About a year ago a friend of mine told me a disturbing story. He shared a painful occurance from his life that almost caused him to leave the Church. Unfortunately his story is far too common. Admittedly, the presenting issues vary but the end result is similar.
My friend is actively involved in local politics. Not that he has ever run for public office, but he believes in the process of a representative democracy and feels it is his duty to know the issues and the candidates. He actually enjoys being involved in campaigns when the candidate is one he really believes in.
It happens that a nearby town was holding its annual parade to welcome the arrival of its Fall Farm Show and Street Fair. In this neck of the woods we make a really big thing out of Farm Shows and Fairs. Many other parts of the country where I have lived hold an annual County Fair, complete with judging of farm animals, 4-H projects, home grown fruits and vegetables, crafts and baked goods, and carnival rides. Here in Lancaster County such an event would be too massive to hold anywhere. Consequently many of the small towns hold their own such Fair. From mid-August to late October there is a major Fair being held just about every week in a zig-zag pattern across the County. Most of them also hold a huge parade upon the arrival of the Fair to their town. The Parade usually lasts from an hour and a half to two hours. We are talking some major exhibition here, my friends! Move over Macy!
Anyway, back to my story. My political pal decided one year to ride on the float of his political party. It seemed like the perfect plan. However, he was unprepaired for the reaction of the crowd. Don't ever think that politics is not a hot issue, even here in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. This man tells of a host of vulgarities and obscenities that were shouted at him and his float-mates all along the nearly two hour route. In a few cases objects were hurled at them. For him, the breaking point was when he recognized an entire extended family from his Church who were the most offensive hecklers of the night. Sadly, this included the main lay leader of the congregation.
My friend told me - years later - how he was so devastated that he quit going to Church for some time. Only after several years had allowed for some healing of the heart could he return. As a Pastor I struggled with how to reconcile the ideals of the Church as a Faith community with the reality of individuals entrapped by sin and influenced more by culture than by scripture. How I wish I could say this was an isolated case. Sadly, it is much too common.
I remember being accused once by a fellow Christian as voting for a candidate whom this person felt was the Anti-Christ. I am not sure which was more tragic - the fact that someone actually believed one of the candidates was the Anti-Christ, or the leap of logic that led them to believe I voted for that candidate. The truth is, I did not. But even if I had I felt violated, to a small degree, because I always thought that the genius of the American political structure was the concept of a secret ballot. No one needs to know how I vote unless I choose to reveal that information.
Has politics become the new voice of American Christianity? I certainly pray not!
At the heart of this discussion is the role of politics in American Christianity. I know I am turning this around, a bit. Many have already written on the role of American Christianity on politics. Both are valid and fascinating studies, but my interest is in the affect this has had on the Church. I have been a Pastor in the Church of the Brethren for the past 27 years. For those who are unfamiliar with it the Church of the Brethren is a very small denomination (about 124,000 members in the United States) that predates the American Revolution by some 70 years. We are primarily Pietists who have embraced Anabaptist theology. We are what some theologians call the "Radical Reformers", a title I personally embrace. We are non-creedal because we have seen the folly of those who adopted a creed only to change it later. We also believe that a creed is far to narrow and fails to express the fullness of what we believe and how we relate to the Almighty, All Powerful, Mysterious yet Personal Diety we generally call God. Believing that the Holy Spirit of this God is constantly providing us with greater wisdom and understanding we are not yet ready to finalize our Creed. Nevertheless, we have boldly declared certain doctrines and positions that we have consistently upheld. Here is just a few of the more significant ones for this topic of discussion.
1. All War Is Sin.
Yes, we are one of the three historic Peace Churches, right alongside the Mennonites and the Quakers. In short, we are Pacifists.
2. Servant-Theology .
Jesus modeled the role of a servant to the world. "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. (Matthew 20:28 NRSV). As his followers we are called to do the same. This has led us into incredible ministries involving disaster relief, hunger relief, health care, volunteerism and more.
3. For the Christian Believer the Human Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
As a result we seek to avoid smoking, alcohol, illegal drugs, sexual immorality and yes, abortion.
4. We Oppose Gambling.
5. We Practice the Love Feast as observed in the New Testament. This is based on the Last Supper and includes worship, a meal, the washing of feet and the bread and cup of communion. For Brethren the fulll Love Feast is an Ordinance of the Chuirch, not just the bread and cup.
6. We Encourage a Holistic Approach to Life, seeking to build up, encourage, improve, and make whole. This even includes a strong understanding that the Church is more than a local congregation that meets once a week to observe ancient rituals. Rather, the Church is a living, breathing, nurturing collection of people from all backgrounds united by their faith in Jesus Christ as God's Son and our Savior, and empowered by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Oh man, this only begins to rub the surface. There is SO MUCH MORE that should be said. But I am not attempting to convert anyone to the Church of the Brethren here. My purpose at this time is to demonstrate how, even within my small corner of Protestantism, the members of my denomination are just as likely, if not more likely, to be influenced by sources outside our Church than by the teachings of the Church itself.
Talking heads on AM Radio and cable stations have made their mark upon 21st Century Christians in the United States. Slick-souding preachers, teachers, psychologists and pundits both on FM Radio and on Televison have become the newly crowned prophets of our day. Some of these are not even Christians but they say what we want to hear. So we accept their word as truth.
The result of all this leaven in the Church-dough is staggering. Well-respected congregational leaders can hurl insults from the sidelines of a parade at fellow Church members. Campaigns are launched via emails and word-of-mouth to boycott a local store simply because they do not sell the American flag. (That one is kind of involved to explain here, but its true -- and shameful !) Pro-choice people are called "baby killers" by the pro-life camp. Can someone tell me how a person can be "pro life" when it comes to abortion yet also be a hawk when it comes to war? Why does the "sacredness of human life" argument end at birth? A little consistency here, please!!
Currently in my denomination the hottest and most divisive issue is the question of homosexuality in the Church. This one is getting ugly and has all the makings of a denominational killer. Yes, we Brethren have taken a stand on this matter as well. In 1983 we adopted a formal position paper entitled 'Human Sexuality From a Christian Perspective". It was a landmark document filled with honesty, integrity, biblical scholarship and beautiful dialog. Oddly enough the paper was more about heterosexual relationships and integrity than homosexual ones. What it did say about homosexuality was powerful, however. In a most careful and Spirit-filled way it says that for the Christian homosexual covenantal relationships are unacceptable. Yet it also declared with equal boldness that we will remain in dialog with the homosexual community, seeking common ground where possible, listening to and engaging with them. (This is my paraphrase of what the document literally says.)
This does not satisfy many, however. There is a growing movement that wants a more firm and exclusive position stated. Many are threatening to leave the denomination if they do not get what they want. This has raised a number of key questions for me.
a) Why has this one issue of homosexuality become the litmus test for whether or not we are truly a follower of Jesus?
We declare all war to be sin, yet we fully accept the warrior as a member of our Church. We declare gambling is sin, yet I can't begin to count the number of members who engage in casino gambling and state lotteries. We elevate the Love Feast to Ordinance status yet it is fair to say most of our members do not attend or participate in the simple meal or washing of feet, as Jesus commanded us to do. (John 13).
What is perhaps most striking to me is that we Brethren have always claimed the words of Jesus were the most significant for us. Yet to my knowledge Jesus never directly addressed the question of gays and lesbians at any point in the New Testament. All the other items I mentioned above are addressed by our Lord, but not homosexuality.
So why the shift in emphasis? That's a hard one. I can't fully describe it. I only suspect it is closely related to the popularity of too many self-appointed gurus who hold greater influence over Christians than the Christian scriptures. The Jeff Becks, the James Dobsons, the late James Kennedy, the Rush Limbaughs, the Liberty Universities, and so muuch more, these are the new spokepersons.
The result is division. It is hard for me to grasp that we are willing to throw away 300 years of witnessing to the values and the teachings of that which we call the Church of the Brethren. Yet that is what many are suggesting. Not I, however. I cast my lot on the side of reconciliation; unity; tolerance and the New Testament. If I am going ot listen to anyone it will be Jesus, who prayed that his followers may be one, "brought to complete unity to let the world know" that Jesus is God's Son and that God loves us the same way he loves Jesus (John 17:20-26 NIV).
This discussion is far from over. I suspect I will be addressing it again as it continues to unfold. Feel free to post your comments and responses, as I am convinced that dialog is healthy and will lead to clarity and growth. All I ask is that the conversation remain wholesome and respectful. May the Peace of Christ be with you.
-gdgehr
This post is the second in a series addressing the problem of prejudice. It was preceeded by "Seeking Sanity In the Face of Ignorance".
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