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Rector's Blog
Monday, June 27, 2005
Recently the Supreme Court made a decision regarding the display of the Commandments on government property. The concern is of course the First Amendment to the Constitution which guarrantees the non-establishment of religion by the federal governement.
Two questions came before the court. One: Can the state of Texas have a monument dipicting the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capital with other historic exhibits. Two: Can two Kentucky courthouses display the Ten Commandments independant of other displays.
The court's decision allows the Texas statehouse to keep it's monument; the decision requires the Kentucky courthouses to remove their displays.
The popular imagination treats the Ten Commandment as a religious symbol. The state cannot establish (and this has come to mean endorse) a particular religion. Where the Ten Commandments are treated as one of many historical documents, its is okay for the state to display them. Where the Ten Commandments are displayed alone, they appear to endorse "religion."
I laugh as I follow this issue through the courts. The depth of ignorance displayed in these discussions amazes me. Consider this:
1. The Ten Commandments are not a religious document. They are an ancient document that expresses a certain insight into the nature of human experience. Although this insight is foundational for three of the world's major religous traditions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) the Ten Commandments themselves do not constitute a religion, nor do they represent or point to one specific religious tradition.
2. The anti-establishment clause of the constitution intends to avoid the establishment of a religious institution. It is not to discourage discussion regarding foundational values of the human experience. Such discussions are of utmost importance in a democracy. Although they do raise questions regarding foundational values of the human experience, they do not endorse a specific institution.
3. The Ten Commandments are no less offensive as religious texts than the Pythagorean Theorem. Pythagoras was the leader of a religious society that believed, among other things that: 1) the deepest mystery of the universe was mathematical in nature, 2) the practice of mathematics leads to spiritual purity, 3) through mathematics the soul ascends to union with the divine. I am still waiting to see someone bring a case to the Supreme Court arguing against the teaching of mathematics in schools because it violates the First Amendment.
4. Finally, sincere Christians who hope to somehow warm the hearts of secularists by displays of the Ten Commandments in public places, or worse, to compell consent to theism by such displays are the most misguided of all. Of much greater importance than the display of the Ten Commandments in the public square, are free and open discussions in the public square of the nature of the human experience. Symbolic action (like public displays of an ancient text) that antagonize conversation partners serves no genuine religious purpose whatsoever.
The Ten Commandments as symbols of religious imperialism are offensive in a democratic society. But the Ten Commandments as invitations to an open-minded exploration of the nature of the human experience is one of the greatest gifts a democratic people can give to one another.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I was recently invited to apply to participate on a project funded by the Lilly Endowment. The team, six leaders assembled from different denominations and three scholars, will explore means of discernment, decision-making processes in the church.
Discernment is how a person comes to know the mind of Christ. Once a person awakens to faith, and commits to "take up his or her cross and follow Jesus," the next question, obviously, is: How do I know where Jesus is going? How do I know what God wants me to do with my life?
This is the challenge of discernment, to know the mind of Christ. My responsibility would be to represent the disernment tradition of the Episcopal Church.
The Anglican tradition consists of two diverging discernment practices.
1) A "High Church," Monarchical tradition centers primarily in the worship of the community ordered under the authority of a priest under episcopal oversight. This is a legacy of the pre-reformation Roman Church. Control is a high value, expressed by conformity to Prayer Book, Canon Law and church discipline. The ideal lay response is surrender. Discerning authority tends to reside with the hierarchy of the ordained.
2) A "Low Church," Democratic tradition centers primarily in the proclamation of the Word addressed to the individual. This is a legacy of the influence of the Swiss Reformation in Geneva and Zurich. Engagement in faith is a high value expressed by personal prayer and study of scripture. The ideal lay response is engagement in mission. More significant discerning authority resides with the laity, though guided by the teaching authority of the bishop, represented by the local priest.
This is the tradition. Today the Episcopal Church has embraced a commitment to lay leadership in mission. It is still working out what discernment means when lay people are made full discernment partners. Older parishioners still tend to grant excessive authority to the rector, while Baby Boomers and Gen Xers tend to see the rector as a peer, with perhaps some spcialized knoweldge related to biblical scholarship, systematic theolgoy and the history of the church.
How does a covenant community discern the mind of Chirst?
The Monarchical/Catholic legacy of the Episcopal Church puts a shared process at risk when the rector or bishop too quickly claims the authority of his or her ordination. A priest fearing Spirit-led transformation and seeking security in the faith practices of a previous generation can silence the voice of the Spirit speaking through the community. Likewise, the Democratic/Protestant legacy of the Episcopal Church puts a shared process at risk when the priest or bishop becomes too passive and fails to call the discerning community to be attentive to the prophetic Word. Sometimes dominate voices among the laity who fear Spirit-led transformation can silence the voice of the Spirit as easily as a priest or bishop. Also, when the priest or bishop fails to clearly articulate the Gospel, the identity of a parish can be coopted by other agendas that creep into the discernment process through people who have little interest in the Kingdom of God. The challenge of effective leadership in the church is to discern the mind of Christ while tending to the polarity of our Catholic and Protestant heritage in a genuine attitude of prayer.
All of this assumes, of course, that people really care to know the mind of Christ. But that is a topic for another day.
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Monday, June 06, 2005
Most of the churh is familiar with the Great Commission. ("Go and make disciples of all nations.") And the Great Commandment. ("Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.")
You tend to find churches that emphasize one of these "Greats" over the other.
The Evangelical Church tends to focus on the Great Commission. Walk into an Evangelical church. The preacher will want to know if you know Jesus as your personal savior. You will hear much energy expanded exploring faith and exorting the unbeliever to repentence. People in the Evangelical church are mobilized to save the lost. It is a good thing too. There are a lot of lost people out there that need saving. Myself included.
The Mainline Church tends to focus on the Great Commandment. Walk into one of these churches and the preacher will want to know if you are loving your as yourself -- the neighbor who is the homeless person, the hungry person, the marginalized person who lacks a place at the table of civic discourse. The passion is for social justice. You will hear an exhortation to repentence here as well. But it is not the unbeliever who is being called to repent, but the believer. The believer must repent of an apathetic, self-indulgent, over-spiritualized faith that neglects the concrete demands of neighbor love. This too is a good thing. There are a lot of hurting people out there that need loving. Myself included.
The mind of the Church is bi-polar. But Jesus is not bi-polar.
A healthy church embraces the Great Commission and the Great Commandment with equal ferver. Good disciple-making results in the formation of people able to love their neighbor as they have learned to love themselve in response to God's great love for them.
This seems simple enough. Why do we so often see the church divided between the Great Commission and the Great Commandment? I have noticed that in many churches one tends to find champions of the Great Commission, or champions of the Great Commandment. It may be that the pastor is a Great Commission gal , or a Great Commandment guy who attracts like minded folk. Over time the church takes on one focus to the neglect of the other.
The Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The church too often neglects the Great Foundation.
To find the Great Foundation in the words of Jesus, turn to John 17. Jesus prays for his dicsiples that, "they might be one" as he and the Father are one. This prayer for unity gets fulfilled in the the Book of Acts.
Before the disciples move out into the world pursuing both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, they are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, fellowership, the study of God's Word and worship, they begin to live out a quality of community the world has never seen before.
The Book of Acts describes them as being of "one mind." They are of "one heart and soul." And this no mere theoretical unity. This is a material unity as well. They "sell all they have and share everything in common." They "give to any who had need."
Through prayer, fellowership, study and worship, these people move to place of spiritual intimacy that forges the Great Commandment people and the Great Commission people into a divine unity, a single instrument that pierces the hard shell of Cruel World.
The Great Commission and the Great Commandment come together in the Great Foundation. Genuine unity in Christ only comes through spending time together in prayer, fellowship, study and worship. The Book of Acts describes a quality of community that provides the neccessary basis for sharing the love of God in a broken world.
Let's face it. The world needs saving. The world needs loving. As part of that world I need saving and loving as much as anyone. And yet Jesus said, "You (me?) Yes, you and people like you, will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Sammaria, and to the outermost parts of the world. But wait until you are filled with power from on high."
A rush to ministry results in a bi-polar church. But a Holy Spirit empowered covenant community formed through prayer, fellowship, study and worship shines a light in the darkness.
The Great Commission and the Great Commandment need the Great Foundation to shine a Jesus worthy light the darkness can never overcome.
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