Month: August 2007

Gracism and Bridging the Divide

Proverbs 6:16-19 says:

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him;

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Searching the Scriptures offers no alternative view; God hates division–division among believers is not of God. And yet, there are entire ministries built around proclaiming the rightness of their particular creed or theological distinctives over all other believing groups. Not heretical differences, mind you. Differences in man made constructs that they proclaim to the “the gospel” and that cause them to divide fellowship among believers based upon their need to defend these creeds to the death. One wonders why there is not as much time spent in this passage as there is defending Romans 9 or Acts 2.

Pastor Anderson continues his call to Gracism among believers by confronting us further with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12 where he uses the analogy of the body to describe the proper integration of the Church. Paul writes “God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” As with the other sayings of the Gracist, Anderson simply gives us the simple call: No Division. No division based on ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, genders or ministries. None.

Praying together holds the keys to this and every other issue facing the Church. Anderson points us helpfully to three passages that guide our prayers in this new light. Each brings us humbly to the realization of our need for inclusiveness and togetherness. The first is the Lord’s Prayer in Mat 6:9-13 which begins Our Father. It identifies our familial relationships and the common bonds created by the Holy Spirit. No one with the Holy Spirit indwelling them stands alone or apart, we must all be as one. In John 17, Jesus’ lengthiest prayer, he prays that there might be unity among believers in the same degree to which there is unity among the Trinity. Finally, in an interesting perspective on the brief, intense prayers in Gethsemane before His crucifixion, Jesus maintains his unity of will for the Father’s purpose despite being divided in His human emotions about the upcoming agony that faced Him.

You and I must commit to standing with those who are not being included in the Body. We must commit to saying “I will stand with you.” This may mean that we sometimes take the hard road and Stand Up for people in order to stand with them. Our goal is not to simply protect them, though that may be necessary, but to lift them up and make them equal and better in our company. As David says “The principle is the smae. Stand up for the needy. Speak up for the voiceless. Rise up for those whose wings are clipped. Stand!”

What if…we took Jesus Seriously…

and fed His lambs? When the Lord returned from the tomb, He had a conversation with Peter: (John 21:15-17)

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

He gave similar instructions to the disciples in Matthew 25. We are to see His image in all people no matter how corrupted or marred that image may be. Because of this, when we feed, clothe, comfort or visit another, we are doing it directly for Him. So what if the Church took these instructions to heart and made it a key component of our mission. Specifically, what if we started by feeding His lambs. Not just once a month or once a week, but every day. Not possible we hear, we don’t have the resources, it’s too much, etc.

Well, wait a minute…

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 This is the tiny vegetable garden that we nurture in our backyard. Not very big at all and nurture is hardly the right word. My wife and I are not urban farmers, to be sure. We dug up the dirt, stirred in some manure, poked the seeds into the ground and gave a little water every so often. That mass of greenery at the back of the picture is four little squash mounds; two Zucchini and two Yellow Squash. These plants, with all of the lack of attention that we can muster and all of the abuse they receive by getting clipped back so that they stay in the yard, being walked through by the dogs, and the searing south sun and upper nineties temperatures we have had nearly every day this summer, these plants provide more produce than several families can eat! We share the bounty with the neighbors and friends and still we have fresh vegetables and herbs beyond what we can use.DSCN0461 After we have shared and eaten vegetables in every conceivable recipe, we still find ourselves with leftovers.

If an inexperienced gardener like myself can produce bushels of fresh vegetables far beyond my own needs I’m led to wonder why the Church can’t replicate this on a larger scale for the good of those around us. Many churches, especially suburban and rural churches, are surround by some measure of unpaved area covered by grass, shrubbery and trees. What if we took a small (or large) section of this ground and turned it over to a productive purpose such as growing low maintenance vegetables for the benefit of the community. They could be shared with the immediate neighbors of the church, taken down to the rescue mission, canned and placed in the food cupboard, or cooked and served to those in desperate need of a good meal. The possibilities of this ministry are endless. The gardeners could teach others to cultivate some simple plants (like those monsters in my garden) to provide for themselves. Mission teams can take the lessons of low-requirement, high-yield farming to those they wish to serve.

I’m certainly not proposing anything original here. The Spirit moved me to take a look at the possibilities and I saw the abundance I have through fresh eyes. The Bible confronts me every day, as it must everyone, with the words of God. One wonders why we don’t always take them seriously.

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Gracism and Honor for the Honorless

At the midway point in David Anderson’s examination of 1 Corinthians 12, our eyes should be opening to the reality of being a part of the Body. Gracism offers us an antidote to the individuality and exclusion that threads its way through the the Church, separating us as though we are unconnected  or needful of what other brothers and sisters have to offer. By allowing this to continue, we run the risk of planting barriers that make it much more difficult for us to fulfill our Divinely-assigned work. To this point, Anderson has summarized the complex chapter into the following Gracist affirmations:

  • I will lift you up
  • I will cover you
  • I will share with you

and today, we will take a quick look at the fourth saying I will Honor you.

An important component of the Gracist mindset comes from a refusal to allow dishonor to visited upon any member of the body. Our human tendency to assign degrees of honor to other people runs contra to the biblical notions of equality within the body. Though we may achieve different stations in life and enjoy various successes and failures, in the eyes of God — the one who matters — we are all simply sinners in need of His grace. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that this same graceful vision should be shared among the brothers and sisters of the body.

David teaches us to train our eyes to look out within the Body and extending to all people for those are “honor deficient.” These are people who do not have what the majority enjoy. It may be access to services, it may equal treatment, it could be nearly invisible things that we often take for granted but for some, it becomes a wedge of separation that should never exist within the Body of Christ. The solution for the Gracist is to seek these folks out and honor them. It becomes our job to “invite them to the banquet.” We can be the uniters within the Body, seeking out those whose honor is dirtied or being blocked and find ways of restoring that God given honor to them and bringing them back into the purpose of the Body.

Pastor Anderson offers a simple reminder of our common state before God whose eyes do not divide:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.

He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.

(Psalm 103 8-10)   

Punk Ethos and the Disciple of Jesus

The Unseen - Mark UnseenI don’t make any secret of the fact that some of my favorite music is Punk rock. Not the MTV, stuff but the old-school, hardcore, Mohawked, three-chord PUNK RAWK that is guaranteed to get a circle going if more than two people are listening. Some look at the music and musicians from a distance and pass judgment saying that no Christian should be anywhere near this kind of music. In general, I have to say they’re wrong. There might be some overly nihilistic bands that feed the undercurrent of despair among their fans but by and large, the Punk genre has an ethos that fits well with the Lord’s message.

This past week I have been witness to an unprecedented amount of finger pointing that screamed ‘Why don’t you care about this or that situation’. The trouble is, it stops right there. You rarely see people act on the injustices that they criticize you for crossing to the other side of the street to avoid. The punk ethos is different. While it criticizes the social wrongs of this world, the folks of this tribe are also know for acting on the problems as well. Rather than pointing my finger at you and whining because you don’t care about poverty or the homeless or the elderly I going to do something about it and then encourage you to join me.

Jesus could have sat off at a distance pointing to the myriad of brokenness that he surveyed and then implored his disciples to do something about it but that wasn’t His style. He got down in the dirt with the woman about to be stoned, He crossed the racial and gender dividing lines at the well, He touched the lepers and so many other act of mercy and grace. His style is my style and we hope it will be yours as well.

But I’m not going to pull my ‘Hawk out and wonder why you don’t devote yourself to the same concerns as I do. The Spirit works His ministry differently in all of us.   

Gracism and Sharing the Burden

There is immense privilege inherited by members of a majority group that is often not available to others. The majority identification may come from racial differences or something as minor as the demarcation between member and visitor in a church but regardless, it is there to be mitigated or removed by the Gracist. David Anderson continues his examination of 1 Corinthians 12 as it applies to the Gracist, “our presentable parts need no special treatment.” The Gracist put this into practice by saying ‘I refuse to accept any favors or perks that may hurt you.’

This is an especially grace-filled notion because the perks, in and of themselves, pose no threat to others who do not receive them. Accepting them however, puts a gap between me and the person who has no access to them. Anderson gives an example that is immediately recognizable. In gatherings at the church or in member home, some are always invited to be the first to partake of the buffet. If I, as the pastor, were to jump to the front of the line and enjoy this little perk it means that the food may in shorter supply or a bit messy by the time the last person takes a plate. Something as simple as putting that person first spreads grace that can then extend to other areas of life.

This applies in countless areas where gaps based on race or gender or socio-economic status exist. I can not only refuse to partake of a perk but I can find a way for someone who has no access to that benefit or privilege to gain access. Being a Gracist is not hard and on this fine weekend morning, it is a good time to find a way to bring life to Paul’s teaching.