What if the Culture Warriors Have It Wrong?

So I've been thinking..."what if the culture warriors have it all wrong?"  Think about it.  What is the thing that people associate with Christianity in today's world?  Hint: it's not Jesus.  I would say it's conservative moral/political causes.  Do you think I'm wrong?  Take a few minutes and browse the internet.  I was looking up the patronage of a particular saint the other day, and plastered all over the site were political ads against President Obama.  It also had a news updater from a well known ultra Christian right news agency.  You can find these types of things all over many Christian sites.  Left leaning sites focus on this too. It's relatively easy to find a story on a left leaning news site decrying Christian Hypocrisy or at the very least describing all the things that Christians are against this week.  Here are a few things that Christians in today's society spend their time obsessing over:

--Same Sex Marriage
--Abortion Rights
--Availability/usage of contraception
--Availability of health care to poor people
--Deportation of "illegal immigrants"
--"Religious freedom"
--Pre-marital sex
--The ability of a church to spread politics from the pulpit

That's just a sample of things that you can find from a cursory internet search.  Each one of these issues could be an entry unto themselves, but what I'm trying to point out here is that THESE ARE THE THINGS "CHRISTIANS" ARE CONCERNED WITH.  Look at the list again.  Which of those issues would Jesus be concerned with?  I see two that Jesus spoke volumes about: the treatment of poor people and the treatment of "foreigners," or perhaps for the sake of this entry, "people who come from a different country or background than you do."

Would Jesus want poor people to have access to health care that doesn't have them breaking their bank, losing their homes, or having to choose between food and medicine?  Anyone who has spent 10 seconds in any Sunday School class or even given the teachings of Jesus even a perfunctory glance knows how Jesus would feel about this.  When some friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof of a building, Jesus healed him without payment and didn't ask about preexisting conditions.

Would Jesus be for deporting refugee Children back to their home countries, home countries that are torn by violence, war, and drugs?  I think not.  In John Chapter 4 the disciples probably raised an eyebrow when they saw Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman.  Not only that, but he was offering his message to her as well.  A message of love and peace that was as much for Samaritans as it was for Jews.   Jesus had no issues with anyone regardless of race, country of origin, or religious background.

Unfortunately these aren't the views of many "Christians" in today's world.  Many of you that I know, or that will read this, are people that I interact with via social media.  For those of you that aren't Christians or who are not religious, what have you told me that your biggest complaint with Christians is?  Chances are it's the fact that Christians tend to not act like Christ.

Now of course, this does not apply to all Christians, maybe not even to most Christians, but like it or not it applies to the loudest, most active and stringent group of Christians around today.  I'll call them the Culture Warriors.  These are people who feel like their number one calling as a Christian today is to defend their ancient moral codes and doctrines (most, but not all, from the Old Testament) against the evil modern (or perhaps post-modern) society: think liberals. gays, commies, socialists, college professors...you get the idea.

These Culture Warriors are all over, and chances are they have an issue with something you do, something you like, or some particular views that you have.  They are absolutely against the government recognizing committed relationships between gay couples.  They have issues with rated R movies and at least 70% of what you watch on TV.  Alcohol is BAD, in each and every instance.  A woman should definitely not be in charge of her own reproductive system and contraceptives are right out as well.  While you're at it ladies, forget about holding any kind of authoritative position in your churches.  That's a boy's club because God apparently said so a few thousand years ago.  President Obama, the man elected lawfully to lead this country twice?  Forget that guy.  None of us are really sure why we hate that guy, but the Priest, pastor, bishop, or radio show host says we do, so we do.

Sound familiar?  Of course it does.  Now here is my question:  What if the Culture Warriors have it all wrong?  If you're a Christian reading this that doesn't share these priorities, are you comfortable with these people representing your faith in both the public and private sectors?  Like it or not, as we've already seen, they are.  Are regular Christians, people who are just trying to live their lives day by day, comfortable with the loudmouths in the pulpit, on the radio/tv, or behind the blogs speaking for them as they shout down poor people, gay people, and protest refugee children?   I hope not.

Contrast the Culture Warriors to Jesus Christ.  Can you see Jesus toting around an assault rifle?  Can you see Jesus thumping the Bible at gay people and telling them that they'll burn in hell?  Can you really see Jesus shouting down a woman for having an abortion?  Can you see Jesus protesting a bus full of refugee children who were trying to flee their war torn homes?  If you answer yes to any of these above, then I submit that you don't know the first thing about Jesus Christ.

Here's how I see Jesus reacting.  I see Jesus welcoming gay people to his table and into his fellowship, just the way they are, just the way they were created to be.  I see Jesus wrapping his arms around a woman who just had an abortion saying that he's going to be there for her in whatever comes next and through the rest of her life, with no SHRED of judgement.  I see Jesus getting on those buses full of kids and distributing food and water, telling them not to be afraid and that he's going to do everything he can for them.  I certainly could never see Jesus picking up a gun, even in self defense.  If he had a mind to do anything like that, surely he would have defended himself from being crucified.

The Culture Warriors portray Jesus as one of them.  He's a king covered in glory, ready to squash you like a bug if you don't follow his every whim.  That's why they love the imagery from Revelation: Jesus riding a white horse and leading an army to destroy his enemies.  That's why they love the Old Testament scenes of God smiting entire races of people before the Israelites.  Jesus is the conquering hero.

Yet, that's not how Jesus presented himself.  He was born to a lowly peasant girl from Galilee and placed in a stable, not a palace.  He didn't choose to cover himself in opulence and surround himself with rich, royal followers.  He hung out with whores, tax collectors, and a bunch of dirty fishermen while he wandered in a nomadic existence.  He didn't spend his time going from place to place checking on everyone's moral resume, he spent it healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and comforting the poor.  He never asserted a godlike authority over people as a conqueror or a king, even on the day he died when Pilate tried to goad him into it.   In the final analysis the vessel of all that power, as well as the vessel of all that kindness and mercy became the victim of power and was shown no kindness or mercy as he was tortured and executed in front of his friends, his family, and followers.

In the end, Jesus still LOVED everybody.  Even those who killed him.

So where do you sit on this?  Where do I sit on this?  Is the power and sick judgement of the Culture Warriors worth destroying the idea of the humble carpenter from Galilee?  For me it's not, and I'm going to do everything I can to change it.

What are you going to do?

Conquest and Reconciliation: Where Our History Leads Us

"Reconcile By This"

Much of my thinking on the subject of religion and life in general over the last year or so has been influenced by Christian author and former Pastor Brian McLaren.  In fact, when I wrote my previous entry "Adventures in Missing the Point" I had no idea that McLaren had already written a book (with Tony Campolo) with that exact title!  Currently I'm reading his book "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World."  The most recent chapter talks about dealing with our actual history, not just as Americans but as Christians, warts and all.  As someone with a minor in history, this strikes really close to home for me and I think, no...I KNOW that the way we view, interpret, and sanitize our history has consequences not only for us, but for the world as well.

The version of American history taught to children is extremely sanitized and heavily propagandized.  Maybe it's less so than it was when I was in school 20 some years ago, but I doubt it.  In the book McLaren talks about the story of Christopher Columbus and his absolute genocide of the native people of Hispanola.  I didn't get that in school.  I got that from reading people like Howard Zinn once I got into college.

The history of Christianity is equally sanitized and propagandized.  When I was in Sunday school growing up, we learned about the "conversion" of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312, C.E.  If you actually learned church history growing up, you probably learned a similar version.  Basically, on the eve of a big battle, Constantine sees a vision of a cross in the sky, the upright beam of the cross being a spear, and under the cross the words "Conquer By This."  So Constantine orders the cross painted on all his shields, banners, and the like and goes on to win the battle.  He goes back to Rome, makes Christianity the new religion of the empire, everybody converts, and then everything is all hunky dory, at least until the Reformation.

I wrote a paper on this during my freshman year in college for a world history class.  Nobody had ever challenged that narrative in my mind.  The professor did though, and rightly so.  After thrashing my paper in red ink he pointed me to resources about Constantine's violent enforcement of his new found faith, persecution of those who chose to follow other religions within the empire, and forced conversions of people to Christianity.  I was stunned, to put it mildly.

So I hope that Brian McLaren doesn't mind me riffing off his idea here a bit.  He mentions Constantine and these issues that my professor pointed out all those years ago.  So why do they do this?  Why is our history so white-washed and sanitized?  There is a pretty easy answer.  These narratives of history, both secular and religious, enforce our sense of identity, our sense of US.  To put it in more of a social psychological context, the narratives enforce the "In group" of  "In group-Out group" behavior.   This worldview, where we see everybody in an "us vs them" light, allows us to validate any behavior as long as it's done for "us" and dehumanize and shun any person or behavior associated with "them."  In short, it allows us to see things in a simple, black and white construct.  No critical thinking is required, and no questions need to be asked.  This is the way most of us like it, and this is the way many of the people in power, both secularly and religiously, want it.  This is also the crux of McLaren's point.

Where McLaren gets me, and why I sat down to write this morning, is where he actually asks a question that might change the entire narrative.  A question, that if embraced, could lead to an entirely new and I believe more authentic version of Christianity and could perhaps alter the course of modern history.

What if, instead of the cross and the words "conquer by this," Constantine's vision would have been an image of bread and wine with the words "reconcile by this?"

Lets not take up the Christian aspects of bread and wine just yet.  The sharing of bread wine, the sharing of food, the sharing of one's resources is a symbol of peace and hospitality in many cultures across the world.  When you open your table to a friend or a guest, it's a gesture of peace.  It also shares your identity with the person and invites them to become part of an "us" with you.  You don't need to be a Christian or even religious to see the grace, mercy, and love involved with opening up your table to someone else.

For Christians, the point is even deeper.  Christ invited all of "us" to his table and eat and drink, not only of bread and wine, but of his body and blood.  Whether you believe in that literally or figuratively is beside the point in this discussion.  Christ is opening his table to you, sharing his identity with you, offering to make you part of an "us" with him.  He is offering to reconcile us to him.  The taking of Holy Communion, or the Eucharist if you prefer, is the deepest, most sacred ritual act in Christianity.

So if Jesus opens his table, why shouldn't we?   Let's also not forget that Jesus's table is open to anyone.  In many Christian sects, you have to accept that particular sect before you can take Holy Communion, but I'm not sure that's how Jesus wanted it.  This is also why I love the "open table" approach of the United Methodist Church.  They realize that Jesus hung out with whores, sinners, and tax collectors.  Their Communion table is open to anyone, Christian or not, active or not, to come share in the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ.

This, I believe is true message of Jesus.  "Come to me, all of you.  Let's break bread together and have a glass of wine.  Let's talk about each other, get to know each other, be KIND to each other, serve each other, and realize that we are all one in the same on this planet.  Each of us has a unique life and purpose, and each of us should be respected, and most importantly, loved."

Taking this approach to our lives and our Communion with Christ and others sheds light on all of us and even our histories.  We may not want to acknowledge the black spots in out social and religious histories, or even our personal histories.  But bringing all to the table and acknowledging this areas draws us into reconciliation, which can lead us to common ground, peace, and love.

Try it. Try seeing yourself, your country, and your faith as others see you.  Don't be afraid to shed the light of reconciliation on those ugly spots.  Once those are dealt with then we truly are able to honestly open our table to all and build a better, peaceful, and loving community where everyone is respected and belongs.

Modern Christianity: Adventures In Missing the Entire Point

My parents have been talking up their new pastor at the United Methodist Church for awhile now, and up until now, I've only really heard him on Christmas and Easter.  Well, today I decided to go hear what he had to say on a Sunday in ordinary time.  I was actually really glad I did.

If you read my previous entry, you know that one of the reasons I turned from someone who was going into the clergy to someone who often shuns religion is because of the focus that I often see in the Church these days, particularly in the United States.  This morning my parents' pastor pretty much hit it right on the head, clarifying the issue for me and giving me a lot to think on.

He's been preaching a series essentially on basic Christianity.  Today his homily focused on "what really brings us fulfillment" using the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet as a backdrop.  Folks were encouraged to bring an item that represented things that they felt fulfilled them.  In retrospect, perhaps I could have taken a Real Salt Lake scarf.  People brought various things, and some even tried to "guess the right answer" by bringing pictures of Jesus, which made me raise an eyebrow in amusement.  He spoke for a few minutes about the various items that had been brought and laid on the altar rail.  He even mentioned that for him pecan pie was something that was fulfilling!  But he deftly began to turn focus  by asking if you would want any of those things that fulfilled you listed on your tombstone.  Would you want it to read "Gary, eater of pecan pie?"  Now me, sure, you can write that I supported RSL in my obituary, but is there more to it?  He posited this by asking "what fulfilled Jesus?"

He asked us to consider the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet on Holy Thursday.  Most of you, Christian or not, know the story.  Before the passover meal began (the Last Supper) Jesus took off his outer clothes, tied a towel around his waist, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples then dry them with the towel.

Surely this would have been a profound moment for these men, who professed Jesus as the Son of the Living God.  Now when Jesus gets to Simon Peter, Peter goes reactive, as he often does in the Gospel stories, freaks out, and misses the point.  Starting in St. John 13:6, we get the account of what happened.  Peter asks Jesus if he is going to wash his feet.  Jesus says yes, and that Peter won't understand why just yet.  Peter comes back with "You ain't gonna wash MY feet!"

Often I imagine Jesus giving Peter a sly smile and shaking his head at his reactionary ignorance.  However here I imagine Jesus having a different reaction.  I imagine him being a little sad.  All this time together and Peter, the rock which Jesus will build his Church, is still missing the point, and Jesus knows that he is set to die in a mere hours.  Jesus tells him: "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."

Peter being Peter, he goes 180 degrees in the opposite direction, again missing the entire point in the process.  He says "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well."  Peter is now asking for the most important spongebath ever requested.

Jesus again elaborates saying "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for his clean all over, so you are clean."  This presumably stumps Peter enough that he lets Jesus wash his feet, and so he washes all of the disciples feet, even those of Judas.

When he's finished, Jesus puts his outer garments back on and returns to the disciples.  He tells them starting in verse 12.  "Do you realize what I have done for you?  You call me teacher and master, and rightly so, for indeed I am.  If I therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, then you should wash each others feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do also."

The pastor reflected, noting that THIS is what fulfilled Jesus.  Jesus humbled himself before his followers and washed their feet.  He treated them with dignity and honor, and foreshadowed the sacrifice that he would shortly make on their behalf.  If this then, is what fulfilled Jesus, then should this not be what fulfills people, especially Christians?  Think about it.  When do you really feel good?  Chances are it's when you do something nice for someone, or help someone in trouble.  Selflessness and sacrifice are fulfilling on the human level.  He also mentioned love.  If you keep all your love wrapped up inside of you and don't share it with anyone else, you likely will not get love in return.  If you share it with others, if you share your love and give of yourself to others, usually people give you that love back in return.  You GAIN by GIVING.  The pastor then asked us to be generous with each other in our time, our money, our resources, and our love. This is what ultimately leads to fulfillment as people, and in the process makes the world a better place.  This then, is the way of Christ, the way of the cross.

This is where, to me, Christians these days miss the entire point.  Are you REALLY interested in serving?  Are you REALLY interested in giving?  Serving and giving inside the walls of a church building is a cop out.    Yes churches need people to do various things throughout the parish.  But Jesus isn't simply telling people to be on a committee or make sure you give your weekly tithe.  Jesus is challenging you, challenging all of us, Christian or not, to take it to the next level.  "Take up your cross and follow me" is not a suggestion.  Get out of the church and into the street.  How do you help others in your daily life?  More importantly, how do you treat others and how do you present yourself in daily life.

Christians today are like Peter, are obsessed with being "clean."  Is that really what it's all about?  Is that you want on your tombstone?  "Brandon--followed every bit of the Law to the letter."  That might sound good if you're a narcissist.  It would also be totally and completely FALSE.  I don't care who you do or don't have sex with.  I don't care, and I honestly don't think Jesus cares if you don't drink alcohol or that you don't go to rated R movies.  Seriously?  "Brandon--He never saw Braveheart."  Not exactly something to be remembered by is it?  Not exactly a legacy.  "Joe Christian--Crusaded against Gay Marriage and birth control."  Think about it.

Why follow this moral code anyway?  Because ye olde book commands it?  That you have to do it to get into heaven?"  Talk about selfish reasons.  Now I'm not advocating that everyone descend into the most debauched behavior that they could think of, but what REALLY MATTERS in the long run?  What does "wanting to get to heaven" do for anybody but YOU?  "I'll take two mansions and a street of gold on cloud nine please!"

You're putting yourself on a pedestal, advertising your Christian credentials.  You look gorgeous up there in your splendid white suit as you list your resume.  "I went to church every week.  I never worked on a Sunday.  I never touched alcohol.  I never attended a rated R movie and I made sure my kids didn't either.  Coffee?  Nope.  Had sex before marriage?  Nope.  Paid my dues into the church, I did that!  I signed up for all the requisite causes.  I railed against gay people, women's choice, and equal pay.  I voted straight ticket Republican ever year.  I did everything I could to protect my 'religious rights,' and I made doubly sure that my company didn't sanction contraceptives for women.  Oh also, look at my collection of old Bibles!"

Impressive.  And indeed it sounds like the perfect resume for the Conservative Christian in 2014.    You're exercising your piety and projecting your power from your pedastal, and if that gets in anyone else's way, well that's too bad because you're going to do what you have to do to collect your celestial rewards.

What is Jesus doing while you're looking smart on your pedestal, conducting your religious fueled witch hunts, and telling everybody how much you have on the ball?

Jesus is on the floor in nothing but a dirty towel washing the feet of a guy that is going to deliver him to the power of the day to be killed.  He's also washing the feet of a guy who while being considered his closest friend, will totally abandon him and deny that even knows him three times.  Your swearing off alcohol and rated R movies seems to pail in comparison doesn't it?  You still have the birth control thing going for you though I guess.

Jesus is feeding the hungry.  Jesus is caring for the sick and dying.  While you crusade against women's rights, gay marriage, and "illegal" immigration Jesus is down at the poor house serving meals.  While you worry about a fetus, Jesus weeps for the children being killed in uncontrolled gun violence and slaughtered in wars across the globe.  I'm not sure that your argument that you're "protecting your rights" is going to cut it.

Protecting the week, feeding the poor, clothing the needy, caring for the sick, and speaking out against violence is certainly not popular these days.  Poor, hungry, and needy people are told to get a job, or a second, or a third.  After all, you've worked hard for your share, your credentials, and your power, and you don't feel like sharing.  The man you believe was literally the King of the Universe washed the feet of 12 dirty, hardly perfect guys from Galilee and then died for every wrong you or anyone else on this planet will ever do, but you can't give a little more from your paycheck for national healthcare.  You're too burdened already.  You can't find it in your heart to avoid shouting down some children who fled their families and their country for a better life.  You're gonna hang on to that big gun until they pry it from your cold dead fingers and cheer on the sidelines as another country flexes their military power, killing hundreds of civilians on the other side of the world.

What would Jesus do?  Remember that?  I think Christians better rethink that, because most of us are missing the entire point.

In closing I leave you with words from the Magnificat, the highly subversive song that Mary sings when she finds out that she has been chosen to be the mother of God.  I give you a contemporary version, but feel free to look it up in St. Luke 1: 46-55.  See what she says about the poor and the  weak vs the powerful, the pious, and the prestigious.

2. Through me great deeds will God make manifest,
And all the earth will come to call me blest.
Unbounded love and mercy sure will I proclaim
For all who know and praise God's holy name.

3. God's mighty arm, protector of the just,
Will guard the weak and raise them from the dust.
But mighty kings will swiftly fall from thrones corrupt.
The strong brought low, the lowly lifted up.

4. Soon will the poor and hungry of the earth
Be richly blest, be given greater worth.
And Israel, as once foretold to Abraham,
Will live in peace throughout the promised land.