a brutal unity: personal case study

This post follows up on a previous post on “a brutal unity explored”. I highly recommend that you read it first, as it provides the conceptual background for understanding this case study. The original post talked about brutal unity as an individual might apply it to their situation in a church or community context. This post takes a specific conflict at a real church and provides extensive discussion of how one individual (the author) is applying the concept of brutal unity to the situation, as well as some discussion of how the church in question might apply the concept within the larger denominational context.

the church

St. Pea’s Church, located in a large Canadian city, is part of a mainline denomination. While the whole denomination believes in the gospel and in evangelism, St. Pea’s specifically considers itself evangelical and Bible-believing. The leadership is conservative in its views and holds to a traditional view of marriage. While there is a range of views and perspectives on sexuality among the parishioners, the leadership is not affirming of LGBT people.

the church member

My family and I have been attending this church for the past eight years. I hold a more progressive view and believe in the true equality of LGBT people in the body of Christ. The rest of my family has a range of views which are left of center and would be considered gay-friendly. This belief, or standard, is at variance with that of the leadership and many of the parishioners. I can live with this because the community is good and because conservative views regarding marriage are not a focus of the church. Thus, I let my “standards be suffered” for the sake of the church community. This does not mean that I ignore, give up or deny what I believe. It means that I put these beliefs to the side in order to be in relationship with others who may not share my views on sexuality, but with whom I have much in common as we follow Jesus together.

the synod resolution and decision

Along with the other parishes in this geographical area, St. Pea’s is part of and comes under the authority of the diocese. In the early fall of 2012, the diocese held its synod (assembly), at which Resolution G-3 was presented:

Blessing Same-Gender Committed Unions: That Synod request the Bishop to grant permission to any clergy who may wish to offer prayers of blessing for civilly married same-gender relationships.

brutal unity of the wrong sort

For an exploration of a better kind of "brutal unity," check out my article on a brutal unity explored.

a brutal unity explored

introduction

In this post I want to explore the concept of “brutal unity”, which I came across in Matthew Shedden’s brief review of Ephraim Radner’s A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church. In his book, Radner writes:

“In this life that is God’s, any Anglican—or Roman Catholic or Methodist or Lutheran—can be a Pentecostal; any Catholic Protestant can be an evangelical Protestant; any member of one church can be a member of another that has separated from the first; any Roman Catholic can be a Protestant. Any Christian can do this not because standards of truth have been cast away but because the standards can be suffered, in their very contradiction by the place where he or she will go with Jesus.” (p. 447, italics added)

unpacking the concept of “the standards can be suffered”

First, what is meant by standards? The term “standards” is used to refer to a range of things believed at a theological or philosophical level: doctrines, statements of faith, liturgical confessions, dogma, religious beliefs, and so on. Moral standards would be included, but as used here, the term does not refer to facts and figures.

Secondly, the term “can be suffered” is not about denying, ignoring or giving up one's standards. Instead, it is about giving the standards second place, laying them down for the sake of one's calling and the community, emptying oneself of the need to hold tightly and insistently to standards as if they are our salvation when they are not. Our salvation is in Jesus Christ who "made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:5-8). Does this mean we change our beliefs or decide that they are irrelevant? No. But we put them second to the greater calling we have, for unity and the community. Because Radner’s use of the word “suffered” is not common, our discussion here will often substitute terms such as “set aside”, “put second”, and so on.

Third, “the place where he or she will go with Jesus” will be understood here as either a calling to a particular church or community, or general involvement with a particular church or community, and will often be referred to as “church” or “community” for the sake of simplicity.

post-baptism blues

Isn't that the question many of us are asking ourselves, with our own particulars incorporated in it? Our difference is not always outwardly noticeable, and we may even attend a church regularly, but we still ask ourselves, "Is there a church which will accept someone like me?"

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p.s. The answer is yes, while they may be hard to find, there are churches who will accept and embrace you just as you are.


This cartoon is based on the Biblical account of Philip meeting the Ethiopian eunuch, as told in Acts 8:26-40. The eunuch was reading from Isaiah chapter 53. Only a few chapters later, Isaiah has these verses, and one might reasonably expect that the eunuch has also read this:

56 This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice
    and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this—
    the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
    and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
    “I am only a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure forever.

(Isaiah 56:1-5, NIV)

What might this have communicated to him? Especially at a time when (as is still often the case today) religious groups put great importance on purity and boundaries, he finds foreigners and eunuchs mentioned positively in the Book of Isaiah -- and he is both!

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Richard Beck has some interesting insights into the Bible and eunuchs.

[hospitality as subversive and countercultural]

Christine Pohl, in Making Room, says this about hospitality:

Although we often think of hospitality as a tame and pleasant practice, Christian hospitality has always had a subversive, countercultural dimension. “Hospitality is resistance,” as one person from the Catholic Worker observed. Especially when the larger society disregards or dishonors certain persons, small acts of respect and welcome are potent far beyond themselves. They point to a different system of valuing and an alternate model of relationships.

Today, some of the most complex political and ethical tensions center around recognizing or treating people as equals. Recognition involves respecting the dignity and equal worth of every person and valuing their contributions, or at least their potential contributions, to the larger community. Struggles over recognition also encompass questions about what it means to value distinctive cultural traditions, especially when a particular tradition has been tied to social disadvantage and exclusion. Central to discussions of recognition and dignity are concerns about basic human rights and identity.

For much of church history, Christians addressed concerns about recognition and human dignity within their discussions and practices of hospitality. Especially in relation to strangers, hospitality was a basic category for dealing with the importance of transcending social differences and breaking social boundaries that excluded certain categories or kinds of people. Hospitality provided a context for recognizing the worth of persons who seemed to have little when assessed by worldly standards.

Because the practice of hospitality is so significant in establishing and reinforcing social relationships and moral bonds, we notice its more subversive character only when socially undervalued persons are welcomed. In contrast to a more tame hospitality that welcomes persons already well situated in the community, hospitality that welcomes “the least” and recognizes their equal value can be an act of resistance and defiance, a challenge to the values and expectations of the larger community.

People view hospitality as quaint and tame partly because they do not understand the power of recognition. When a person who is not valued by society is received by a socially respected person or group as a human being with dignity and worth, small transformations occur. The person’s self-assessment, so often tied to societal assessment, is enhanced. Because such actions are countercultural, they are a witness to the larger community, which is then challenged to reassess its standards and methods of valuing. Many persons who are not valued by the larger community are essentially invisible to it. When people are socially invisible, their needs and concerns are not acknowledged and no one even notices the injustices they suffer. Hospitality can begin a journey toward visibility and respect.

From Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition

(Christine D. Pohl, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999), pp. 61-62

darts

It's not that simple or random, is it? But note two things: it's names of minority groups that are put on the dartboard, and the clerics' assumption that they have the right to ostracize....

word search

It may surprise some of you who attend churches where the creeds are said as part of the liturgy, that a key word is missing:

Nothing is said about "God so loved the world," or "love your neighbour as yourself" or anything else related to love. Pretty sad, eh? And perhaps contributing to the difficulty some churchgoers have loving others....

Time for a rewrite?

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Hugh and friends at Love Wins, Raleigh, NC, add the following to the regular creed:
"Lived obediently to God. Lived and taught peace, love, and forgiveness. Healed the sick, cast out demons, forgave sins, raised the dead, confounded the powers that be. "

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From the Maasai prayer book:

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created Man and wanted Man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the Earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light. God promised in the book of His word, the Bible, that He would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through Him. All who have faith in Him must be sorry for their sins, be baptised in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the Good News to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

The Maasai Creed was composed in 1960 by the Maasai people of East Africa in collaboration with missionaries from the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. The creed attempts to express the essentials of the Christian faith within the Maasai culture.

Updated July 2, 2013

[the story of Le Chambon]

Christine Pohl, in Making Room, tells the story of the village of Chambon:

It is critical to have the freedom to define a Christian identity and Christian community with distinctive beliefs and practices. But, to welcome strangers into a distinctly Christian environment without coercing them into conformity requires that their basic well-being not be dependent on sharing certain commitments. When basic well-being is under attack by larger society, Christians have a responsibility to welcome endangered persons into their lives, churches, and communities.

The story of the village of Le Chambon is a powerful example of the meaning of difference in the practice of hospitality. This small community of French Protestants rescued Jews during World War II. Opening their homes, schools, and church to strangers with quiet, steady hospitality, they made Le Chambon the safest place in Europe for Jews. They acknowledged and valued the Jewish identity of their guests and understood their need for protection. Defining as neighbor anyone who dearly needed help, they saved the lives of thousands of Jews. When the police asked the pastor of the community to turn in the Jews, André Trocmé responded, “We do not know what a Jew is. We know only men.” His response is profoundly illuminating. When, by acknowledging difference, we only endanger, we must only acknowledge our common human identity.

...

Because hospitality is a way of life, it must be cultivated over a lifetime. “Hospitality is one of those things that has to be constantly practiced or it won’t be there for the rare occasion.” We do not become good at hospitality in an instant; we learn it in small increments of daily faithfulness.

luther

For all of us who associate Martin Luther with the Reformation and nailing a lengthy thesis onto a church door, surprise!

From two separate books which I've been reading lately, I've learned that Luther was vehemently anti-Semitic. Here are some examples directly from Luther's writings (translated):

"First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them… Moses… would be the first to set fire to the synagogues and houses of the Jews.
Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed… Instead, they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn…
Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings… be taken from them.
Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life…"

source and more

Pretty scary stuff from someone who is revered in Protestant circles and who has denominations named after him.

In this context, how do we understand this verse that says, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (I John 4:20)?

And what are those Christians going to do, who will not even play certain kinds of classical music because the composer lived an immoral life? To be consistent, they'd have to jettison Luther's ideas....

Perhaps it is best if I start with myself, to see where I am hating a brother or sister, or where I am not loving someone as God loves them... and to see where things I do are not pleasing to God....

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Further reading: Rachel Held Evans on "The day I found out Martin Luther hated Jews"

slippery slope (2)

Slippery slopes seem to be of much concern in the Christian community. Here I'm giving the usual idea a twist... suggesting that it's a problem for Christians because they would subsequently need to learn how to love more people.

For the record, I do believe that as the body of Christ we need to figure out how to love people who are sex offenders. No idea how to do this, but they are possibly the least of the least of these...

What do you think? Whom have you found it a challenge to love?

avoidable tragedy

This is avoidable.

That doesn't mean it will be avoided.

It really depends on all who attend St. Peas committing to following Jesus, loving one another, majoring on the mission statement of "love God and love your neighbour," loving others, being humble in our approach to Scripture, loving those who are not like me, valuing people over my own beliefs, striving to live in peace with one another, following Jesus....

Is this possible? Can we who follow Jesus live into the reality of whom he called us to be? Or perhaps I'm just naive....

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This "extraordinary post" is in response to an "extraordinary meeting" which I unfortunately could not attend, at my real-life church, a meeting which was held "in camera" which means that no one is talking about it, a church which has a lot of good things going for it but is getting upset about the broader church denomination voting in favour of the option of same-sex blessings.

[quotes from Pohl]

I recently read Christine D. Pohl's book, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, and will be quoting from it in future posts as it ties in well with the themes of this site. Here's a summary of the book:

"Although hospitality was central to Christian identity and practice in earlier centuries, our generation knows little about its life-giving character. Over the past three hundred years, understandings of hospitality have shrunk to entertainment at home and to the hospitality industry's provision of service through hotels and restaurants. But for most of the history of the church, hospitality was central to the gospel and a crucial practical expression of care, relationship, and respect.This penetrating new work by Christine Pohl revisits the Christian foundations of welcoming strangers and explores the necessity, difficulty, and blessing of hospitality today. The book offers an original argument that traces the eclipse of this significant Christian practice, showing the initial centrality of hospitality and the importance of recovering it for contemporary life.Combining rich biblical and historical research with extensive interviewing of contemporary service communities -- the Catholic Worker, L'Abri,,L'Arche, Good Works, Annunciation House, St. John's Abbey, and others -- this book shows how understanding the key features of hospitality can better equip us to respond faithfully to contemporary needs and challenges." (book summary from Google books)

If you are interested in reading the book yourself, here’s the reference:
Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition
Christine D. Pohl, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999)

slippery slope (1)

Yes, this is cynical, but isn't it true that some people become worse after they become Christians? What's with that? If Jesus is all he's made out to be, shouldn't our lives be turned upside down when we decide to follow him?

Maybe the problem is that instead of following Jesus, we are following examples of western Christianity...

David Hayward has a great cartoon related to this:  "you were better before"

un

What do you think about that?

The 7Up ad, of course, used a twist on words to say that of all the colas you can find, something that was not a cola was better. And here is the suggestion that sometimes, a person who is not a christian makes a better christian than someone who is one.

Hmmm... perhaps some people who are christian in name are not christian in mind and action, and perhaps some people who are not christian in name are christian (viz., Christ-like) in their mind and action.

Not such a radical idea. Think of the parable of the two sons, where one said he would do something and didn't, and the other said he wouldn't do it but did. (Matthew 21:28-32). And at the end of that parable, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him."

[for the love of God: a conversation about the bible and homosexuality]

Darkwood Brew, a "groundbreaking interactive web television program and spiritual gathering that explores progressive/emerging Christian faith and values", is starting a series called "For the Love of God: A Conversation about the Bible and Homosexuality."

This six part series started on December 31, 2012 and ends on February 3rd, 2013. Episodes are typically one hour long, including introduction, music, social media moments, interview with a Skype guest, and discussion. You can watch them live online Sunday evenings, or watch the recorded episodes after the fact.

Guests include Bruce Van Blair. Dr. Jacq Lapsely, Dr. Jack Levision, Rev. James A Forbes, and others.

Want a little preview? Check out the trailers.

For the Love of God series homepage (this page will list direct links to episodes as they become available for online viewing; we will also list them below)

Pt 1: (Peter`s Kosher) Pickle (Bruce Van Blair, guest)
Pt 2: The Coherent and the Contingent (Jacq Lapsely)
Pt 3: Sodom and Gomorrah (Rev. Dr. James Forbes)
Pt 4: Romans 1, 2 and 3 (Dr. Jack Levison)
Pt 5: A New Twist on an Old Parable (Sue Fulton and Justin Lee)
Pt 6: The Greatest of These (Bishop Gene Robinson)