Who is in and who is out? We're back to that again in the scripture this week. The religious leaders of that day were concerned with religious rites and practices that we aren't as interested in today, but still the message rings loud and clear. The church often implements policies, procedures, sets of belief that exclude everyone from being at the table.
Dogma is defined by Merriam-Webster this way:
1. a: something held as an established opinion; especially: a defined authoritative tenet
b: a code of such tenets
c: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds.
2. A doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church
Do you see the irony in definition one and definition two? I find it alarming.
Jimmy Carter decided a few years ago to leave the Southern Baptist Church, a church he had been a part of his entire life, because of their continued ban on women clergy. He 'came out,' so to speak, in this statement. He no longer believed the dogma of the church that taught the women may not speak in church. He no longer believed it spoke to the Christian faith of his current day reality.
I have spoken many times on the ways our global UMC is not inclusive and follows dogmatic principles in ways that don't seem aligned with showing the Love of Christ in the world. Dogmatic views often lead to exclusion and, if we aren't careful, radicalization, which, at least in part, seems to be the slippery slope of logic tread upon by the two brothers involved in the Boston Marathon Bombing last week. Views that had become no longer filled with the abundance of love and hope, but rather the abundance of fear and intimidation.
In this scripture, if Peter and others had not challenged the authoritative status quo on matters such as who in the body of Christ can eat with uncircumcised Gentiles, the Christian movement might have very well died right in its infancy. It was the firm belief of the followers of the Way that Jesus Christ came for ALL people. This belief gave them the strength to challenge the status quo.
It is easy to complain about what our denomination continues to be dogmatic about. It is much harder to see what we become dogmatic about in our own congregation. What rules, practices, opinions, points of view do we hold that prevent us from opening our arms, hearts, doors wide to new people, new ways of being, new theologies, new ministries? It is the classic, "but we've always done it this way" conundrum. It really is.
Let women be clergy! We can't do that. Men are clergy; we've always done it that way.
Doesn't the same apply to when we fellowship, how and where we drink our coffee, who belongs in what Sunday School class, who engages in mission and who just writes a check? We've always done it this way=we don't care about/are afraid of/can't face a tomorrow that is somewhat out of our control.
Let's change that. Let's change the things that are most uncomfortable to change. Let's be like Jesus.
Questions? Comments? Email me or comment below.
Please continue to be in prayer for those who suffer in the wake of the Boston bombings last week. Pray for peace in not only the city of Boston, but also in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment