Tag: #community

Apocalypse: What I See

Published by mhelbert on June 24, 2025

I just watched Oppenheimer for the first time. To be honest, I was underwhelmed. I mean the story was OK. And the acting really good. But, at the end I was left kinda, ‘meh.’

One thing that did touch my mind and heart was a line at the beginning. Oppenheimer was watching water drop into a pool. In his mind he saw flashes of light. The images switched between his pensive face and the special effects. Then, there was a voice over that said something like, ‘I see things that other people don’t.’ Not like the kid in ‘The Sixth Sense’ way of seeing. Oppenheimer didn’t see dead people. No, he saw the hidden world of quantum physics. The stuff of science fiction and horror stories. And, as we all know, it wasn’t fiction…it was truly horror.

The reason I write this is not to vent my anger at nuclear weaponry or the threat of mutual, global annihilation. That may be the topic of some future post. Not today, though. No, I want to write that I, too, see things that most other people don’t see. I’m sure that we all share to some degree certain insights into how life works. The liquidity of time; the touch of a butterfly’s wing. What I see is slightly different.

Over the years I’ve shared bits and pieces of my life within the religious world. From conservative Evangelicalism through the desert of nothingness to where I am today. I’m labeled Episcopalian. That’s just a label. Kinda like I root for Manchester City in real football. I root for the openness and inclusion that the Episcopal Church waters and cultivates so that the divine seed may bud and flower with the beauty of God’s love. That’s all good. However, it doesn’t reveal the reality of things. True Church is the embodiment of Messiah Jesus in the world. It doesn’t necessarily explain the world. It does offer tools with which to explore it.

I’m truly a contemplative. You can google that if you want. Check out the examples that you find. Even the wiki thing may prove helpful. That is if you’re interested. To me, I see the reality behind the curtain. In biblical studies that’s called ‘Apocalypse.’ To reveal.

Right now we live in a chaotic world. It’s not just a U.S. thing. It’s global. Lot’s of folks are on edge. Even a friend who is a spiritual stalwart shared that she’s afraid.

I see John the Seer’s many-headed beast coming up out of the sea. In that story the beast was Rome. In mine, it is the many-headed beast of the systems that run rampant over the earth. It demands to be bowed to and worshiped. Those who refuse are devoured by the fearsome maw on one of its heads. And we fear. Our fear is our felt reality. We don’t know who will be the next victim of its seeming unlimited power. A power given it by the Great Dragon who exists from the beginning of time. A beast in its own right that controls this beast. Yet, it doesn’t care about the beast. In its great anger simply wants to destroy. The beast is simply a means to that end.

I look behind the curtain and see that which few see. There I see a great light. A prism of colors streaming from it. There are myriad creatures that sing with a great voice. The voices are like the roaring of the sea, yet like the whisper of the summer breeze. They all sing in their own voice, yet they are in close harmony. They sing the praise of the One Who sits in the light. The One Who is the source of the light.

I see also thousands upon millions of people. They stand with heads bowed and beat the breasts crying out, “How long? How long must those upon the face of the earth suffer under the feet of the Dragon and its beast?”

I hear a voice. A quiet voice. As John wrote, a voice “of a lamb which was slain.” I contemplate on that. What lamb? Why a lamb? The voice tells me that this lamb is the One Who was slain by the first beast that was Rome. By His death and His blood He redeemed from death all who were under the foot of the beast.

The beast that I see is not Rome. Nor is it any particular government. I wrote that this beast is the world systems represented by its many heads. From its many mouths it speaks lies and creates fear. A deadly, paralyzing fear. For the Dragon knows that those who live in fear are already his. “Fear is the mind killer,” the Bene Gesserit say. It’s far more than that. Fear is the soul killer. It is the life-ender. It is the prison where the worshipers of the beast are held captive.

John’s vision tells readers that the Lamb and the white-robed army wage a great war against the beast and its followers. We call this war Armageddon. John saw the heavens opened and One on a white horse ride out to meet the armies of the beast. The armies of heaven were arrayed in white linen. They, too, rode white horses. The armies clashed and there was great bloodshed. The beast and the Dragon were thrown into a lake of fire. The ungodly, unholy reign of the Dragon and its minions was ended.

In my sight, I see things differently. There are no white horses and riders. No armies form up to wage bloody battle. No, I still see the Lamb enthroned at the right hand of the Father. He gazes at the Father and says, “Abba! These are all in bondage to the beast and the Dragon. Let my blood be for theirs!” And, it was so.

The beast, embodied in the systems of this world, was destroyed. The beast and its Dungeon Master the Dragon, were chained and thrown into the abyss where they were imprisoned forever. Humanity was redeemed and released!

Behind the curtain God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit waged war. And they won.

This is done. It’s finished. Nothing more can be added to what God has already done!

What, then, is this that we experience in our real world day after day? In my vision it’s the time before the last battle of the Lamb. The battle where the weapons are the sword of His mouth; His Word. Apocalypse is timeless. Meaning that what we see is assured, yet perhaps not yet known. This is the key.

I wrote all of this because of fear. We live in an unsettling time. Chaos reigns. Wars are waged and injustice flourishes like stinging nettles in the garden. Hope seems to be gone from our lives. My vision, however, is one of hope. Nothing that we experience now is cause for fear and anxiety. The Lamb has won! The power of the Dragon has been broken! We are able to stand up and have hope that what we see and experience can, and WILL, end. Does this mean we should sit on our collective arses and complacently wait? For what? The systems to simply implode and disappear? While I don’t see the blood-soaked scene that John saw, I also don’t see the followers of the Lamb sitting idly by. They take the same sword of the Lamb and stand against the systems of hate and greed and power and lust and war. With it they, we, are empowered to stand and seize the victory that the Lamb has won.

Don’t fear! Stand up and rejoice! The other John, John the Elder, wrote, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”

Those with ears to hear, listen.

Leave a Comment

What in the World?! Politics!

Published by mhelbert on April 30, 2025

Politics. That thing that we’ve been told should never be discussed at Thanksgiving. That tool of governance used to dig up and till the soil of the electorate in order for this or that political whatever to plant its seeds of thought. Then, hoping that a constituent plant will grow and bear fruit.
According to the politicians, politics is what makes the world go round. They want everyone to believe that; to believe them.
And, we do! We place our faith and trust in whatever politics makes us feel good about ourselves. Whatever position allows us to feel safe and secure. So, we put up banners and lawn signs. We go to rallies and town halls to support what we think is good and right and proper for us and for everyone else. Then, after a time, we realize that those we support can’t come through on what they promised. Disillusionment. So, we modify our expectations and seek other people and policies that we can support.
And, the circle goes round and round and round and……..
As a follower of Christ I have a rather complicated relationship with politics. I’ve heard many say that if we truly believe and accept what’s written in the Bible we must be apolitical. After all Jesus never talked about politics. In fact, He stayed out of the politics of His day. He never railed against the Romans. He was not a vocal opponent about how the Jewish people should be governed. Yeah, He took issue with the abuses that the religious leaders poured on people. But, actual governance? No. He told His disciples that while they may live in this world, they were not part of it. The world in which they lived was a heavenly world where stuff about food and clothing were not to be worried about. Didn’t God provide for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field? Such a vision of utopia! A world without cares and worries! That’s what many think that Jesus was talking about.
But…….
That’s not our reality, is it? Nope. We live in a world where politics force us to act. Where we have responsibilities to do whatever we can to keep ourselves and our families safe and secure. We all gotta join the fray to keep our heads above water. Most of all, we gotta try to make sense of the chaos that our leaders create every day. I am pointing directly at the situation that we live in right now. Washington is nuts. There are so many voices coming from there that it’s hard to discern one from the other. The cacophony rising from the halls of political power is deafening. It hurts my ears. There is little sense being made by those we entrust with our well-being. While that discord and confusion seems unique, it’s not. Every political group and government has stirred up its own version of suspicion and mistrust. EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! Yeah, we do live in a tumultuous time. I talk with a lot of folks who live in fear of what tomorrow may bring. Will our rights completely disappear into fascist totalitarianism? Will our 401(k) survive the confusion? What about those of us who receive Social Security? Not to mention book bans and cultural genocide! “There’s too much!”, they say as tears flow and folks find themselves shaking in fear.
I wrestle with how to respond to the fear and anger that so many of my friends and fellow Christians feel. There seems to be no bridging the chasm between what the world demand and what Jesus seems to say. Trees have been felled in order to make the paper that folks and scholars use to argued about politics and the Church. To what end? (Spoiler alert : none. None at all.) Yet we keep jabbering on about how this view is right; that view is not. In fact, that view is likely sinful and dangerous. What view is that? Doesn’t matter. Whatever view is different from whomever is speaking. Amiright?
So, how do we respond? As leaders in the church we must respond. I recently read that a leader’s job in these chaotic times is to attempt to try and help people live and flourish where living and flourishing seem distant and impossible. So, what response can we make? There are a couple of ways, I think. Not everyone can accept them. I, myself, have a hard time wrapping my head around how to respond. But, one thing that I know with certainty, God’s world is not a world of confusion and discord. God’s world is where peace is reality. The question is, how in God’s Name do we get there? If we do, somehow, find our way, how should we live in such a place?
Please understand that I’m not one of those religious folks who advocate separation from real life. You know, those who move to the wilderness to escape the corruption that they say plagues our nation and our world. Nor am I one of the new monastics who, while living in the world, choose to cloister themselves and develop their own ways. They go to “christian” stores and theaters and schools. Their desire is not to be counter-culture, but to build a separate culture that builds barriers against the ‘forces of evil’ that rule the outside world. These are real reactions that many use to deal with, and insulate themselves from, the chaos and uncertainty of today’s world. In some ways I can’t fault them. However, this lifestyle is not the lifestyle that I see in the Scriptures nor in the Fathers nor in the Church.
If I was asked my opinion on such things I’d have to start with the fact that everything in Scripture was written by and to real people in the real world. Folks trying to get by on what they knew about life and God. Then, I would have to tell anyone who was bored enough to listen that God, Godself, did not just sit by twiddling His thumbs watching corruption and death have their way. God never said, “Oh well, that’s none of my business. Please pass a croissant.” No! In the face of injustice and cruelty God acted decisively. He sent Messiah Jesus to put an end to the power that the world and the world’s systems held over the entire world. If God was willing to act, so should we who say that we are followers of God in Messiah Jesus.
What would this action look like? Sorry, I don’t have a comprehensive list to give you. There are lots of lawful ways to stand against injustice and corruption. In the U.S. we can vote our conscience. Some Christian don’t because, again, that separatist thing. To that kind of thinking I call BS. We absolutely should vote and participate in the democratic process. Not everyone in the world has such a choice. Don’t squander it! We can protest and march. I march and take part in Pride activities as a matter of conscience. We can write to and engage elected officials at town halls to speak about our ideas and feelings regarding various legislation. These things and others are ways that we can give voice to the voiceless and strive for justice in our world.Actions are great. We should feel comfortable with them.
What about our peace? I mentioned that many are suffering anxiety and fear these days. This is an issue that’s not easily dealt with. I feel that it can truly be addressed by the Good Grace of God through the Holy Spirit. Peace in the knowledge that what we experience in the world is not necessarily our true reality. I’m talking to followers of Messiah now. Our reality is in the world of God’s Good Presence. Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. That’s true. We who walk in the Way of Messiah know this. God is our Way. We own our lives in this world and are not owned by it. Speaking for myself, my peace does not depend on what the latest executive order is. My serenity is not broken by the roller coaster of Wall St. I see things as they are, not how they appear. I’m clear eyed to help the oppressed, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and the homeless. If I am not under the circumstances, I can work to effect change on the circumstances. In a word, I am free. This is why Messiah lived, died, and was resurrected. That we might all be free from those powers that seem so driven to destroy us and others.
So, have hope! God is alive and well. We can be also.

Leave a Comment

Must We Always Live Under “Same As It Ever Was?”

Published by mhelbert on December 31, 2024

Well, here we are at the end of yet another year. On the cusp of 2025 many of us share hope that the next year will be different. Spoiler alert: it won’t be. I’ve seen nearly 70 of these calendar pages turned. Nothing really changes. Except that I’ll forget the year on checks for a while. That’s why I use auto-pay a lot! So many people focus on what’s to come. And, too few of us truly reflect on what was. I think that’s a mistake. There is much that we have all accomplished that should be held high and celebrated. There are also those things that we would rather not been done.
Such is the way of it.
By “it” I mean the human condition. This is something that I’ve reflected on a great deal this past year. It is the true equalizer in the world. No one is beyond its influence. I even grasped that Jesus, the son of Joseph, was not above it. The only difference that I can see between Him and everyone else is that He chose to enter into it. But, that’s a story for another day.
This condition is universal in scope, yet appears differently to different cultures and classes. By definition, though we are all subject to it. I see this condition as one of misery, desertion, poverty, and anxiety. I think for many, 2024 taught us that. While we may live in our nice homes with all of the food and comforts that we desire, we still by our insurances and stock up ‘just in case.’
The year now winding down to its conclusion caused no shortage of anxiety. Not only in the U.S., but all around the world political and economic uncertainty has made us wary, not only of those who are different from us in race or culture, but of our own families and friends. These are the characteristics of the “human condition.” Not the outward appearance of well-being. That’s at best cosmetic. No, this condition is internal. It’s what we are born into. The evolutionists may say that this is simply a vestigial holdover from an earlier age when survival made suspicion and distrust necessary. Maybe. Only to me it seems that we as a species are more suspicious than ever. Of course, I have no way to prove that. It’s just my gut saying it.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just getting old and cynical. Perhaps that’s part of the human condition, too. We see the reality of living. We are witness to suffering of other humans in war and poverty. Every. Single. Day. Fear is used as a tool to achieve wealth and power. Fear, that universal scourge that infects every living thing. Fight or flight. “Stay away from me and my stuff!” It’s no wonder that we crawl into our homes and view the world from the supposed safety of our various devices. Well, except those who can’t afford either a home or devices.
Such is our lot as we trek and toil toward…what?
A new year?
New hope?
New resolutions?
But, as David Byrne and the Talking Heads sang, “Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.”
Qoheleth, the Teacher, who wrote the Biblical book Ecclesiastes saw this over 2,000 years ago. He wrote, “Vanity! All is vanity…What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.”
Does this mean that I must remain in a cynical, hopeless life?
No, of course not. There’s always hope. It’s just not in politics or the economy or how good our insurance is. I think that any hope that we might find is in that which we distrust.
Each other.
Community is where we came from. Our earliest ancestors learned that as they began to walk and live in a hostile world. They needed each other then. Just as we do now. To hide in our ‘safe’ homes is an illusion. We can never hide from ourselves or our fears. Together, however, we might just learn to trust and walk in the light.
Much, (all?), of what I’m thinking in this regard comes directly from my study of the Bible and the community of faith that I’m part of. Most, however, has been discerned as I sit quietly with God. I think that this quietness is the beginning of community. After all, God exists in community; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But, then, I believe in stuff that most of the world doesn’t.
While I have no trust in the ways and systems of this world, I do have a fleeting hope in humanity to see outside of itself. To grasp the truth of our need to trust, not only one another, but the earth and all that it contains. We are all floating around on the wet ball. If we can’t learn to trust to this reality and the God Who lives here with us,
Who can we trust?

Leave a Comment

What Is Church? A Country Club? A Social Organization?

Published by mhelbert on March 7, 2024

Some medical providers say that it’s not healthy to stuff emotions. Holding feelings deep within us causes all sorts of issues, both mental and physical. So, I’m gonna blame my venting in recent posts on maintaining my own mental health. There.
Now that that’s done, I can move on to a similar topic from a different angle. I have spent a lot of time writing and talking about the shortcomings of the Church. It’s really easy to point out the negatives. And, the Church has quite a list of outstanding needs. I mentioned only a few in these posts. Today, however, I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about what I think the Church can look like. In the mind of Mike, what would the ideal Church be? So, let’s have a look, shall we?
First and foremost, the Church must be wholly devoted to God. Without that devotion, frankly, there is no such thing AS Church. Without it the Church is nothing more than a social justice organization. Or, worse, a clique of angry people who have no clue what it is that they are doing.
Messiah Jesus made it possible for the world to experience the fruit of the defeat of sin and death. He, alone, has made the Way for the world to know God. Jesus did provide an example of how humans can, (should?), live together, that was not His primary goal. His primary goal was to reveal to us the Reign of God in the world. In Biblical terms that’s called the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus ushered in a new age where humanity may be restored to the true Image Bearers of God in the world. To be stewards of the world. To work in partnership with God to be a blessing to what God said in the beginning, was the Tov Me’od creation. That is, the Very Good creation. What that may look like deserves a series of blog posts of its own. Let’s just say, God thinks the world is very good. The Church has an obligation to care for it.
Second, the Church is a community like no other. The Apostle Paul used the image of a human body to describe it. We are all different, re. Diverse, yet members of One body. He wrote that a toe can’t say that it’s not part of the body. I think we’ve all experienced that. Stub a toe and the whole body is acutely aware of it. The Church as body is one organism that is made of many parts that are completely dependent on one another. Only Messiah Jesus is the head. I am certainly not. What would this look like in real life? Well, competition among various members would need to go away. Trying to cut off or remove another member would result, at best, despoil Messiah’s Body. At worst? Well, just take a look around at all of the divisions and fighting that goes on among those who consider themselves “Us” as they flip the bird at “Them.” This can only change if we are all devoted to God alone.
Third, the Church is by definition a Welcoming Community. Now, I don’t mean that we’re nice to people. Nor, when someone new steps into our church we nod our heads and smile at them. It’s not even going up to them and shaking their hand. It is those things, to be sure. But, it is far more than that. Being a Welcoming Community means that we are proactive and take our Welcome to where it is most needed. The Bible gives us a very basic outline of who that is. They are the widows, the orphans, and the foreigner who dwells among us. The outcast; the leper; the Other…whoever is NOT welcomed by those outside of the Welcoming Community. In the early centuries of the Church when plague ravaged the countryside, it was the Church who entered into harms way to offer comfort and care to those who were sick and dying. St. Francis is known for his entering into the leper colonies to cleanse the sores and to comfort those who were the most forgotten. Jesus went to those who were considered less than human by the powers that be in order to heal and to share the Good News that God loved them and cared for them and WELCOMED them. That’s what Welcoming Community looks like.
I could go on and on about how the Church is a sacrificing body. That it is the Temple where the Holy Spirit lives. How it has an obligation to speak prophetically to the world by speaking truth to power. These are only a few of the attributes that I think would go a long way toward defining the Church.
What are some of your thoughts?
Can you add to this list?
Are you a part of this?

Leave a Comment

What Makes a Good Leader? Maybe Not What You Think.

Published by mhelbert on November 16, 2022

This weekend is a pretty special one for the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. We will join together for our annual Diocesan Convention.
Yeah, sounds exciting, right? Kinda like watching paint dry.
But, it is important. We will set the agenda for the coming year as well as elect officers for various committees and such. It is truly like a big corporate meeting of stockholders.

This year, however, we will also be electing a new Bishop. Our current Bishop, The Right Reverend Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., is retiring in 2023. We will be choosing the person who will lead our diocese into the next chapter of our life together. And, in a way, we will also be actually choosing the direction of that next chapter. The person chosen will imprint her own life and character on who we are and where we go as a diocesan community.

Oh, did I mention that there are three candidates? And, they’re all women?

Not that it should matter, but in a highly patriarchal culture, electing women to the highest authority is both noteworthy and long overdue.

But, that’s not what I wanted to write about today. There are lots of others who are carrying that load.

This morning in prayer, I reflected on the choice we will make this Saturday. We’re fortunate in that all of the candidates are eminently qualified. So, in a way, we cannot lose. Whomever is elected will do an outstanding job as we move forward together.
We’re also fortunate that we have clear choices. We will not be simply choosing who our favorite is out of 3 clones. They each have different character, temperament, strengths, and opinions.

So, who to choose? If all three are great choices, does it really matter who gets the nod?

Yeah, I kinda think it does.
Let me explain…

Throughout my life following Jesus, I have been lead by men, (it’s always men, amirite?), who were alpha males and authoritarian control-freaks. They ran our church(es) with iron hands and would not entertain any questions to their decisions. After all, wasn’t Jesus the Lord over His disciples? Didn’t Paul and Peter and James hold the early church to strict adherence to their rule? These men made sure that their idea of what being a christian was enforced as the ‘Only Way to be a True Christian.’ Any deviation was met with swift rebuke.

However, for the last few years I’ve experienced a different sort of leadership. I’ve been blessed to work with a person who seems to trust God with much of what we do. He has been a pastor and shepherd, to be sure. But, he hasn’t told us how we sheep should chew our grass. For the first time in my life in Jesus, I think that I’m experiencing what some call Servant Leadership. While he knows clearly and accepts his position and responsibility, he also seems to understand, when the people are doing well and are happy, so is the church. And, so is his job, I’m sure.

The reason I mention this at all is because that is the choice we have this weekend. While all three candidates are good ones, only one has revealed a Servant’s heart. The other two will certainly be good. Much will get done in the diocese. Many very good things.
But, only one, I think, will bring life to the position. Life that she will share with all of us who live and work in our churches.

I, for one, know where my choice lies.

Leave a Comment

Should the Church Worry that People Don’t Study the Scriptures?

Published by mhelbert on September 5, 2022

The simple answer is, “Duh, yeah!” After all, isn’t the Church pretty much founded on what is read in the Scriptures?

However, in my experience nothing is ever simple. Especially when it comes to what people hold on to as “deep and personal belief.”

Back when I was a part of the Evangelical community, we considered things like Bible study, prayer, and worship the most sacred and necessary things that anyone could do. Actually, it wasn’t a matter of what ‘could’ be done. These things MUST be practiced daily. There is a little ditty that we used to sing about
“Read your Bible, pray everyday and you’ll grow, grow, grow.
Neglect your Bible, forget to pray and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.”

Catchy, right?

We got together at least once a week, (sometimes we had one night per week Off!), to study the “Word” and pray. On Sunday morning there would be adult Sunday school. Nearly every member attended these.
Beside these pretty much mandatory meetings we were expected to spend substantial time in private study and prayer during the week.
We were told that if we weren’t spending at least a half-hour in prayer and that much in Bible reading or devotions we were failing in our commitment to God.
For many, (most?), this resulted in shame and guilt that could become emotionally overwhelming.
And, I think that the leaders knew this and encouraged it. Shame and guilt are incredibly strong motivators. They rank right up there with fear.
We all know that the Church has historically operated with a large dose of fear to keep the masses in line.

I say all this because since I ran from the Evangelical fold a decade ago I think that I’ve learned a couple things that those folks could never understand.

I lead a Bible study at my church. I joined the good folks at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church about four years ago and I’ve been the Bible guy for a bit over three of those years. During this time the church has grown a lot. We have more than tripled in size. The outreach of the church has grown equally. It’s a lot of fun watching so many people joining in the work of running a church.

Great!

Awesome!

Huzzah!

With all of these cool things happening you’d think that folks would be flocking to learn about what’s in the Bible. They would be knocking down the doors of their prayer closets to meet God in prayer and meditation.

Right?

Well, not so much, really.

Let’s say, out of a hundred and twenty or so people less than 10 attend Bible study.
I’d guestimate that maybe another dozen or so consistently follow any kind of Spiritual formation practices.
So, for the sake of discussion, about 80% of the church are involved in things that are considered shame-worthy in most Evangelical communities.

Ok. So what?

I mentioned above that I have learned a few things since my escape from Evangelicalism. One of those things is that people are gonna ‘people.’

And that’s OK.

I see the zeal and joy of those people as they serve one another and the church and it makes my heart glad.
I listen to the stories that they have to tell about their kids and grandkids and I have to smile.
These are people who love.
They love their families.
They love their friends.
They love their church family.
And, they love God!

We are not all made the same. We all have different personalities, talents, and gifts that we bring to the table. Not all are going to be so-called “Spiritual Giants” or biblical scholars.
It’s enough that we all agree that love is the greatest common practice that we all share.
I am more than content with the way things are at St. B’s.
We are a family that is growing in faith and love.
When we love, we grow, grow, grow……

Leave a Comment

1 Corinthians_Unity pt. 2

Published by mhelbert on June 23, 2020

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.

2 Comments

On A Positive Note…

Published by mhelbert on April 16, 2020

I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to expose the negative side of the Church.
The abuses of authority; the harmful theology; the elevation of ME above all else.
These criticisms are well deserved. People have been harmed by the Church. And, it really doesn’t matter what flavor Church. Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox are all culpable in the abuses.
The public results of these abuses, besides lives ruined, includes the loss of any claim to the so-called Moral High Ground.
In other words, the Church has destroyed her ability to be a Blessing to the Cosmos.

So, what should things look like?
Honestly, no one can say for certain what God has planned for it.
But, we can sketch a few things.
Things that, rather than tearing down, may reveal a way forward in Love and Faithfulness.

So, let’s start.
In the beginning….

The writers of Holy Scripture were people just like us. They lived in a particular time, place, and culture that colored the words that they wrote. So, for them such things as a cosmos that was created Ex Nihilo was just the way things were.
These writers presented their readers with a problem. The problem was, God created the Heavens and the Earth. In God’s abundant Love humans were made for the expressed purpose of caring for the Earth as God’s Special Envoys. The intent was for humanity to embody God’s glory as Eikons of God. They would rule jointly with God over the creation.
But, there was a problem. Humanity could not live up to God’s calling. They were, after all, made of the same stuff that the cosmos was…dust.
Soon the problem came to a head when humanity took it upon themselves to listen to and embrace other creatures. Idolatry and the corruption that comes with that began to mar the Very Good Cosmos that God had made.
But, God was still convinced that humanity MUST be a part of God’s plan for guiding and caring for the World.
So, God ‘elected’ a family.
For those who know a little about the story of Israel, you will have heard of a guy named Abraham. God chose Abraham and his descendants to become the agents of God’s blessing for the Cosmos. The story continues through Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, to the selection of a community, Israel.
Israel’s history was checkered at best.
But, God had made a covenant with Abraham that, because of Abraham’s faithfulness to God’s promises, stated that the entire Cosmos would be blessed.
God took that Covenant seriously and was faithful to it in spite of Israel’s inability to live up to its calling.
In time, God, who had chosen Israel as the people through whom the blessing would come, raised up One Person from Israel.
This One Person became God’s own Image-bearer. An image-bearer who would do what the original humans, nor Israel, could.
Through the death of Jesus the problem of humanity’s inability to live up to God’s Glorious Calling at the beginning was solved. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave proved God’s faithfulness to set things right.

Ok, nice story.
But, so what?

God had done something that no one expected.
Because of the faithfulness of Jesus, all of humanity had the opportunity to share in Jesus’ faithfulness. We, in fact, have been joined together into the family of God’s Promise to Abraham. We are benefactors of God’s Covenant with Abraham.
God, in God’s own love and Being, put us into a Community.
A living Community where God’s own Spirit lives and brings life.
We are not a bunch of individuals going about our own personal business. Living in our own personal salvation.
No.
We are, as Peter wrote, ‘A royal priesthood and a Holy Nation.’

We. Belong. Together.

Together we are to be a blessing to the whole Cosmos.
Together we reflect the Glory of God to each other, to God, and to the World.
Together!
Together!

That is our hope and our calling.
And, that’s a good thing.

Leave a Comment

The Rugged Individual

Published by mhelbert on April 15, 2020

One of the hallmarks of life in the U.S. is the ideal of the “Rugged Individual.” While it seems that this image had been brewing ever since the birth of the nation, it really didn’t take off and become a mark of American exceptionalism until after the Second World War.
We have become a nation where everyone considers their right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is a personal guarantee that no one, especially not the government, can tell me what I can do, when and where I can do it, or ask me why I’m doing it. After all, the Constitution says so.
Of course, when the Constitution says that I can do something that you want to do and there’s a conflict, my rights always supersede yours. And, if you don’t like it, we’ll see you in court. Because, you know, my rights are given to me by no lesser authority than God!

What escapes most people’s attention is that those so-called ‘God given rights’ are not in the Constitution.
They appear in the Declaration of Independence. And, as I have said in many other places, Context is everything.
The Declaration, besides being a rallying point for the nascent United States, was first a notice to King George III that the American Colonies would no longer put up with British rule. The inalienable rights part, especially the God given wording, let George know in no uncertain terms that God was the only source for these rights. The crown was not.

So, there was a war and a new nation was born that began a long experiment in democratic government that is still under way today.

Soon, individuals began trekking into the wilderness of this land. They fought and worked and died in order to provide for themselves and their families.
It didn’t matter what obstacles lay in their path toward this inevitable destiny. They had a God given right to this land and its bounty. So, facts like the land was already populated by Indigenous people were tossed aside.
“God gave this land to us. Not to you.” (But, that ‘s another post.)

As I began to deconstruct the Ziggurat that was my protestant, evangelical life, I started to wonder about this.
To explain a bit…
In Protestantism individual faith is paramount. After all, Jesus died for me. Yeah, he may have died for you, too. But, that’s between you and God and doesn’t effect me at all.
It’s all about Me and Jesus! Hallelujah!
In the church that I was a part of at that time this was absolutely the underlying ethic to their theology. It was no more apparent than when, once a month, we had Communion. We asked that the head of each family, or family unit, would come and take the bread and cup back to their individual clan. There the elements would be taken. I questioned the leaders about this. Because, to me anyway, it seemed that the celebration of Communion should be a community celebration. Not an individual family thing. This seemed more like a fracturing of the Body of Christ than a joining together in communal Thanksgiving.
Silly me for thinking such things!

Eventually, I did leave that church. There are many, many reasons why. But, that idea of fracturing the Body of Christ is near the top.

Here, in an admittedly compressed version, is what I have learned, and am convinced of, since my departure.
The church I left, and all of those churches that think that same way, follow a modern version of Reformation theology. Every individual is a sinner in need of grace. Ok, so far so good. This thinking also leads to the idea that every individual is responsible for how they live that faith. That pretty much means that I can do what ever I believe God wants me to do.
Of course, there are the big ‘Sins’ that must be avoided. But, if it’s not listed as sin, then I’m good to go.

That idea has driven much of our Western culture as it formed over the ensuing 500 years. It led, inevitably, to our old friend the Marlboro Man. It is readily displayed in the people who yell about their own rights. Just look at the churches that are openly defying stay at home orders during the current Covid-19 crisis. Their rallying cry?
“No government can tell me what to do! My God is bigger than you. And, My God has given me the inalienable right to gather. So what if the virus is spread among the congregation and then back to their homes and friends and family.”

And yet, the very Bible that these people tell us that they believe in and follow is clear.
“Consider others above yourself.”
“Anyone who tries to save their own life will lose it.”
All of the letters written by the Apostle Paul are attempts to build communities who live their lives sacrificially in order to display God’s mercy to the world.
The idea that we are all just individuals who should live our lives in isolation from one another would be totally foreign to the people who actually wrote the Book.

As I wrote before, the in the Body of Christ there is no room for me; my; mine. It is always “Us.”
We are a community.
We must live like it.

Leave a Comment

Confirmed!

Published by mhelbert on November 25, 2019

Well, it’s official.
I am now a confirmed Episcopalian.

Yesterday I was one of 10 adults who stood in front of the Church where a bishop laid hands on us and welcomed us.

It was a bit weird.
Part of the Confirmation was that we state our intent to take Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Well, that’s something that I did nearly 50 years ago.
So, I guess this was more like a re-commitment to follow Jesus within the context of the Anglican Church.
Ok, I’m good with that.

What is significant for me, though, is that I am now accepted into a tradition that is ancient, yet modern.
It is larger than me, yet as small as my faith.

I have searched for nearly a decade for a Church community that I could embrace, and would embrace me.
A Church Home that is welcoming and inclusive.
A place where the Spirit of God lives and gives life.
Somewhere that diversity is sought and celebrated.

I have found that, and more, at St. Barnabas.

So, here I am, old and feeble, with yet another new beginning.

What will the future hold?

I haven’t a clue.

But, in this moment I am glad to be walking with these people, at this place, in this hour.

2 Comments