These folks’ sole interest was in expanding their own wealth and influence. Hardly praise-worthy. But, that’s a part of the story we don’t hear. It places the integrity of the Victors in a negative light. They all want to be known as Lovers of Liberty. Not, the lovers of money that they actually were. So, that leads me to another saying that has been tossed around by folks. “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” First, just let me go on record of calling Bullshit on that. What? Well, it is! Again, I would like to throw out the possibility that even this saying is the product of the imagination of the victors. Of course, they desire that people remember what has gone on before! They, themselves, know all about the circumstances that led to their own acquisition of power and honor. They know all too well about how they had to fight to gain, or retain, the economic and political power they now hold. And, they don’t want their own to forget that struggle. For if they do, they realize that someone else might step into the role that they had and fight for their own power and honor. That would, somehow, diminish them. The main reason that I call Bullshit on that saying, though, is because it simply isn’t true. History doesn’t repeat. History is literally just part of the continuum of time that has led the World to this point. It only seems repetitive because human nature is always the same. So, we continue to see the same concerns and struggles that have been part of humanity ever since our forebears climbed out of the trees of Africa and built community on the ground. It only seems to repeat because the victors are always fighting the same battles over and over again and recording their victories. Reality, though, tells a far different story. A story that the victors don’t even realize is alive and well. It is a story that is not only ignored, but in many cases violently subdued. It is the story that we see embroiling cultures and societies around the globe. I call it an Affective History. This is the long, term lived history of people. An example: Chattel slavery in the U.S. is a historic fact. It happened during a finite period of time from the first African slaves that were sold in Jamestown 1619 until the 13th amendment to the constitution was ratified in 1865. What we were never taught in school, and which has only recently appeared on people’s radar, is how almost 250 years of bondage Affected the humanity of African slaves. We heard about Reconstruction, Carpet Baggers and others like them. Most of us probably heard in passing that ex-slaves were promised “40 acres and a mule” upon emancipation. What we didn’t hear was how that promise, like so many others the U.S. government made, never happened. No one ever explained how the Southern states began in 1878 to dismantle Reconstruction and resurrected their power over African Americans through Jim Crow. Yeah, we heard about those things. But, we were never privy to how this Affected those who felt the effects of racial hatred. The Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s certainly resulted in more legal rights for African Americans. White folks grudgingly gave in to many of the demands of the oppressed. That is until they could find ways to get around them. Jerry Falwell, Sr. is just one example of many who began private schools for whites only in order to exclude people of color. This lasted until 1983 when the Supreme Court upheld IRS rules that removed tax exemptions for those donating to private schools that were segregated by race. Even that little bit of history, while it appears to put White racism in its place, doesn’t tell how this Magnanimous offering to racial minorities actually Affects those minorities. I’m sure that if we put our heads together we could add countless examples of how events in history currently Affect people. Women, Indigenous, African, Hispanic, Jewish, Muslims, and on and on and on. How have people been Affected by the stories that the victors are privileged to tell? It’s past time to hear history, and life, as told by these.
Sometimes I feel like that proverbial “Fish Out Of Water.” Most of my vision and attention is on Christianity, specifically the Bible, and how it intersects with culture and church. So much damage has been done to people because of the weaponization of both theology and Biblical study. How many LGBT young people have been shunned by family and community as so-called religious leaders use the Scripture as a bludgeon to hammer these young folks like a blacksmith shaping iron? “Hey, you Pious Pricks! These are humans made in the Image of God! Not something that you may objectify and form into your own likeness in the way that you have molded your god!”
Yet, sometimes I’m drawn out of the world of religion and into the world where people actually live and breathe. Hell, many of us argue that this ‘real world’ is the only place that religion is able to find its true footing. After all, Yahweh came and pitched God’s tent right here on Terra Firma in order to prove Divine Love for the Cosmos. When you think about that, it’s pretty amazing!
Today is one of those days that I find myself drawn into the world where faith and praxis intersect with culture. I am committed to trying to shine the Light of God and Faith into the darker recesses of our humanity. Places where injustice and oppression find themselves attempting to grow in God’s Garden like weeds and thistles. (As an aside, I have been waging war on real thistles in my yard and garden. These intrusive weeds are ubiquitous to our area and are damned hard to kill. We have finally found a treatment for them. But, it requires cutting each individual plant and ‘painting’ the curative on the newly cut stem. Time consuming for sure. A pain in the back? Yep! But, it is effective. I’ve noticed a huge reduction in new sprouts. Maybe, just maybe, I can win this battle!) That image is really quite relevant to the growth of weeds in the church at large. And, White Evangelicalism in particular. Since the early 1980s when people like Jerry Falwell, Sr., Jim Dobson, Kenneth Copeland, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker, and others christened the so-called ‘Moral Majority’ and began to tout their brand of christianity there has been a decided shift in the winds of politics. White Evangelicalism seemed to be drawn inexorably into the maelstrom of power. Since so much of their dogma was relegated to the outbox of relevancy, they chose to fire weapons of faith at their newly created Culture Wars. In actuality, it wasn’t all that new. Religious powers had tried to enforce their particular brands of culture and morality on the world for pretty much Ever. In the 1980s, however, their reach, or overreach, hit the airways of mass communication. In a way that was good. It gave the wider world a chance to see the immoral power struggles that embraced religion in real time. It was also, however, a means to ‘rally the troops.’ These conservative religious people sounded the clarion call to alert everyone that the world was on fire with atheists and communists and all sorts of mean & hateful people who were going to eat babies and wreak havoc on Mom, apple pie, and the ‘murican way! Heaven have Mercy on us all!
What actually happened, though, was not a rescue mission to save the culture. It was not, in fact, even a religious call to repentance and faith. The primarily White, conservative, Evangelical church became the de facto religious wing of the Republican party. They traded their birthright, and absolutely abdicated any claim to the moral high ground, for a bowl of oatmeal.
The apostle Paul wrote, (you really didn’t think that I could resist bringing the Bible into this, did you?), a lot about how faith and culture should interact. One image that I found while studying Paul is that of a person paying for sex with a prostitute. Paul was NOT writing to people who weren’t part of the Church. He wrote specifically to those who claimed to follow Jesus. And, while he was writing about a person actually interacting with a prostitute, the image, I think, bears on what is happening in the world of White Evangelicalism. Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two shall be one flesh’” (1 Cor. 6, NRSV).
I want to be clear that I believe that conservative religious people, particularly White Evangelicals, have climbed into bed with conservative politics, especially the Republican Party, and have engaged in relationships that have made you One Flesh with them. How far can you fall before you reach the bottom?
I adjure you to consider the position that you are in. It’s precarious to say the least. God is NOT for or against any political party or position. God seeks the fruit of truth and justice. All other fruit is tasteless and rotten.
Earlier this summer we in the U.S. were witnesses to something that purported to be a “Movement.” Black Live Matter was written across our nation in ALL CAPS. Many of us who had lived through an earlier Movement during the Civil Rights struggle of the 60s as well as that of the Viet Nam war resistance viewed this new thing with, I think, a tinge of nostalgia. We were there. Our black and white, rabbit-eared televisions put us in the mix of the struggle. Of course, most of us were mere children at the time. But, even we could sense the electricity in the air and smell the ozone of the sparks it created. Many of those sparks erupted into full-blown conflagrations as Watts and Hough caught fire and burned. I will never forget watching the police in Chicago press the ‘Suppress At All Costs’ button out in the streets during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Nor, will I ever stop mourning four dead young people on the campus of Kent State University when Gov. James Rhodes allowed the Ohio National Guard to use lethal force against protesters.
Many changes came about during those moments in history. Voting rights were gained by the disenfranchised in America. A war in some far away jungle was fought on nightly television news. And, we saw the end of an era on April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King, Jr. Was murdered.
I say an end of an era because in many ways it was. People in this nation had seen and experienced enough. Enough anger; enough hate; enough killing. It seems as though there’s only so much chaos that we humans can endure before we simply stop and close our eyes.
So, we convinced ourselves that we had all done a great job of addressing the many issues of the day. The good results we kept. The not so good we chalked up to ‘experience’ and walked away from.
In most places that process has a name.
Complacency.
That one word describes a sense that All Is Well. Or, at least it’s Not Terrible and we can live with it. It reveals a people who are tired and who have no desire to press the struggle to its actual terminus. “We’ve done pretty good! Well, at least pretty OK!” we say as we turn on the ball game and open a fresh bottle of Heineken’s.
Perhaps I’m just voicing my own cynicism. I’ve seen this process happen so many times. People mobilize and march and stage boycotts and the news carries this or that spokesperson for the “Cause du jour.” Then there are the rebuttals that must be shown. Equal opportunity and all that. Soon, the news cycle shifts to the high price of chicken because of some bacterial thing that made someone in B.F.E. puke.
Then, gone. Forgotten.
It seems that only when people break windows and burn cars and yell and scream and throw things…it’s only THEN that people pay attention. I read the NY Times for Sunday. There was a lot about the late John Lewis. As there rightly should be. He was a giant among Humanity. However, the causes that he fought for were conspicuously missing. Black Lives Matter? The only coverage was about the Federal Government’s illegal activity in Oregon. I haven’t seen a word about any marches or rallies on local media. In fact, the absence of coverage for PEACEFUL and NON-VIOLENT activity, the very things that Congressman Lewis gave his life for was deafening.
Seriously, folks. Do we need to burn the country down in order to secure some semblance of Justice for what the Bible names, “the least of these?” Will it take more deaths and disaster to finally show us that we are all Equal in God’s eyes? So, dammit! We should be equal in one another’s eyes as well? What will it take? We’ve been at this a long, long time and the same issues are still raising their Hydra Heads.
I don’t know. I hope that I will be able to see some life in our culture before mine ends. But, that hope hangs on a thread.
