The Dangers of Mixing Religion and Politics 2012

There's a great guest editorial today in the KC Star by Aimee Patton today about the perils of mixing religion and politics.  She manages in one piece to take on the political polarization of Facebook, anti-LGBT politician in Kansas, and the Duggar family's endorsement of Todd Akin.  Well worth the read.

Zombies and Theology

Here's a great article that connects our culture's obsession with zombies with theology.  I clicked on this because I love both zombies and God (not equally) and was prepared for it to be dumb. HOWEVER, I found the piece thoughtful and provocative in all the best ways. Now when I'm watching the Walking Dead I will be looking for sermon material. :)

Also, here's another take on zombies and theology from Derek Hamby, with whom I went to seminary.   I appreciate Derek's connection between our fascination with the destruction of society and apocalyptic literature in biblical texts.

Can Public Christianity Be Humble?

Christianity in America is not known for its humility, which is ironic considering Christians claim to follow Jesus who preached and practiced humility.  It's election season, so the claims of religious people in the political arena seem particularly arrogant and judgmental.  The KC Star has run several recent stories about local Kansas politicians who have reacted in hateful ways towards LGBT people.  At least two Christian Senate hopefuls have made shocking claims about rape in their arguments against abortion rights.  And, of course, there's the usual hateful stuff about Muslims, feminism, sexuality, contraception, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.  Jesus could be harsh in his attacks on opponents, but he saved his harshness for religious people who were self-righteous and condemning towards others.  It's hard for me to connect the grace of Jesus Christ with the mean-spiritedness of many American Christians who are in the public sphere.

      

     Considering that the name of Jesus is used often in the context of vitriolic political arguments, is it any wonder that so many people are turning away from organized religion in general and Christianity in particular?  Although I would love to lay the blame entirely at the feet of those who practice a form of Christianity that is contrary to my own, I have to admit that I bear part of the responsibility for this current religious climate.  Christians who have a more grace-centered, less legalistic and less partisan view of their faith have in many ways ceded the public face of Christianity to the negative extremes.  If we truly believe in a God who welcomes rather than excludes, loves rather than condemns and values believers being humble in their truth claims rather than judgmental, then we must step forward and represent that type of God not only in our churches but in our communities.

            Going public with your faith is not easy in our present context.  The only model most of us know of Christians who make their faith a public rather than private matter is one of proselytizing and partisanship.  I'm a Christian minister and even I bristle when I meet a stranger who wants to talk with me about Jesus.  I wonder what he or she will want to talk about.  Is this person expecting me to go along with a viewpoint I find xenophobic or legalistic?  I have to believe there is another way to go when it comes to public Christianity. 

            The only way I can see for Christians to be gracious when they make their faith a public rather than private matter is for Christians to make sure they speak with humility.  In my own faith journey, I have learned (at least on my better days) to remember that I have come to what I believe largely based upon my own experience and there is a world of other people who have different experiences.  I don't claim to possess the only truth there is, but rather I simply confess what my own experiences of God and life have been.  When I can operate from a place of humility, it becomes much easier for me to consider an alternative point of view without dismissing that person out of hand or judging him or her.  On days when I cannot practice humility, I tend to be reactionary and closed to others.

            This past Sunday at our new member orientation we talked about the United Church of Christ's approach to the authority of the Bible and the creeds and confessions of the church.  The UCC "embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils and the confessions of the Reformation."  This means that the Bible, creeds and confessions of Christian history are considered "testimonies, but not tests of faith."  We believe "God is still speaking" today.  There is a big difference between understanding a particular interpretation of scripture, a creed or a confession as indisputable truth and understanding such a document as a testimony of faith from a particular person or community at a particular time.  Many Christians would argue that such a position amounts to relativism; I think it's an honest understanding of how limited the perspective is of every human and community of humans is when it comes to God.  In other words, it's humble.

            Humility when it comes to faith doesn't mean we are to be shrinking violets-certainly Jesus was confrontational when he needed to be-but it does mean that we operate from a place where we admit we do not have all the answers.  When we can admit what we do not know, it becomes easier for us to create opportunities for different people to seek answers together.  Wouldn't it be nice if the public face of Christianity was one of people welcoming diversity of belief rather than viewing it as a threat? 

            

Grace and Peace,
Chase

The best sports story ever!

This is maybe the best sports story I have ever read--maybe one of the best stories I've read, period!  TCU football coach Gary Patterson has my respect!  Go Horned Frogs! 

It's so good to read about a big-time college coach who puts his players' well-being ahead of winning.  I think somebody said, "The first shall be last and the last shall be first."

A Letter to Virginia Baptists

This past week--on National Coming Out Day no less--the Baptist General Association of Virginia made headlines for expelling from its ranks one of its historic churches for ordaining a gay man.  Ginter Park Baptist Church was located just up the street from the seminary I attended and counts among its members friends and faculty from my seminary days.  It's affiliated with the Alliance of Bapti8sts, one of the few Baptist denominational bodies that fully accepts LGBT People.  (In fact, the AOB was hugely influential  in my own process of overcoming homophobia and also introduced me to the United Church of Christ, the denomination in which I now serve.) 

Ginter Park Baptist church has good people in it, so good that they followed the leadership of the Holy Spirit in ordaining a man they felt was qualified to be a minister even though they would face trouble from the state group of Baptists to which they belonged until this week.  The really sad thing is that Virginia Baptists were a part of Baptist life that was considered open-minded--or as the fundamentalists charged them--liberal.  I wouldn't ever call them liberal but rather moderate.  They generally supported women in ministry and didn't use the Bible to beat up people.  It's too bad that when it comes to LGBT people they draw a line.

I left Baptist life behind eleven years ago and am now proud to serve in the United Church of Christ which has taken bold stands for justice, including justice for LGBT people.  I was a little surprised at how the news affected me of Ginter Park's ouster.  I was angry enough to immediately sit down and write a letter to the Virginia Baptist newspaper, The Religious Herald.  (Once upon a time I wrote some articles for the Herald.)  
I was shaped by Baptists and taught about the freedom of the local congregation by them, so it hurts when I see hypocritical actions like this one.  I don't want to be Baptist anymore.  I've moved on and devote my energy to better things than fighting Baptist battles, but I will always bear the hurt of having to leave the tradition that shaped my faith and taught me about God's love in the first place.

Here's a link to the letter as published on the Religious Herald site.

Here's the text of the letter, if you don't feel like following the link:

Dear Virginia Baptists,

It’s been a long time, but I think it is the right time for you to hear from one of your sons who has left the fold. Eleven years ago I stopped being a Baptist because I could no longer remain in a denomination that used bad biblical interpretation to justify discrimination. Despite growing up as a PK in Baptist churches, being a Royal Ambassador and later a faithful youth group member, attending numerous youth Evangelism conferences, graduating from a Baptist college and a Baptist seminary and serving on staff at Virginia Baptist churches, I made the painful decision to leave and become a part of another denomination. I’m not the only one; plenty of my fellow Virginia Baptists whom I went to school with left, too. I left 11 years ago; more sons and daughters are leaving now.

I decided to write to you when I read about the decision of the BGAV leadership to expel Ginter Park Baptist Church for ordaining a gay man. I am saddened but not surprised by this action.  If the BGAV leaders were at the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15 I feel sure the early church would never have accepted gentiles.

I came of age when Virginia Baptists were learning that the Holy Spirit could make use of divorced people and women as ministers. You taught me that a narrow interpretation of the Bible about divorce or gender was a poor way to read scripture, but for some reason when it comes to gays and lesbians similar narrow readings are okay.

The decision of the BGAV leaders wouldn’t hurt me so much, if I had not learned from Virginia Baptists to read the Bible with compassion rather than a closed heart. That paradox is painful for me; so painful that I needed to leave the tradition that taught me about a loving God in the first place.

Although I still have friends in ministry who serve Baptist churches; I have plenty more who left Baptist life behind. They and I sought out churches that welcome all who come, because we grew up singing Just as I Am and actually believed those words not only applied to us but to all people. Is it any wonder that younger generations are leaving the church in greater numbers than ever? They know what their parents and grandparents refuse to see — a church that rejects its own children is not worth remaining in. I learned about grace from Virginia Baptists; I just wish Virginia Baptists actually practiced it.

Today my wife and I, along with our sons, worship in a church with heterosexual and homosexual members and we experience the blessing of a Christian community that celebrates its diversity. Rarely does a Sunday go by, however, without me wishing I could have found similar joy in the tradition I grew up in.

Long time no post

It's been a while since I last posted anything here.  Things have been a little busy thanks to the fact that I accepted the call to become minister at Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ.  After a great experience at First Christian Church, disciples of Christ in St. Joseph, MO, I head down I-29 to Kansas City to begin a new ministry. 

I just love Joanna Brooks

Yes, yes, I know a liberal, feminist Mormon sounds crazy to Mormons and non-Mormons alike, but I love reading Joanna Brooks (her columns at Religious Dispatches are always worth reading) and was glad she was on The Daily Show.  She does a great job of explaining Mormon culture to those outside of it which has been very helpful to me in relating to friends who are Mormons and some who are ex-Mormons. 

I guess what I appreciate most about her is that she seems nice and so very positive.  I'm sure that seems strange to read, but in a culture where religious commentators are regularly so mean and nasty and who refuse to recognize any gray area, I appreciate Brooks' attempts to be both critical and appreciative of her faith tradition.  Her honesty about trying to be authentic while living with the tradition which has shaped her is something I can personally relate to.  When I get around to reading her book--The Book of Mormon Girl--I suspect that I will find parallels between my own life growing up in the Southern Baptist sub-culture and her experiences growing up Mormon.

If you watch the video from last week of Brooks on The Daily Show, stick it out until the interview and make sure to keep going to watch the second part of the interview which is only on the web and wasn't on the broadcast version.

The interview with Brooks last October on the public radio show On Being with Krista Tippett is also very much worth listening to.