discipleship

Life Together During a Pandemic

In 2020 we have experienced more disruption, change, suffering and loss than imaginable.  Much of what we have come to depend on has either been put on pause or stopped altogether.  Such large-scale change and disruption can tear at the fabric of social institutions.  The church, however, when at its healthiest, expects these storms to come and is nimble enough to weather them because its hope isn’t found in traditions, status or familiar routine.  Rather, according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Christian community reflects its assurance in God through its life together based on:

  • Spiritual love for one another rather than emotional love
  • Spiritual practices that keep God in the forefront, not the background
  • Solitude before God rather than noise of self-righteousness  
  • Service to another through listening, active helpfulness and forbearance
  • Confession of sins from one Christian sinner to another 

Bonhoeffer devotes a chapter to each of these in his classic book, Life Together.*  Bonhoeffer knew something about Christian life lived together before God; as a professor at Finkenwalde Seminary he was molding the lives of seminarians in the face of the rise of Hitler’s Third Reich.  Everything that Christians had taken for granted about their lives in enlightened Germany were being challenged.  A devout nation, Germany was also on the cutting edge of art, philosophy and innovation.  But out of such success came collapse after the great war, the worldwide depression and devastating inflation that left Germany weak and uncertain. 

Church leaders in Germany traded influence in Hitler’s Third Reich in exchange for a prophetic witness.

The Covid-19 pandemic, a renewed racial reckoning, partisan political rancor, job loss, school closings and no sports (!!!)  have left our heads spinning and grasping for something certain to hold on to.  How should Christians respond in the face of so much change, so quickly?  Bonhoeffer’s Life Together has helped me address this question.  He was clear that an individual Christian’s faith was tied up in the participation and purpose of the larger Christian community.  He believed a Christian community’s life together can withstand these disruptions because its purpose is founded on honoring God’s work in sinful people despite their brokenness.  Their shared daily practices, selfless love, Bible reading, meditative prayer, service to one another and confession didn’t change when the world around them changed.  Rather, these practices prepared them to face difficulties.  They defined the community.  

The world around the faith communities have been altered for the foreseeable future.  Consequently, we have had to change some of the familiar ways we gather for worship and discipleship.  But, has such changes impacted who we are and why we exist as a faith community?  Where we feel it has, we must look at the practices and expectations that make us feel this way.  Are they from God or from our own emotional reaction?  Where we have held firm in devotion to God, we should celebrate and continue in that path.  

Bonhoeffer is teaching me that while changes will come to society and to our churches that are scary, not only can we find blessed assurance in the core practices of our faith, they can pave the way to new life and vitality for our tomorrow.  Pray for the church and its leaders as we navigate this path.  May we do so with humility, forbearance and grace toward one another, because otherwise, change is so hard.  

*Check out Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together.  There are editions available from Harper Collins and Fortress Press.  It is a brief but “meaty” volume that will have you chewing on God’s wisdom for days and weeks to come.       

Taking Up Our Cross

The challenge to those we teach today is to understand the cross and apply it to our circumstances.

What is a cross?  Its symbolism and meaning are ubiquitous today.  It’s certainly more than an intersection of two lines.  It’s a fashion accessory for many.  We see it in appear in all types of art.  For sure, its a symbol of our faith.  We see placed prominently in Christian churches of all stripes.  We see it used as a memorial and in cemeteries.  Its presence can bring peace and assurance to our life and faith.  But unfortunately, it has also been misused over time as a symbol of intolerance, threat and fear.  Certain “Christian” bodies have used it to signify that their perspective is right and all others best move out of the way. While this is as far from the message of Christ as one can get, it actually is in keeping with the original Roman intent for the cross.

A Roman cross wasn’t a thing of beauty.  It was something to be feared.  It was an instrument the Roman authorities used to establish their rule far beyond Rome as they subdued people and civilizations that stretched as far north as modern day England, as far south as Morocco, and as far east as Iraq.  In doing so, they achieved a span of about 200 years, between 27 BC and 180 AD, which is known as “Pax Romana,” or Roman Peace.  During this time, their empire thrived, intricate roads were built connecting this vast empire and aqueducts carried fresh water into cities and dirty water away.  But the cross may have been one of its most useful instruments.

The cross was a popular method of dispatching threats to the empire. “Romans practiced both random and intentional violence against populations they had conquered, killing tens of thousands by crucifixion,” says New Testament scholar Hal Taussig, who is with the Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Crosses were then used as a way to repress any possible insurrection.  They were usually set up in public places, like at a crossroad, and became a signpost to all who traveled that Caesar and Rome was a power to take seriously.  This cross did not offer people traveling directions but rather, with a corpse left hanging on it offered directions of another kind:  Know your place in this Roman order and everything will remain peaceful for you.  Make even the slightest waves in opposition and you can expect to join this man on your own cross.  These “signposts” were found all over the Roman world.

This is what the disciples had in their minds when Jesus, after being identified as the Messiah, announced “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  Can you imagine both the horror and confusion that must have surrounded them?  This gifted rabbi that people had been flocking to hear speak and be healed by is telling us that he is the long awaited savior of our people.  He’s the Messiah!  But instead of saving us from the oppressive Romans, he is asking us to embrace their form of submission!

No wonder Peter, who first identifies Jesus as the Messiah, reacts so forcefully at Jesus’ teaching of his rejection.  Peter, like many of us, wants to take control of the situation and preserve his leader and movement.  Given the context of the Roman world, perhaps Jesus is simply stating a fact.  If I am what you say I am, the local authorities and ultimately Rome’s response will be to kill me.  But Peter’s desire to fight fire with fire was not the agenda God had planned for his son.  And, after forty days of training in the wilderness to resist satan’s temptations, Jesus’ work pays off as he resists any plan of self-preservation, even when it comes from his star pupil.

Would-be messiahs were nothing new in first century Palestine.  More than a few had risen to prominence, with their own band of disciples and the cause of God and nationalism as their banner.  Violence and death were always their end as they resisted the empire’s strength.  After each demise, there was nothing left to show for their efforts.  Jesus’ call was to embrace, on behalf of his followers, the path of savior through martyrdom.  Looking back at the witness of Christ in the gospels, it appears that part of God’s beautiful plan was that only through the embrace of self-sacrifice can the movement of God’s reign ever come in any significance.

What does this scripture have to say to followers of Christ today?  What kind of self denial and cross is Jesus asking us to carry?   And how abrupt and difficult is such a message to our ears?  To answer, we must first start with the question, “who do we say Jesus is?”

Who do we say Jesus is?  This question makes all the difference.  If we are going to take up our cross, we first have to believe the cause is worthy of suffering.

This is the question that gets this whole scene started.  Jesus and his disciples have been traveling from town to town preaching God’s kingdom, casting out demons and healing the sick.  He’s developed quite a fan club.  And Jesus wants to gauge his disciples by asking them about the folks they are encountering.  What are they saying about me?  Do they recognize me?  But ultimately, he wants to know if they, who have been with him the most, recognize him for who he really is.

When Peter makes his confession, the wheels start to turn. A messiah by any other name than Caesar is someone with a mark squarely on his shoulders.  The disciples have given up everything to follow him.  With this news, they may have to give up their life.  Peter and the others were probably ready to die for Jesus’ cause, to go down swinging in a fight against the evils of the empire.  What Peter did not like, what he didn’t fully understand, was Jesus’ acceptance of what seemed like defeat.  His teaching that he would die seemed like a certainty, not a possibility.  How could the Messiah be victorious when he was ready to accept death at the hands of the enemy?

Yet, as the story plays out, Jesus’ death is not the end but rather the beginning.  Jesus’ death changes everything.  Jesus’ willingness to trust fully in God’s authority over everything rather than the Ceasar’s violent version of reality, put Jesus on a cross but brought those who follow him life.  Today the Pax Romana is but an ancient history lesson.  But the gospel of Christ is embodied in every person who believes and follows.  Jesus’ death and resurrection was the ultimate signal that humans, no matter how powerful or threatening they appear, can’t really have any lasting power over God’s creation.

So, how we understand who Jesus is will make a difference in how we understand the cross that Jesus asks us to carry, and our willingness to pick it up and follow him.  What is our cross today?  Is it worth our sacrifice in order to bear it?

The challenge to those we teach today is to understand the cross and apply it to our circumstances.  The cross may not mean a literal death or martyrdom.  Rather, it may mean that we have to daily say no to things that stand in the way of our ability to fully trust in God alone.  What systems and technologies do we trust more than God?  Are we able to fully claim the way of Jesus above the way of capitalism, a particular political point of view, the threat of violence, a work ethic that drives us to continuous work or lifestyles that compromise our ability to see God at work and join God there?

These lifestyles, as an example, are not necessarily scandalous.  But, it very well may be in our comfort, in our overwhelming options of how to use our time and wealth, that we choose being served rather than serving. What does this look like?  If it is a continual guilt trip, then we don’t want it.  But, I think the Jesus way is a simple truth that our life is more than the conveniences we have become enslaved to.  As we follow Christ, we start to recognize this but too often we give into our own Peter rebuking us, trying to keep us safe, in a predictable place we can control.

Following Jesus is a greatest adventure.  Walking in his footsteps brings us purpose beyond anything else society can offer.  The tension is that society doesn’t want this adventure and doesn’t trust it or celebrate it.  Society wants to stay in a system that is predictable and controllable.  The adventure of faithfully following Jesus will either go under the radar of popular culture or it will be rejected.  This is just one of the crosses we as Christians are called to bear.  Being unpopular, crazy or both.

So, what does it mean to bear our cross?  We have collective crosses we must bear faithfully for God such as coming to terms with gun violence in America.  And we all have our own crosses that require sacrifice and faith to bear.  What will it look like for a community of Christ followers to bear our burdens (our crosses) together?  Is it possible?  I pray and hope that it is.

For a radical example of taking up the cross, Greg and Helms Jerrell have followed Jesus’ call to minister among a marginalized neighborhood in Charlotte, NC (http://qcfamilytree.org/).  Instead of pastoring in a church setting, which would have perhaps brought them more comforts and middle class lifestyle, they were called to Enderly Park.  Their choice has made them who they are and they wouldn’t change a thing!  A mission team will go to serve with them and learn with them June 27-30.  Sign up at http://www.hrbcrichmond.org/my-hrbc

Discipleship after Charlottesville

The events of last weekend in Charlottesville have weighed heavy on me this week.  Especially as I read the accounts of that day and the varied responses from leaders of all stripes, both religious and political.   My concern comes in wondering how the will church respond?  And more specifically, how will our church respond?

I know how the church of Jesus Christ should respond.  And it would be unequivocally in step with the witness of Jesus, who proclaimed his mission in Luke 4 to “proclaim the good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

But part of why I am so uneasy these days is due to my worry over whether the church is able to follow Jesus’ witness into the fray of race, privilege and power and have an honest conversation.  Can the church name and confess the times and ways, both past and present, in which it has used its privilege and power for gain at the expense of other people created in God’s image? Are we ready or even willing to stand in solidarity with the minority and the immigrant when they are intimidated and threatened?  Are we able to name it clearly as evil?

Likewise, are we able to also acknowledge there have been large numbers of white Americans who have felt forgotten and hurt – especially as they see their livelihoods closed and sent overseas; as their towns that used to have life and vigor are now empty and impoverished?  Are we ready to hold in tension the reality that race does play a role in who we are, yet should not define our worthiness in the eyes of our neighbor as it certainly does not in the eyes of our creator?

There is real hurt, even anger across our land.  Political activism isn’t the only solution here.  Certainly, violence and intimidation, on any side is the opposite of a lasting solution that has in mind the common good.  What is our solution?  This is where you, the Life Community Leader, becomes important.  Are you prepared to help your group wrestle with these questions?

What is the point of Sunday school, or what we now like to call Bible study or LIFE community groups?  Yes, fellowship, care and support are a needed part of Christian community.  But our main reason for being is to create a learning environment in which disciples learn to:

  • Become critical thinkers who, guided by the Holy Spirit, interpret the Word for themselves, in community
  • Take what they have learned from Bible study and worship and apply it to decision making and action in their everyday life.

Pastors have often said they prepare their weekly sermons with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.  Which is to say:

Provided what I know about the Bible, how do I, as a Christian, respond to what is happening around me?

How do I lead other Christians to do the same?  This is a responsibility we all must carry – not just pastors or Bible study leaders.  We all have a responsibility to interpret the world’s behavior and our own behavior in light of the entire Biblical witness.

So my prayer for you as we face what could become a prolonged period of social unrest and even violence is that we muster the ability to faithfully guide our groups in interpreting the events around us through the lens of our faith in Jesus Christ.

This is of particular import in light of society’s lack of regard for truth.  Never has the water been murkier.  Today, truth is only what aids someone in furthering their cause.  People, through the power of social media and 24 hour news cycles, have become masters at distraction and confusion.  For Christians, we should be about the transparency of furthering the cause of Christ.

In the case of last weekend, the truth is that anyone who seeks to intimidate, threaten, frighten, or harm another of God’s creation based on creed, nationality, or color is wrong.  Without exception.  It is the truth of Christ and we must protect it from being confused.

I am not asking you to take a political side, to make a judgement call on statues or tell your class how to think.  I am simply commending you to place as the highest value for your class the desire to create disciples who seek the truth together, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  But I also stand with you and pray for you that our starting point be one that reflects God’s love for everyone.  It must be.  My earnest prayer for myself and all our Christian leaders is that, in love, we humbly guide our church to love everyone – even the perpetrators of hate.  But we must always stand unequivocally against ideology and practice of hate.

Remember Jesus’ words from Matthew 5:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me…  You are the salt of the earth … the light of the world.” 

I’ve read and processed a lot over the last few days.  Here are a few perspectives that I think really move the conversation forward:

From Richmond Christian Leadership Initiative – a checklist of Christian leadership practices when deciding “what should I do?”  http://rcliweb.org/checklist/

This may be the best example of practicing Christ-like love for everyone in the face of persecution:  http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy

A perspective from a young CBF pastor, who also happens to be black, about Charlottesville and the church:  https://baptistnews.com/article/charlottesville-past-time-conversation/#.WZStqlGQzIV

A first-hand account of the events in Charlottesville from an evangelical leader and steps forward.  http://brianmclaren.net/what-i-saw-in-charlottesville/

And from Layne Smith, who has been serving at Chautauqua Institute in upstate NY, a quote from Michael Gerson:

Michael Gerson, conservative columnist for Washington Post said at the Chautauqua Institute this week:

“There is life and death, the Scriptures say, in the power of the tongue. Words can provide permission for prejudice.”

“If great words can heal and inspire, base words can corrupt.”

Our word choice is “…a test of our anthropology.”

“We need a politics that calls us to the common good, not the triumph of our tribe.”

“We need religious leaders who will emphasize the ‘imago dei,’ not the controversy of the day.”

“If people have the traits of compassion and generosity, the ‘thick walls of contempt’ will be broken down.”

“This is the strange alchemy of empathy. We serve our principles best by loving people even more than our principles.”