A friend of mine reminded me the other day of an incident that occurred on campus when I was in Bible college 37 years ago. In reaction against a host of perceived ineptitudes on the part of the faculty and board of administration, and in keeping with the mood of the culture at that time, unrest was gaining a foothold in the student body. Classroom discussions were confrontational and petitions were being circulated.
In reaction to this brewing storm, a high powered guest speaker was brought into a chapel service to deliver a message on the topic "God's Chain of Command". With stridency and intimidation this member of the administrative board, who also happened to be a pastor of a large church, made the case that he and those in charge of the school were in authority by divine assignment and to question their authority was to question God. Several years later this same guy refused to comply with a denominational policy he didn't agree with and quit the denomination and had himself decalred to be an anointed apostle. So much for God's chain of command.
I have learned through some painful experiences that when we flex our authority muscles and employ enforcement tactics to coerce others into compliance, we usually do so out of insecurity and a need for control. Seldom if ever is that the approach God prefers. Human leaders are too human to be trusted with absolute authority. That is precisely why Jesus told his disciples that in his kingdom he resists any sort of lording it over others. Greatness in his world is reserved for those who humbly serve rather than for those who think they must be in charge. I've quoted it before but it bears repeating, "Relationships of domination are forbidden in the kingdom of God" (Jerry Cook).
For people to work together in any organized way toward the accomplishment of an objective there have to be certain agreed upon guidelines to maintain order and some way to resolve problems that arise. I get that. What we should avoid at all cost, however, is allowing anyone to station themselves between us and God as if in matters of personal faith they have the final word. Theologian Paul Tillich said it well back in 1962: "I don't give any human being, be it pope, or preacher, or professor of theology the right to tell me how my faith shall express itself." When it comes to my personal relationship with my Creator, there is no human chain of command.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
C'mon Church Leaders, Guide Us Out of the Gloomies
Anyone who has followed my writings the past couple of years is aware that I am not optimistic about the future of the dominant expression of Christianity in America today. I fully expect denominational/institutional Christianity to follow the same course it has in Europe where it has largely become a relic of the past. That is not to say, however, that I think the message and way of Jesus Christ are in any sense in decline. To the contrary, I've never been more encouraged than I am right now with their future prospects.
There are a number of reasons for my hope. Among them are:
1) Widespread rejection of the political power seeking form of Christianity that sought to impose selected morality through legislative influence. The Moral Majority mentality has been a disaster and a distraction from serious Christ-following.
2) Emancipation of whole hearted God seeking from clergy and creed dominated forms. People everywhere are discovering God and his heart for compassion, justice and peace apart from excluding and controlling authority structures.
3) Serious and respected scholars and leaders who are rejecting gloomy doctrines that cultivate fear, cause people to cluster at the exit and assume most human beings are going to hell are gaining in number. Not because they are participating in some sinister plot to undermine God's truth, but because God's truth is setting us free just as Jesus said it would. Old superstitions and people regulating ploys can't stand up to enlightened scrutiny, as I indicated in my previous blog.
What I find myself longing for are established leaders who will be courageous enough to break ranks from the status quo and give voice to their attraction to and sympathy for the fresh ways God is working today. If even one or two significant institutional leaders would be willing to sacrifice role security for the sake of the greater good and declare the misguidedness of some of the old mindsets, I believe it would embolden many to break out into the light. It is long overdue for maintainers of the established to give way to the inevitable progress of the emerging.
C'mon church leaders, guide us out of the old gloomy perspectives of the past. How about some good news for a change--Christ's really good news.
There are a number of reasons for my hope. Among them are:
1) Widespread rejection of the political power seeking form of Christianity that sought to impose selected morality through legislative influence. The Moral Majority mentality has been a disaster and a distraction from serious Christ-following.
2) Emancipation of whole hearted God seeking from clergy and creed dominated forms. People everywhere are discovering God and his heart for compassion, justice and peace apart from excluding and controlling authority structures.
3) Serious and respected scholars and leaders who are rejecting gloomy doctrines that cultivate fear, cause people to cluster at the exit and assume most human beings are going to hell are gaining in number. Not because they are participating in some sinister plot to undermine God's truth, but because God's truth is setting us free just as Jesus said it would. Old superstitions and people regulating ploys can't stand up to enlightened scrutiny, as I indicated in my previous blog.
What I find myself longing for are established leaders who will be courageous enough to break ranks from the status quo and give voice to their attraction to and sympathy for the fresh ways God is working today. If even one or two significant institutional leaders would be willing to sacrifice role security for the sake of the greater good and declare the misguidedness of some of the old mindsets, I believe it would embolden many to break out into the light. It is long overdue for maintainers of the established to give way to the inevitable progress of the emerging.
C'mon church leaders, guide us out of the old gloomy perspectives of the past. How about some good news for a change--Christ's really good news.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Doctrinal "Flat Earth"
If one goes back in history to the time of Christopher Columbus and the great explorers, one will be reminded that most people of that era firmly believed the earth was flat and that venturing too far out to sea would result in falling into the abyss where lived the great sea monster. It was also a time when inquisitions and reformations were underway in Europe. Looked at from the broad view of that period we enjoy today, one recognizes that under-informed, closed mindedness was being confronted by new ideas and high risk exploration. Old myths and superstitions could not withstand the impact of discoveries and inventions that proved them to be false. Historians have labeled it the Age of Enlightenment.
Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo (1564-1642), and others gave birth to modern science by demonstrating the heliocentricity of our solar system. They were often persecuted by Christian authorities who quoted Bible verses such as "Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and 1Chronicles 16:30...(depending on translation [which state] that 'the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.' In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5 says, 'the LORD set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.' Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that 'And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place' etc." (Wikipedia on Galileo Galilei). As far as the Bible authorities were concerned, these verses were nothing less than the word of God Almighty proving that the earth could not possibly orbit around the sun. Again quoting from Wikipedia: "On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture. In March 2008 the Vatican proposed to complete its rehabilitation of Galileo by erecting a statue of him inside the Vatican walls.[107] In December of the same year, during events to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's earliest telescopic observations, Pope Benedict XVI praised his contributions to astronomy." It only took 400 years for the Church to own up to how wrong it was.
There are other examples one can find to demonstrate how Bible authoritarians have claimed they had God's sure word for various positions that were utterly wrong. For instance, it was once widely believed it was a scriptural fact that Africans were cursed by God and properly regarded as sub-human. Only the most ignorant of people believe that today.
History is bloodied by controversies and wars fought over notions that one group--usually the group in power--decided were contrary to the word of God as they understood it but were later found not to be. A couple of these battles are shaping up right now in conservative Christian circles. Anger is rising and battle lines are being drawn between those who think they are being true to the scriptures by defending dispensationalism (ask John Hagee if you don't know what that is)and those who see it otherwise. Another battle front is forming over the belief there literally exists a divinely designed torture chamber located somewhere in the basement of creation (hell), and those who are asserting it isn't so. It may take another 400 years, but I have no doubt God is going to help us shed our contemporary "doctrinal flat earth" mindsets. Doing so will not send us over the edge into the abyss. It will open us to new and wonderful discoveries of how great and good God is.
In the meantime we all would be well advised to consider our biblical views as opinions of the moment that could change with the discovery of unforseen evidence to the contrary. It is closed mindedness that always gets us in trouble.
Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo (1564-1642), and others gave birth to modern science by demonstrating the heliocentricity of our solar system. They were often persecuted by Christian authorities who quoted Bible verses such as "Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and 1Chronicles 16:30...(depending on translation [which state] that 'the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.' In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5 says, 'the LORD set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.' Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that 'And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place' etc." (Wikipedia on Galileo Galilei). As far as the Bible authorities were concerned, these verses were nothing less than the word of God Almighty proving that the earth could not possibly orbit around the sun. Again quoting from Wikipedia: "On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture. In March 2008 the Vatican proposed to complete its rehabilitation of Galileo by erecting a statue of him inside the Vatican walls.[107] In December of the same year, during events to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's earliest telescopic observations, Pope Benedict XVI praised his contributions to astronomy." It only took 400 years for the Church to own up to how wrong it was.
There are other examples one can find to demonstrate how Bible authoritarians have claimed they had God's sure word for various positions that were utterly wrong. For instance, it was once widely believed it was a scriptural fact that Africans were cursed by God and properly regarded as sub-human. Only the most ignorant of people believe that today.
History is bloodied by controversies and wars fought over notions that one group--usually the group in power--decided were contrary to the word of God as they understood it but were later found not to be. A couple of these battles are shaping up right now in conservative Christian circles. Anger is rising and battle lines are being drawn between those who think they are being true to the scriptures by defending dispensationalism (ask John Hagee if you don't know what that is)and those who see it otherwise. Another battle front is forming over the belief there literally exists a divinely designed torture chamber located somewhere in the basement of creation (hell), and those who are asserting it isn't so. It may take another 400 years, but I have no doubt God is going to help us shed our contemporary "doctrinal flat earth" mindsets. Doing so will not send us over the edge into the abyss. It will open us to new and wonderful discoveries of how great and good God is.
In the meantime we all would be well advised to consider our biblical views as opinions of the moment that could change with the discovery of unforseen evidence to the contrary. It is closed mindedness that always gets us in trouble.
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