what is hanging in the balance now?

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

1 Peter 4:12-19; NRSVue

Wherever you are as an American on the political spectrum here, you’ll have grave concerns about the past, present and future. We have lived in a privileged existence, and it looks like that is under great stress at this time. One thing most Americans agree on is that democracy itself is at stake here. There is even a so-called Christian disdain against democracy, aligned to some extent with the Christendom of the past, focused on implementing a “Christian” order. That is another subject in itself.

Another matter is just where our priorities should lie as followers of Christ, Christians in that sense. We now live in a different setting in America compared to those who lived at the time of Peter’s writing. Rome was then in charge with no ands, ifs or buts about it. In the rule of Caesar, there was no representation of the people. Now we have that, and as Christians we do well to advocate for what we consider to be good. We still have that freedom at the moment, but the problem now is that everything seems more than less partisan in the limited two-party system here.

What has happened in my lifetime since the 1960s and gaining momentum from the 1980s and 90s up to the present day is a culture war which initially was a reaction to the government telling a Christian institution that it could no longer bar Blacks from its spaces. That was the basis of the founding for the “Moral Majority.” After a few years abortion became the issue which they found united and gave momentum to their cause. The fallout from this race based, abortion, religious freedom platform has been great. There is little to no incentive to work with the other side on issues like abortion, and all kinds of other issues. We’re at a place now where there’s one side spurred on by Christians who want to take over entirely, be the ones in charge, with others in line according to that. So it’s a challenging time since there are a host of Jesus-followers and others who are opposed to that.

What is hanging in the balance now? I think for us as Christ-followers, it’s a time of purging, salvation for us in that sense. What does our faith tell us about the good we ought to be doing? Where do our priorities lie? Is it about our own protection and freedom? Or is it with the values which Jesus taught us: to love our neighbor, to be the neighbor when anyone is in need. To welcome the stranger, the refugee. To advocate for fairness for all. To stand against racial and gender discrimination, particularly right now against the transgender community. To stand against war and the destruction of innocents such as is happening in Gaza, both Israel and Hamas utterly failing in their use of horrific violence.

So all of that and more are important to us as Christ-followers. We won’t be uniform exactly in how we think and approach such matters. But there are certain things that forever should mark us. We don’t advocate force of any kind. We rather appeal by words, and mainly by works, by what we do. We are willing to stand with those who are considered the dredge of society, in the way, a nuisance or even danger which needs to be pushed to the side, cancelled, even eliminated. We stand for the humanity of all. We look for solutions to problems, not imagining there will be perfection in such in this life but pushing toward that ideal.

With that, what do people see in us? Democrats? Republicans? MAGA followers? Patriotic Americans? You fill in the blank. Rather, shouldn’t they be seeing people who are not known as any such, but rather as Christians in the sense of which Peter talks about above? Followers of Jesus, as Jesus taught and lived in the four gospel accounts? Yes, that. That alone is our identity from which we live. There’s no doubt that we all have our opinions on political matters of this world. But we are in allegiance to one Lord, Jesus. Our following of him means that all peoples are embraced as those whom God loves. We continue on in that way, expecting difficulty, maybe even suffering. But the only way we’re to live in this life as followers of Jesus.

the church and Christian faith in a pluralistic world

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

there is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
who gave himself a ransom for all

—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-7; NRSVue

During the time this letter was written, during Paul’s life, or probably sometime later, written in his name as letters sometimes were in the past with some kind of authority (ecclesial? note the pastoral epistles, or my own preference, by the Spirit discerned by the church), Christians did not have positions in government, unless there were instances of those serving in such places coming to faith. The arguably (I believe) disastrous Constantinian revolution in which church and state had essentially merged as one had not yet come to be. The Roman government in the world in which the church was emerging was in charge.

Note Paul’s words (for convenience’s sake, we’ll attribute it to Paul, whoever actually wrote it). What is the church supposed to do? To pray, pray for all who are in authority. During the time of this letter, a number of Roman emperors came and went. Unlike after the Constantinian shift when only Christians could serve in government and the military, or at the very least the empire was Christianized, made “Christian,” setting the table for the Christendom that would survive past the time of the Roman empire, all were expected to either adhere to religious practices connected with the Roman gods, or stay in their place. That was the world in which Paul lived (note Acts 17) and what followed for some generations after.

Let’s consider today. The world itself is far from monolithic. What supposed Christian nations there are, while often wanting to keep their ethnic and cultural identity, there’s no escape from other ethnicities, cultures and religions given the upheaval due to wars and famines along with other factors. Although the United States certainly has a checkered history, the US is a nation of immigrants, albeit bringing many African slaves which gave the nation as a whole, and particularly those in charge and in ownership, unprecedented prosperity. While also often dishonestly and ruthlessly pushing native, indigenous peoples out. In spite of all this wrong, the US along with neighbor Canada have both emerged as perhaps the two greatest melting pots of the nations on earth. I stand to be corrected, but that’s from what I’ve gathered.

Now, trying to apply Scripture, God’s Word, the passage quoted above to this present time. Yes, it was a different world then, quite patriarchal and the Romans with all their religious practices but given the territory that the empire had conquered and occupied, there were certainly diverse cultures and religions present. Notice that Paul doesn’t tell them to pray for the overthrow of the empire so as to put in a godly, Christian government. No. Simply to pray for all in authority, so that the church, followers of Christ might live faithful to their calling in peace. There’s nothing in the words suggesting any kind of takeover, much less the use of force to impose Christian standards or law or principles on others. Instead, Paul and those in that tradition which followed wanted to establish something of an understanding of how they were to live faithfully in the empire along with what today we would call a pluralistic society.

As far as influence goes, “a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” along with the truth of the good news in Jesus seem to be the only factors in play. Not some Christian endeavor to put the government in some supposedly godly place. This is not at all unlike what we read in Jeremiah’s words to God’s people, the Jewish exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1-9). Unlike what the many false prophets were telling them, they were to settle down in that pagan place, seek its welfare and pray for it, because the good of that empire would be their good. Of course, that would not mean God’s people simply rubber stamp what’s going on. But neither would it mean that they should expect a conversion to the Jewish faith, much less some forced miraculous takeover of Babylon to that end.

Unfortunately, what we’re seeing today in the United States along with some other nations is not at all what Jeremiah and Paul were getting at. While there are different versions of it, it’s essentially a supposed Christian takeover of government, perhaps allowing the presence of other faiths and cultures, but being the ones in charge. What good there was which came with the founding of the United States, even though certainly not lived up to, a law-based democracy in which all people are created equal so that peoples of different faiths and cultures can live peaceably together is categorically rejected. The idea of participation by all in the nation state which I think was the intention of the founding fathers of the United States is denied. Instead of a civil religion which acknowledged the Christian roots which were present, as well as acknowledgement of God as the God of all, while allowing everyone religious freedom, there is the denial of such in what amounts to be a heavy handed white Christian nationalism. The idea is getting back to some ideal which frankly never existed. Or if I’m mistaken in some cultural way, then an ideal which really can’t be replicated given the history which has transpired and the different demographics of the present time. What is advocated or winked at is not quietness and peacefulness, but quite the opposite. A loud, violent voice to create by force a nation which will be Christian in name only. In which those churches and believers who are seeking to be followers of Christ as always in this world continue to live in exile.

division can be necessary and even good

For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.

1 Corinthians 11:18-19; NRSVue

Although this is far from new, today there seems to be a plethora, plenty enough and more of division in churches and within the church at large. For a host of reasons. One at the forefront now, splitting church denominations is the issue of LGBT inclusion. That is more upfront. What is less so, but just as insidious is the issue today of Christian nationalism, the Christian flag and American flag together in a display of the white Christian nationalism in the fabric of many churches. Other issues, too, but these two seem at the forefront for now.

Reaction to such can be swift or slow. Sometimes even decades go by, churches as divided as ever and there might seem to be a truce. Yet some things call for a clearcut answer at least eventually, that conviction equally shared by both sides. That’s when it’s surely a good time to be honest, call it what it is, and not trying to reconcile what actually is or has turned out to be irreconcilable.

Paul was dealing with a young, troubled church which was given to division. That is evident at the beginning of his first letter to that church (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). Even though that would be the ultimate, ideal goal, there was no way these factions were going to drop their differences and unite anytime soon. It turns out that some of the differences in themselves likely didn’t matter, while others certainly did as we can see in the above passage.

Paul (or written in the name of Paul) points out elsewhere that we’re to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). But sometimes that becomes not only difficult, but impossible. In the tradition I was raised in, churches left over dress and rules, some to be more conservative, others to drop such rules. To this day such division, while seeming relatively unimportant on the surface compared to some matters still holds sway over many. I for one, with all respect for those who emphasize certain church rules and dress, and even finding some good in rules in church as a liturgical expression of faith in the gospel, I would differ.

Where two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus said, he is present (Matthew 18:20). That for me in essence is what is central to the church is in its experience. For me Jesus is most present in my experience in the weekly gathering Deb and I are a part of. To think that Jesus is present in only one side or the other of a division is to fall into the same kind of mindset Paul was dealing with in the young church at Corinth. We do well to remember that.

At the same time the point Paul makes above seems poignant for today. We have churches who believe the gospel is at stake and yet take different sides on the LGBT issue. The inevitable splits which occur over this doesn’t mean that Jesus is present in one faction and not the other. It surely does mean that over time what is approved of God and genuine will rise to the surface and prevail, and what is not, won’t. It is truly remarkable that denominations are arising, and others splitting over this issue.

Paul’s point seems to be that such factions or divisions are necessary for a time or during this time and space. When I was part of a traditional church on this issue, I used to tell Deb that such believers simply ought to join or be a part of a church which accepted and affirmed them. We know well enough why such a division exists. Christ is present today and what is genuinely of Christ will become evident, even while churches and believers remain divided on such.

I can’t take the Holy Communion with churches because of division, I refer here to the Roman Catholic Church, surely the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well. It just seems division is endemic, a part of the life as it is now. Hopefully many walls will break down over time. When churches and denominations can show unity in the gospel, they definitely should. But in the meantime, we should and actually will have to “live and let live,” with the assurance that what is good and genuine in God’s eyes will prevail. The division now putting that to the test so that this will become evident.

today’s correction of Jesus’s mistaken words to Pilate

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

John 18:28-38; NRSVue

Contrary to Jesus’s witness and declaration to Pilate, we are finding out today that Jesus was mistaken. Here are Jesus’s words I’m referring to from the passage above.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

John 18:36; NRSVue

We’re discovering today something that actually the church for centuries has often been complicit in. But today a significant part of the church is making it clear that Christ’s kingdom is indeed of this world, that the church is more than willing to at least be complicit with and even involved in the sanctioning of violence, that this is part of the gospel of Christ to the world. That indeed it is to eventually be a takeover of the world by governmental, yes violent (military) force.

Jesus’s kingdom is indeed of this world unbeknownst to him. Jesus was mistaken. It’s a good thing the church is straightening him out now.

(To any reader who might wonder, no, I definitely don’t believe Jesus is being corrected today, but that the correction needed is squarely on the other side.)

what does it mean to know God?

Thus says the LORD: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say: Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the LORD: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people. But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbors work for nothing
and does not give them their wages,
who says, “I will build myself a spacious house
with large upper rooms,”
and who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
Are you a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the LORD.
But your eyes and heart
are only on your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.

Jeremiah 22:1-5, 13-17; NRSVue

There is nothing less than a crisis in and through God’s people today. Their gospel is simply to get people “saved,” so they will go to heaven someday, or perhaps healed as well, some would add even made rich, though that too often seems more like a pyramid scheme than anything sincere. When you consider everything, it seems clear enough to me that God’s people actually do more harm than good.

What is the vision of God? We especially have to turn to the Old Testament/ Hebrew prophets to find it, and then we see it both echoed and fulfilled in Jesus and God’s reign in him. It is a panorama of justice and goodness, human flourishing along with the flourishing of all creation. This is not rocket science. Theology I think too often complicates matters, and people get caught up in rabbit holes, secondary if even that to the main point, which gets all but lost, and for all practical purposes is lost in that process.

Follow the money and you’ll find idolatry in the mix. And in that mix will be a lot of good religion, even the cross with the flag draped over it. With some nationalistic, exclusivist vision capturing people’s minds and hearts, yes even the people who name the name of Christ and claim the good but historically sullied title, Christian. And what is pushed to the margins? The poor, the alien, the marginalized, the outcast. They’re all but forgotten. Seen to be a threat, or even evil. So completely opposite of the way of Jesus and true Christianity if we can even use that term anymore.

To know God is not complicated. Are we concerned about our families, about the poor, the down and out, about those in the most difficult places, the refugees, those cast out and despised, people exactly as they are? And are we acting in love on that concern? That is what it means to know God. Not merely saying a prayer to receive Jesus. Yes, as Christ’s body in the world, God in Christ is with us. But we know God only by knowing the true heart of God on the ground right where we live to begin with, and then beyond.

the vision of God then and now

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Amos 1:1; NRSVue

Amos like the other prophets had a vision which he saw from God. That is what the prophetic witness is all about. Discernment yes, which all too easily seems to be absent from much of the church. If that is not the case, then why is the church swept into the power play of the world as we see in a number of places, including the United States with the religious right? Churches and people swept into that have a vision, alright, but is it the vision of God? The only way that can be discerned is to begin to turn the pages of all of Scripture and with a special emphasis, I say, on Jesus and the prophets, meaning Old Testament or Hebrew prophets. Amos is a prime example of such.

Amos had a vision from God, and it was hardly flattering of God’s people or of surrounding nations. God’s judgment was imminent because of their sins. Amos could see right through rulers and through the people in general. That is a gift of what real Biblical prophecy is all about. Sorely lacking and in too many places seemingly entirely absent in the church. But again, like in days of old, like in the times of the prophets of old, yes, there’s a vision, but one that’s contrary and in opposition to the vision of God. Why does it have to be any different today than it was back then? If you painstakingly read and work through Scripture and especially the Old Testament prophets, and then work through the gospel accounts you’ll soon begin to pick up something of this vision and just how contrary the prevailing vision of God’s people is today.

Today it’s about protecting religious freedom, keeping the immigrant or alien out, denying the evil of the world system and systems within that, denying history, further marginalizing the marginalized to the place where they can no longer be, emphasizing a free market and what amounts to a rugged and often harsh capitalism which prioritizes money over people and over everything else, holding to a myth of olden times that never was, insisting on an absolute freedom as long as it lines up with the belief of its proponents so that others do not enjoy anything of the sort, and backing and being a part of an authoritarian rule which makes their vision of privilege and luxury at the expense of others, the law of the land.

Anyone who thinks this is all amiss needs to think again. Or better, simply begin to look at the prophets and Jesus. Read Amos, a good place to start (click above link). If it is not important to begin to see the vision of God and how that vision judges everything as well as points to the way of love of neighbor, as opposed to covetousness, then I guess so much of the Bible really doesn’t matter, at least not in what it’s trying to get at. Just old books for another time and place with little to no relevancy for us today, except maybe to get people to think about their own personal salvation or whatever.

the disaster of the present-day church in its allegiance to Caesar

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’ ”

Luke 4:5-8; NRSVue

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

John 18:33-38; NRSVue

I’m not qualified to write such a post, and I would do best to stay in the narrow lane I have. But I can offer a few thoughts.

For a number of reasons, the church has fallen on hard times, or at least in many places here in the United States. The largest Evangelical denomination is experiencing a precipitous drop in membership. At least one denomination is more than holding its own, but overall, there is a decline in church membership for a variety of reasons from what we can tell. And with the “nones” are many who are deconstructing their faith. For some, that’s been involuntary, or I mean something that has happened since they didn’t find themselves fitting well into the status quo. I would include myself in that category. For others, it’s more like a sudden drop, a crisis of faith. To some degree all of us who have left the Evangelical church can identify with that, since leaving any tradition of religious faith is not a small matter. For myself, a number of reasons have played into that, even as I appreciate the good and the best of what I’ve left behind. But I’ve happily found a new place in which at last I feel at home and am learning to fit in. To what’s considered mistakenly in so many ways but to what extent it’s true, a liberal expression of the Anabaptist Mennonite faith, back to my roots, though different, since my upbringing was an evangelical expression of that.

But now the Evangelical church has essentially called for people to decide, not about following Christ, no not about following Christ at all. But whether or not one is fully in agreement with the agenda which is near the heart of their thoughts, and a large part of conversation. “Are you fully committed to the culture war and our approach to that?” would be their question. I won’t go into details. Let the reader understand. Unless you’ve lived in a bubble somewhere, you will know.

There is one Lord only. Pay attention to that voice. It speaks no violence. But voices which speak violence, reject. Realize there’s only one gospel/good news, one authority we’re to be fully given to. Don’t agree to being used by something or someone else, so that you can use them. You know who wins in that, the one who holds power. What power are you being coopted into?

There’s no wonder that many people are leaving the church. Jesus is the judge. And he calls for something entirely different. Will we really hear and follow?

reality is reality (whether religion, science, or anything else)

Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.

Psalm 111:2; NRSVue

Truth has always been contested with the echo of Pilate’s words to Jesus: “What is truth?” And today even facts such as what happened and who said what are regularly contested with “alternative facts.” There has never been a greater needed for thorough and objective journalism minus the opinion of the journalist. Of course, everyone has a bias in how news is told, but everyone should try to present a full and fair picture and ask questions on every side to hold everyone accountable, not much different from a jury of law to determine as is the case here, what’s beyond reasonable doubt.

Whether you’re talking about the faith of Christianity, “mainstream science,” history, or anything else, what is real is real completely apart from one’s opinion on it. It doesn’t really matter what you or I think about anything. What we think might become “our truth” by which we conduct our lives, not unlike Pilate of old. But that doesn’t mean it approximates truth or the truth or reality that much if at all. I may think science has it wrong on any number of things, and as I heard someone recently say, one could make a thorough argument that the moon is made of green cheese and surely convince some. But that doesn’t mean it’s made of green cheese. One can deny the existence of God, but even if you can’t prove philosophically that God does or does not exist, reality is reality. We in the faith find compelling reasons in our experience and in other ways that God does exist.

Conspiracies abound today, and while the United States has always seemed prone to have a good number of people who accept such, it seems more and more endemic, especially among some religious folks. Involved in this is a way of misunderstanding Scripture which brings with it an apocalyptic mindset, often with the refrain something like, “The signs of Jesus’s return are more present than ever.” It seems to me that for too many, conspiracies are the way of understanding most everything. And I suspect that propensity will never end. It’s not like no conspiracy ever existed, and sometimes there is some truth within a false narrative, but what happens is that the cry of “fire, fire” or “wolf, wolf” when there is no fire or wolf present can actually set us up for disaster on the occasions when there really is something unfolding before our eyes that we need to see. Such is actually happening today in a silently complicit or active Evangelically supported push against liberal democracy toward a Christian nationalism enacted by force. People need to become aware of that actual conspiracy so as to stand against it in a democratic, nonviolent way.

Reality includes not only facts but also understanding. What might be behind such thoughts or beliefs? Does that make them suspect? For example, Hitler championed the idea that the pure German “race” was Aryan and superior to all others, and that Jews should be exterminated. He alleged that such was based on facts. For any human being or group, that ought to be seen through for what it was and is, a blatant lie and not reality, but a nightmare. But even Christians in that day, including some Mennonites in Germany including German Mennonite pastors lined up with Hitler and even served as leaders in the military unit of Nazi Germany. That did come to a crashing, devastating end. But we see something of that same mindset rearing its head in many places including the United States.

Reality is reality. God is God. God is in control in the sense that God is indeed sovereign over the nations and over all things. God will judge and is judging. We often say, “Oh, how long Lord?” Too much doesn’t make sense to us. But whether we can grasp it or not, there is something for us to hold on to. Reality ultimately grounded in God through Christ. And humanity held accountable for all that is done on earth. We can bank on that.

disillusionment over Christianity

Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.

Revelation 14:1-5; NRSVue

Like so much of the Bible, the above passage can be interpreted practically any way. Taken literally, which many including popular interpreters more or less do, it refers solely to men, 144,000, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. But Revelation is largely symbolic in its telling of the end of the story. What I personally think is the heart of this passage is a total following of Christ, and lives that increasingly line up with that. Whatever is not in line with that then, strictly speaking is not Christianity, not a following of Christ.

What might not be a following of Christ, or truly Christian today? Let me start a list. How about a Christian nationalism, and where I live in the United States it’s probably important to say a white Christian nationalism which depends on the state to implement the church’s view of how the world at large should operate. And notice some of the things that are part of that here in the United States: the denial that slavery is entirely evil, the insistence that we must have a ruler who is a mean sob and willing to kick rear end, the idea that our side is right and good and the other side is wrong and evil, the willingness and even desire to have authoritarian rule to impose their will on everyone else, the denial of science, the denial of history, saying everyone must fall in line with their sexual mores and that the LGBTQ+ community and especially right now, the transgender folks must get their act together and get changed or stay out of sight and not be referred to again all the while the religious folks breaking their own moral codes and indulging in pornography.

Jesus said let anyone without sin cast the first stone. That is why I dislike writing a post or even thinking like this. But it’s being sadly honest. I find good everywhere, and that certainly includes the churches I have no personal interest in attending. God’s grace continues, even in what to us might seem the most unlikely of places. God’s heart is so much larger than any of ours, the gospel much bigger in its scope and outworking than I think any of us can imagine. I know I need it every day, indeed every moment every bit as much as anyone else. And I acknowledge that I am wrong time and time again, and that I have nothing right in the way God does. And that I’m dependent on Christ’s body as we gather as church, that Jesus lives and breathes and moves and speaks among and even through us as we’re assembled.

But I have to admit that I have long been disillusioned with Christianity and especially with the Christendom which is not only in the air more and more nowadays but has verbal proponents of it and adherents as well. I don’t think I’m disillusioned at all with Jesus, with Jesus as portrayed in the gospels and told through the rest of Scripture. I’m not disillusioned with Scripture itself as God’s Word, as long as we know that it’s God’s word when spoken and read and applied through prayer and community for the present time as well as regularly in one’s own personal life and existence. I’m certainly not disillusioned with the body of Christ where two or three or more are gathered in his name Christ’s presence there.

What does following the Lamb wherever he goes actually mean? That’s the question. I don’t pretend to have all the answers or that I hit the nail on the head. But we had better go back to Jesus, to the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to the rest of the New Testament, to the entire Bible, to our gatherings in which we work through the implications of what love for neighbor means in a world of greed. To try to work toward what being Christian and following Christ actually is.

push through

My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, I wish I were present with you now and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Galatians 4:19-20; NRSVue

Yes, this is Paul in a specific situation. The Galatian believers did not seem ready for the breakthrough, the new way of being Israel. Well, this is my reading and understanding of it, anyways. They felt like the old covenant Jewish way of doing things was not just permissible, but mandatory. Paul is making it clear in this letter that Gentiles are essentially bound by only one requirement: faith in Jesus Christ. Period. So Paul finds himself as it were like a woman in labor until the baby is delivered, namely Christ formed in them by the grace which they had initially accepted.

What am I reading in this for today at the moment, at my moment? That I too need to push through in my own life, yes in the grace of God in Christ for sure, but through the difficulties, challenges, questions and bewilderment which I’m experiencing. And secondary for me in this pushing is the desire to see the church with me included in that of course to come to a better understanding of what it means to be in Christ today, to be followers of Christ in the present situation, in the present time.

I certainly don’t at all see myself as up to the task of the latter, and barely to the former, though I see that as possible. I certainly need the church, our church to help me push through in my own life. And only the church together can help the church at large see and come to a better understanding and place and along with that action.

I see it as more and more a discouraging time to live. And part of that is surely from my own lack of faith and understanding since it’s hard for me to see past the present crisis in both the church and in society at large. But if I settle down and settle in with others, surely together we can begin to imagine a better world. But maybe the first world has to collapse or at least come to something of shambles before something better emerges.

The church is the locus of God’s kingdom on earth in Christ. But too often it’s largely caught up in a mistaken nationalism of privilege so that the faith is essentially mostly a personal spiritual growth endeavor. But while the good news of Christ certainly includes personal spiritual growth, it’s also much more.

There will be a real, human, honest and might I add unconditional love for all people, including the ones who are either on the edge of being or actually are enemies. Until the church looks really human and quits acting like the gospel is the law for everyone else, I not only am uninterested, but far more than that, in opposition to such. Maybe like Paul of old I find it not at all Christ, but maybe more like Christendom.

I have to keep trekking in my own life toward the goal and perfection of Christ with others in the grueling every day sometimes perplexing details, even conundrums of life. While wondering how that fits into the whole. Not knowing exactly what is coming I am simply at the place of having to push through, and not only myself, but with others as well.