Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The Path of Discipleship - Justice and Freedom


“…with liberty and justice for all.”  So ends the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States, a pledge I said every morning in elementary school.  If you are looking to take a stance that America is shaped by Judeo-Christian values, that could be a place to begin.  Freedom and justice.  Unfortunately, most often when people make the claim of America as a Christian nation it is more about an appeal for prayer in school or some form of biblical literalism to shape our discussions.

                Again and again in the prophetic texts of the Bible, calls for religious purity are overshadowed by calls to justice.  Again and again, Jesus chooses to set people free: free from hunger, free from illness, free from religious restrictions, free from guilt, free from death.  One can argue that the narrative line of scripture is all about being set free to set others free.

                It seems our natural impulse is like that of Jesus’ story of the unforgiving slave (Matthew 18:21-35).  He is the one who is set free from an overwhelming debt to his master only to go out and find another slave who owes him something and demands to be paid in full, even throwing the other person into prison.  Too often in our history, we have celebrated freedom by looking for someone else to bind.  In American history, we can look back to the treatment of African slaves (and African-Americans after slavery), Native American nations or even current discussions of immigration.  Too often we have used bad science, bad theology and bad scholarship to treat different groups as less than human, and if less than human, not equally deserving of freedom or justice.

                The 19th century poet Emma Lazarus, author of “The New Colossus,” the sonnet that appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty once wrote, “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”  At the time, the United States was struggling with the implications of European immigration.  This idea was rediscovered a little more than half a century later by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, “No one is free until we are all free.”  It was a sentiment that applied to the quest for racial equality for which King is remembered, but also applied to his stance against the Vietnam War and his work to end poverty at the end of his life. 

                Freedom without justice is imaginary.  Freedom without equality is imaginary.  Freedom without peace is imaginary.  If the Church is meant to continue Christ’s vision of setting the world free, the Church must be involved with justice, peace and equality in society.  We are missing the point of the gospel if gospel only leads us to is Sunday morning worship or a few devotional practices.  The cross and resurrection are symbols of the ultimate freedom, freedom from the fear of death itself.  We have been set free to set others free.

                What does mean in our daily lives?  There are few people who can spend all their time traveling from protest to protest or who can wholly devote themselves to people in need in Mother Theresa fashion.  First, seek to grow in compassion.  Compassion is where the work for justice begins.  Earlier articles in this series point to prayerful ways to develop this virtue.  Second, pay attention to your local situation.   Who is experiencing poverty?  Who is left out of local decisions?  What services are available and who is helping?  Perhaps there is someplace where you can volunteer some time.  Perhaps there are needs that you can help supply.  Third, pay attention to where and when decisions are being made.  There is a power in writing letters, being present and asking questions.

                Finally, do all this in love.  It is too easy to let anger at a situation turn into enmity towards a person.  All people are worthy of God’s love and our love.  The call to justice demands that we treat all people as people, even the ones we are frustrated by, even the ones who disagree with us.  It is the inability to treat people as people that leads to inequality and other forms of injustice.  In Christ we are called to share a different way, one that embraces all people in love.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

The Path of Discipleship - Conservative, Liberal and Progressive Churches


Many books could be and have been written about trends that shape the church.  When I look at my own congregation, I see people who have been affected by many of them.  In this post, I am going to talk about three major strains within the modern, American church: conservative, liberal and progressive.  All three see themselves as faithful.  All three have strengths and weaknesses.  All three are represented in the pews of our congregations.

              The Conservative Church – The Power of Tradition.  Unfortunately, much of the conservative movement has been co-opted by conservative politics in recent years, giving political opinions an anchor among ideas of faith.  Yet the main thrust of conservative religion is an appeal to tradition.  For Christians, it is the idea that the faith which Jesus taught is a constant.  The things he said to first-century Jews are just as relevant to twenty-first century Americans.  Conservatives are much more likely to embrace a literal interpretation of scripture, believing that the text only makes sense if the whole book is true.  While this may put conservatives in conflict with modern science, their faith is strengthened by having a sense of concreteness through appealing to the text.  However, a weakness of this movement is the inability to recognize that the way we think is fundamentally different from first-century Israel.  In spite of the odd “flat-earth” movement, there are few conservatives who think the sun goes around the earth or that the earth is flat as is implied by scripture.  There are far fewer shepherds and peasants in our midst.  Conservatives often miss the fact that they are not the original audience, and even their “traditional” understandings are shaped by 2000 years of study, interpretation and progress.

              Another trend in the conservative movement that is both a strength and weakness is the tendency to focus on personal faith over outward action in society.  It is a strength because such Christians are much more willing to examine their own lives and actions in light of faith.  They are more likely to be shaped by traditional daily disciplines such as scripture-reading and prayer.  At the same time, these traditions can be less likely to be involved in the prophetic calls of scripture, those that push the church toward engagement with people who are poor or those who are weakest in society.

              The Liberal Church -Working for the Reign of God.  Liberalism is where many mainline traditions can be found.  The liberal church tends to give greater weight to passages of scripture that encourage an outward view, noting Christ’s care for the poor and the prophetic call to care for the orphan, the widow and the stranger.  In my own Lutheran tradition, which like many churches has experienced decline for the past view decades, some have argued that as our congregations begin to disappear, our tradition will continue in the many social service organizations that those congregations started.  Liberal mainline churches have been involved with social justice work, hunger relief, and peace work.  They have started hospitals, orphanages, and worked with refugee settlement efforts. 

              The common weakness for these traditions is the failure to share why these actions should be done.  No one will argue that feeding the hungry is a bad thing.  Yet liberal Christians cannot always give a faith-centered reason as to why Christians specifically should be doing them.  As part of a mainline tradition, I can say it sometimes feels like we are feeding others while neglecting to feed ourselves.  Or as one my colleagues put it, we are serving ourselves to death.  No wonder the number of “dones” (folks who used to be part of a church but have walked away) is increasing.
             
              The Progressive Church  - The Reign of God Has Come Near.  The progressive movement is a newer movement within Christianity that seeks to be a middle way between liberal and conservative.  Its critique of the mainline, liberal tradition is that they have made themselves largely irrelevant by forgetting the personal nature of faith, ignoring the call to personal commitment and devotion.  Their critique of the conservative tradition is both its general ignoring of social justice issues and its inability to define itself apart from power (the religious right) and money (televangelists, multi-million-dollar buildings and the prosperity gospel).  Author Roger Wolsey describes progressive Christianity as "Christianity for people who don't like Christianity."

The progressive church emphasizes the radical nature of the gospel message both in terms of how it impacts one's personal life as well as society at large.  Progressive Christians will take on environmental stewardship as a spiritual discipline.  They may take on simplicity as a way of Christian living.  They also seek to be intentionally inclusive, for instance, asserting that the radical nature of Christ's love and inclusion is more important than any texts that would exclude people in same-sex relationships or the LGBTQ community in general.

This leads to some of the weaknesses of the progressive movement.  While most progressive Christians agree on the spirit of the scriptures, there is not a united interpretation of what that means.  Some progressives emphasize radical community, especially with the poor; others, radical inclusion; still others, radical environmental stewardship.  There are several mini-progressive movements, each with something interesting to say, but not necessarily speaking with a united voice.

Perhaps those unique voices can have impact on the liberal and conservative traditions.  Perhaps progressive conservatives can challenge their church bodies to become more focused on the church's calling to care for those in need.  Perhaps progressive liberals can encourage mainline churches to grow in personal acts of devotion.

Where do you see yourself in the scheme of things and how is the Spirit calling you to grow?

Thursday, July 5, 2018

The Path of Discipleship - Working for Justice


Working for Justice

And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8

                In talking about discipleship, it is very easy to get caught up in the work of the  individual.  Many traditional acts of discipleship are about a single person establishing habits and practices: pray every day, meditate, say a grace at meals, read scripture.  Even as this series has sought to think of modern acts of discipleship, whether it is stewardship of the body through diet and exercise or determining a faithful way to deal with money, it is still often about the individual making decisions and creating habits, habits which other people may rarely see.

                Compassion begins at an individual level but expands outward.  I have suggested some practices for deepening compassion, but compassion is about the individual getting over him or herself and paying attention to other people.  Likewise, seeking justice pulls Christians from private observance to public witness.  Certainly we can talk about praying for justice as Christian communities, but the prophetic voices of scripture and history and the witness of Jesus himself challenge us to get out of the building and into the world.

                There are a variety of ways to work for justice.  My experience has been that some assume that justice work only involves placards, protests and demonstrations.  Sometimes this kind of action is important and necessary.  There needs to be a physical presence that both supports the one in need and visibly challenges the one in power.  To be completely honest, as a strong introvert, these kinds of events are personally draining.  I am not discounting their importance, just saying that they are not my personal first impulse.  Thankfully, I have many extroverted colleagues who are ready to assembly on the town green at a moment’s notice (and provide the nudging that will drag me along).

                But nonviolent protest or civil disobedience are not the only actions necessary to work for justice.  One of the first things that needs to happen is compassionate listening to the one who has been harmed.  If you want to confront racism, you should probably be listening to people of marginalized races.  If you want to confront sexism, you should probably be listening to women.  If you want to confront homophobia, you should be listening to people in the LGBTQ community.  If you want to confront poverty, you should be listening to people who are affected by poverty.  Not only does this give you the opportunity to hear the stories of how people have been affected by injustice, you may also get a greater sense of where and how you might be called to help.  I am a middle-aged, straight, white guy.  It would probably be inappropriate for me to be the primary face of a group advocating racial equality but it would be appropriate to help as I am asked and to stand as far in the background as necessary.

                It is also appropriate to contact people in power.  Letter-writing, phone calls and emails may feel like a minor gesture, but they can bear a cumulative weight, challenging leaders to pay attention to their constituents.  My advice is always to write in Christian love.  Compassion begins with acknowledging that every person you interact with is a child of God.  The senator from the political party from which you disagree is a child of God just as the person you are advocating for is a child of God.  Communicate honestly, but not smugly.  Acknowledge your anger or sadness, but not through personal attack. 

                Recently there has been a discussion of the need for a return to civility in speech.  Much of the discussion has been heavy with irony as neither side has been particularly civil or kind.  It turns out that when incivility is matched with incivility, both sides end up frustrated and angry.  As Christians, we can choose to be kind in the face of unkindness.  We can choose to be civil in the face of insult.  We can choose to be loving in the face of hate.

                This is not meant to temper the call to advocate for justice.  Rather I am thinking about justice with the voice of Paul in the background who wrote (quoting Proverbs 25) “’If your enemies are hungry, feed them; it they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20-21).