Category: Theological Rant
Reconciliation . . .
So, my denomination receives a special offering at this time of year to support the work of becoming a pro-reconciling/ anti-racist church among the company of saints. This work is focused primarily in race relations and dismantling systemic bias within the denomination that preferences whites. If you follow the argument that one must start somewhere, then reconciliation ministry that works to create just systems free from a bias “for” or “against” race is not a bad place to begin. The problem is that we are primarily happy with “separate, but equal” within our denomination as are most mainline congregations, it seems to me, though as a white male of privilege I make that observation with little discomfort. Within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we have perceived co-equal General Minister & Presidents though we unite under one person with that title; and though we like to think of ourselves as progressive, the fact that our organizational GMP is a woman is a theological problem for some that would claim our heritage or freedom. The fact that Hispanic, Asian, and African-American members all have their “own” acting GMP, all male for that matter, seems lost on many in the same way as saying that Trinitarianism is not biblical nor monotheistic. This is reconciliation? But, we receive funding from members to support the work of reconciliation ministry trusting that one day, not too far off, our theology will catch up to our pragmatism and reconciliation can mean something broader than it does today. I was asked to give the “moment for mission” at our congregation on Sunday about the Reconciliation offering. I failed to note that 50% of the gifts from Oklahoma congregations return to the Oklahoma Region to support our funding of ministries that work for justice which are currently focused on race and economics.
A few years back our expression of Christian witness embraced an identity statement that defines the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as “being a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.” One way to interpret this widely cast net is an invitation to reconciliation, to reconcile, as individuals and congregations, with persons and systems that are within our sphere of inflluence. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that kind of community of faith?
We can reconcile a bent, bruised or broken relationship with a friend, co-worker, family member, or someone we once shared a pew with or attended our church.
We can reconcile that celebrating an open table, inviting everyone and anyone who claims Christ, means practicing and being accountable to the way of Jesus, love God and neighbor as yourself, consistently no matter the barrier: race, religion, sexual orientation, economic status or any other negative “ism” the world embraces.
Or, we can reconcile ourselves to the ways the world works. If we just acquiesce, accept, that there will always be money in politics, or we will always have the poor with us, or there is little we can do to change the systems that govern then we will get along in life with less anxiety, maybe a bit happier.
Today and next Sunday, (Oct. 2) Disciples congregations will receive the Reconciliation Ministry Offering. This money is used to fund our denomination’s mission priority to become an pro-reconciling/ anti-racist church through experiential education, inclusive worship and intentional dialogue across racial/ethnic difference. This congregation, Bethany Christian Church, is a mirror for others about how to integrate being reconciled beyond racial and ethnic conversations. Where Week of Compassion provides blankets, clean water, and emergency funding for those in crisis, our Reconciliation ministry provides grants to congregations that are intentionally involved in making justice happen. Being reconciled, embracing reconciliation, is an expression of Christian witness. As you consider your gift to support the work of Reconciliation ministry in our denomination how will you reconcile participating in that kind of community of faith?
Sightings
Sightings
September 12, 2011Cretan Partisans
— Martin E. MartyWe Americans are not as smart as the ancient Cretans, at least in one very important respect. There were good reasons to ponder their example this weekend during the solemn observances of 9/11 after ten years. Ordinarily the mission of Sightings is to relate signals from current mass media to the concerns of “public religion,” and documenting our column with reference to some article or program. This week we will not be doing so, not because documents are few but because there are so many. I didn’t need “Search” keys or instruments to find a document; the 9/11 signals found me.
Many of these were loaded with “public religion” meanings, as citizens mourned, argued, expressed resolve, disguised their fears, politicized their reminiscences, and mourned again. We who comment “religiously” in the public realm were supplied on line and in print with ideas for conferences, programs, talks and, yes, sermons. Gathering thoughts about them I found myself using three mental shelves. The one, already mentioned, can be marked “mourning.” Thinking about the hundreds and thousands of lives of victims directly “hit” by the event naturally prompts mourning. We may not have ritualized mourning well, but we mourned.
The second shelf could be labeled “Defense Strategies,” on which most of my sources and I, especially I, are not equipped to make proposals. The empirical situation occasions a “Pretty Well Done” response. Fearful and tentative as we are and have to be, religious or not, in the face of our enemies and crazy people, we can begin responding with a nervous “we’re still here” boast. Yes, nutty individuals have taken a few post 9/11 victims and their presence, along with the threats of malevolent and armed enemies, and they continually cause and will cause us to remain mindful, without prompting, of dangers.
Then there’s the third shelf for sorting responses, and here is where the ancient Cretans come in. I ran across them and the relevance of their obscure record a half century ago when looking up the word “syncretism” for doctoral work, and it has stayed with me ever since. While there are competitive etymological clues, the one which wins derives from Plutarch’s Moralia, and which got a new boost from Erasmus’s Adagia of 1517-18. With Plutarch and Erasmus as back-ups, one can be bold. Plutarch coined synkretismos, referring to the way the always contentious, divided, and warring-among-themselves men of Crete responded when enemies threatened: they forgot about their squabbles and formed the “Cretan federation.” Erasmus quoted himself in a letter, arguing that “Concord is a mighty rampart,” as those squabbling Cretans did when they needed rampart but which many Americans have not yet learned.
Back to 9/11—did you think we left it behind? (We never may!)—w may have learned from it something about how to mourn and to defend, but on “federating” like the Cretans did, we are nowhere. Instead of uniting across the boundaries set by squabblers, citizens squabble more. Yes, there are interfaith and ecumenical movements, but every church, synagogue, and mosque I know is doing anything but find “concord.” Name one denomination—can you?—that is not threatened by partisanship from within. Now ponder partisanship: Can you remember or do you know of any decade more torn apart by actions and factions among and within parties—care for tea?—than our ten years have seen? Cretans, Plutarch, Erasmus: note that we are slow learners!
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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.