Of course I’m expecting this to be one of the chapters in D. Brent Laytham’s next series of books….right after the chapter entitled, “God Is Not A ‘He” and before the chapter “God Is Not A Christian.”

Enjoy:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom [of God] is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it’s a beginning, and a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the workers.

We are the workers, not the master builders.

We are ministers, not messiahs.

We are profits of a future not our own.

Toward that end, I’m pumped about this group called JASecon – Just Alternatives for a Sustainable Economy. In September 2009, they hosted a grassroots, bottom-up economy festival. More than 450 people and 50 organizations participated in a celebration for the emerging economy for the people and the planet. This is the type of activity that feeds my soul these days. Check out the video from the festival.

I’ve read the bylaws of the church I pastor multiple times and I figure I’ll read them over and over again until I have them about memorized. In reading them along with the church handbook, however, I stumbled across one thing that really raised a flag of concern. While I found many things that I’ll likely give focus and prayer to over the years, there was one thing that I felt needed to be addressed more immediately and it had to do with how the church organized itself.

Common among many churches of my experience and upbringing, the church bylaws where I’m blessed to serve props up a hierarchical structure in governance that I feel is problematic on a number of fronts. In the shape of a pyramid, the hierarchical arrangement puts God at the top, then the Pastor, then the Joint Board (made up of the Deacons and the Trustees) and then the different ministries falling below in various order. Many traditional churches have something similar to this.

However, this is not a structure that jives well with how God has wired me personally and more importantly (and at the risk of sounding dogmatic), it doesn’t appear to be a structure that’s undergirded by the life and witness of Jesus Christ.

No matter how affable or spiritual the people involved are, the hierarchical arrangement of church organization ranks people and sends messages about power and control. That arrangement implies that the Pastor is most valuable and powerful. He/She is thought to be closest to God and therefore is more important than everyone else under her/him. They also become the person who is viewed as knowing all things concerning God and Faith. While this appears to put the clergywoman/man in a personally favorable position; it’s been my experience that this sets the clergy up for perpetual temptations and potential burnout. It takes a lot of work to stay at the top of that ladder.

Additionally, that structure also tends to tempt those “below” to do all they can to climb the ladder. You’ll sometimes see people jockeying for church office like politicians do for elected office. Or others who are in mid-management church positions enjoy exercising their “power” over others.

Probably most regrettably, this traditional church structure convinces many in the pews that they have no power. No power to connect with God on their own. No power to study and think critically about the Faith. No power to embrace their own spiritual journey and trust God along the way. No power to effectuate what they discern that God is calling them to. Simply put “un-empowered” people don’t grow. The clergy person at the top of the ladder can get wrapped up in themselves, the weekly adulation, and become burned out by pretending to be the “spiritual know-it-all”. The people at the bottom can get wrapped up in depending on their pastor and other church leaders to do the work of ministry and spiritual formation for them while dragging them along for the journey. Both groups end up being enslaved.

This linear arrangement can create pretty quickly a terribly toxic and parasitic church environment.

However, when we read about how Jesus engaged issues of power, I believe it can help give birth to some fruitful conversations related to church organization and structure.

For example, some of you have read or know the familiar biblical story about Jesus miraculously feeding 5,000 men (not counting women and children – there’s a sermon in there!) in the desert. However, a lesser studied and discussed feature of this story involves the aftermath of the miracle and feeding. After more than 5,000 are fed the scripture says that the people were convinced that Jesus had a divine connection and wished to make him king. Knowing this, the text says that instead of embracing what looked like a landslide election to the throne of power, Jesus ran from them to a mountain by himself.

In another fairly well known instance, Jesus was hanging out with the disciples when the text says that James and John put forth an interesting request of Jesus. They wanted him to allow them to sit at his right hand and left when he “comes into his glory.” Jesus confesses that he is unable to grant that request and then he draws a comparison between how the Gentiles are ruled and how those in this “Kingdom of God community” would organize themselves. Jesus says the Gentiles are ruled over…authority is exercised upon them. Jesus says, but with you all whoever is greatest among you shall be your servant.

What might these two passages (and other passages) communicate in regard to Jesus’ take on social organization and arrangement? That’s what I have wrestled with (and will continue to wrestle with) in this still fairly new role as pastor. However, to make sure that this isn’t just theoretical exercise; I’m also re-arranging the power structure within a traditional church context in real time. I don’t have all the answers so this truly is a walk of faith. So far, I’ve gravitated toward a more circular representation of church organization similar to this structure offered up by this international Children’s organization, however, I’m also intrigued by some features of Riverview Church’s Leadership Structure.

I’m excited to take up this challenge of thinking differently about church organization and I look forward to learning from those I serve alongside about how our Faith calls us together in Christian community and witness.

I’d also be interested in hearing your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions for church organization today.

Pausing after a nice day of riding

About a month ago I shared that I was investigating alternative forms of transportation so that I might decrease the amount of pollution I’m personally responsible for, save some money that would have gone to gasoline, and ultimately worship God by being in greater harmony with The Almighty’s “good” creation. While I’m still looking at three wheel scooters like the Automoto; other financial priorities let me know that right about now I don’t have “automoto” money.

While I’ve committed myself to walk much more than I ever have; sometimes I need a faster mode of transportation. So I figured I needed a bike. And as crazy as it sounds, I felt within myself that I wouldn’t have to buy a bike. I felt like a bike would show up to me without spending money. So I started sharing with friends that I needed one and in short time one showed up. I put the word out on my Facebook page that I needed a bicycle and by that evening I received a message that there was a two wheel ride with my name on it. The next morning I picked up this beautiful blue bike (Thanks Ron!) and spent much of last week riding it to and from local meetings.

Each of my bike rides to meetings last week seemed to have just enough hills and valleys to make the ride rigorous without it being overwhelming. I noticed my energy increasing as well as the week went on. I also began to move into an understanding of what Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove calls the “wisdom of stability.” There is something to being content where you are in a culture that’s always on the go. Riding a bike keeps you pretty centered and grounded within a certain community.

Riding my new blue bike has been such a blessing that this Sunday – the Sunday before the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day – I’m leading my church in having a “Walk, Bike, or Carpool Sunday.” I’m gently inviting members of our church to experience the great variety of blessings that come with embracing simplicity as a lifestyle. In addition to walking, biking, or carpooling this coming Sunday; we’ll also be commemorating Earth Day by breaking ground on our vegetable/herb garden, learning more about composting, and learning ways that we can augment our diets so that it’s tasty AND healthy…all during our morning worship.

I’ve never had the chance to ride a bike to worship before so I’m really looking forward to this Sunday. Hopefully, other members of the church and community will meet me on the road and we’ll ride into the sanctuary together. Sometimes you have to model the type of community that you’re praying and wishing for. This Sunday will grant us the opportunity to do just that.

See you on the road!

Christians around the world began Holy Week yesterday by commemorating Palm Sunday – a day which marks the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. During his sojourn down from the Mount of Olives into the city, the scriptures record that he stopped and wept over Jerusalem saying in part, “If you, even you, had only known the things that make for peace.” [source]

It is a sorrowful prayer that applies to the United States of America as well. For this nation does not seem to know the things that make for peace. As Christians celebrated the unauthorized parade of the Prince of Peace on Palm Sunday; President Obama was in Afghanistan touting the feats of war. It was a stark picture which juxtaposed the priorities of the Kingdoms of this world with the Kingdom of God. Just as they did in scripture, the two kingdoms collided on Palm Sunday.

What a tragic irony and disheartening re-run of prophetic proportions. Indeed, there is no new thing under the sun.

Apparently, Maryland isn’t the only state opening the door for more gambling. Check out this piece from CNN:

It’s situations like these that remind me of the fact that politicians are generally not the ones who come up with progressive ideas to engage challenging or transformative times. Elected officials all around the country are pushing this “old idea” in a time where many people are searching for a new vision for the future. As the world’s social structures continue to crumble, people are realizing that the kingdoms of this world have long been promoting a way of life that is at best unsustainable and at worst criminal. The gig is up.

While the national and state governments continue grasping for straws; the truly progressive and sustainable ideas are coming from everyday people. That’s right. Not the corporate heads, not the TV talking heads, and not the politicians – but the people.

Even a surface study of contemporary American history will reveal that many of the best and most progressive ideas were NOT born in the halls of Congress or in the committees of City Hall. But the best ideas were often born in the bosom of the community that was most directly impacted by whatever the challenge was at that time. Our celebrity culture helps to mislead the masses into believing in their own inferiority when it comes to proposing ideas for the now and the future. However, it is everyday folks that have what it takes to lay the groundwork for what tomorrow needs to look like. Everyday folks need only have two important ingredients: imagination and at the very least an ambivalence toward the existing political arrangement.

Take for instance what’s going on in Ohio. The CNN video above spotlights the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, who along with his partners spent $50 million to convince voters to put another casino in Ohio – using the same ol’ tired casino-justifications: the money will be used for public education, horse racing, and will bring in jobs.

Now in that same state, while Gilbert and his guys are pushing the old idea, the community has come together to give birth to a progressive, forward-looking idea: Evergreen Cooperatives; a new model of economic development that created a network of employee-owned businesses.

As the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson, said at the end of the Evergreen video, “Cleveland wants to be where the world is going, not where the world is.” That’s the type of visionary ideas and ideals that we need in Baltimore, Detroit, and many other cities as well.

As Mario Osava says in his article – Another Kind of Economics is possible. And it’s up to us – regular folks to organize, become more informed, and transform our communities from below instead of waiting for help to come down from the top of the political hierarchy. (Here’s a secret: most of them don’t have a clue!)

For more ideas and stories about how communities are coming up with democratic, community-based, economic development options, check out this resource-rich website: Community-Wealth.org.

The continuing drama circling Goshen College right now has sparked an internal discussion within me. Goshen College, the private Mennonite school, recently reversed its 114 year history of not singing or playing the National Anthem before sporting events. Paying homage to its Christian roots of nonviolence and pacifism, the Mennonite school viewed the National Anthem as a “war song” which lauds the militaristic actions of the so-called United States. From their view, the anthem glorifies bloodshed and venerates violence as a path to eminence. It also trumpets nationalism and helps to props up the “America as greatest nation” myth.

From what I understand, the Christian Anabaptist tradition, of which Mennonites are a part, soundly reject not just the National Anthem, but anything or anyone that would seek to supplant the Lordship of Jesus Christ and subvert peacemaking as a way of life. Pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States of America would be out of the question for them. To me, they live out and have historically embodied the scripture in Philippians 3:20 which says, “Our citizenship is in Heaven.”

A national and ecumenical letter-writing campaign ensued because of Goshen’s decision play the National Anthem. I am amazed by the long list of passionate signers and personal stories from all over the nation and even other parts of the world that are decrying this decision.

Though Goshen College and other Mennonite schools are now turning their back on their tradition of nonconformity to the celebration of war-making via the Anthem; this dilemma does and should spark a question within other Christian communities as well.

TO WHOM SHOULD CHRISTIANS PLEDGE THEIR ALLEGIANCE?

Should we be “Romans 13 people” who embrace government as being appointed by God and subject ourselves to their authority? As a portion of Romans 13 reads:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

But if so, what do we make then of 1 Samuel 8: 1-21 which presents the acceptance of government authority over one’s life as being a rejection of God over communal life? Observe God’s reaction when the people of Israel request government authority to reign over them:

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.[emphasis mine] As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

However, different Christians engage this question, it is interesting to highlight that many of the narratives that we lift and celebrate in Christian worship involve resistance to the Power Structure. We celebrate Moses as being used by God to confront Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. We fondly remember Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (commonly referred to by their Babylonian slave names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) as being three youth who would not conform to King Nebuchadnezzar’s official decree to worship his gods and his image. Daniel is regularly memorialized for continuing to pray to God despite King Darius’ ordinance forbidding it for 30 days. (It’s important to note that Daniel did not accidently violate the ordinance. Chapter 6 verse 10 makes clear that he knew about the ordinance – as any government official would – and decided to pray anyway!) For a more thorough treatment of the biblical texts in relation to this theme, I would highly recommend the Anarchism and Christianity Primer mp3 recording by Nekeisha Alexis-Baker.

Looking past resistance to the Power Structure, we can’t overlook as Christians that the last book in our canon presents the absence of a human Power Structure. Revelation 21: 1-6 paints a clear picture of a new type of human existence with one glaring new reality: There is no empire, no government, no mayor, and no human king between God and people. Echoing Leviticus 26, a portion of the passage reads:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

So the situation with Goshen College and their decision to now acknowledge the government’s nationalistic war song (as some call it) presents a contemporary opportunity not just for Mennonites, but all Christians to explore the foundations of our Faith, the witness of our Holy Scriptures, and the leading of The Spirit to determine The Way of God today in relation to the question of allegiance and faithfulness in Empire.

Photo Credit: Zazzle.com

I have an uneasy feeling when it comes to Christian Missionaries. I know that sounds strange coming from a pastor. But anyone who reviews the history of missionaries from the Western, American context will find a deluge of disheartening examples connecting Christian Mission with subjugation, oppression, and the dehumanizing of Indigenous Communities. While all Christian Mission cannot be characterized as such; all too often from antiquity to more modern times, it has had a cozy relationship (if not a partnership) with colonialism, imperialism, slavery, and White Supremacy.

People of Color from virtually all over the world have a chapter somewhere in their history about their engagement with ambassadors from the Western World who often came with Jesus on their lips and ulterior motives in their hearts. I know that is a hard saying, but it’s something that must be said – particularly in the Christian Community today – if we ever are to embrace the whole of our collective human story and learn from it. The reality is that many White people have never faced the fact of their own privilege and therefore have never explored how its poisonous residue permeates the rest of their lives. (That’s why Chris Matthews from MSNBC’s Hardball can listen to President Barack Obama give his first State of the Union address and say, “I forgot he was Black for an hour.” Even in trying to give what he thought was a compliment, he delivered an insult probably because he has never thoroughly explored his own privilege and ingrained perceptions of race. What his comment really did was categorize “Blackness” as deficiency.)

I believe that’s one reason the movie, Avatar, has done so well around the world. The movie gives voice to Indigenous Communities. In a way that lowers psychological defenses, the movie tells the story of what happens when imperial interests locate new land and sense something valuable connected to that land or culture. While Avatar still has problematic themes that are present in many Western movies (such as the “White” man as Saviour motif, the marginalization of Indigenous Manhood, and the disconnection of the Indigenous Man from the Indigenous Woman), there are many lessons that the movie can teach about colonial imperialism. One of the most poignant of which revolves around the possibility of redemption for the colonizer.

However, redemption for the colonizer – or in our case in this article, the Christian Missionary, can only come when the Christian Missionary examines him or herself. Christian Missionaries would do well to explore the impact of language upon their theological construct. What does it mean when you say, “We’re going to ‘WIN‘ souls for Christ?” What does it mean when you characterize foreign communities as “LOST“? Dear Christian Missionary, what do you mean when you visit intentionally impoverished nations with the intent of “SAVING SOULS?” What beliefs are buried beneath your language? How do these beliefs impact not only your language, but your actions?

If I had my way, I would make it mandatory that every Christian Missionary spend significant time examining themselves, studying the history of Christian Mission from the Indigenous Perspective, and engaging in what might feel like very uncomfortable group dialogue to uncover racialized presuppositions related to culture, privilege, and Faith.

Christian Missionaries need to study and reflect on Christian Imperialism and the Transatlantic Slave Trade among other related historical occurrences. And they need to reflect on more modern occurrences which have interplay like how the U.S. Military has been using guns in Iraq and Afghanistan that are inscribed with Christian scriptures. (How does it feel Brother and Sister Christians to know that weapons of MURDER being used to spill blood in your name on foreign soil are inscribed with the words of your Lord & Savior?)

They need to analyze and reflect on the situation with the Idaho-based, Baptist Missionary Group in Haiti right now which has links to the Southern Baptist Convention – a convention with an admitted White Supremacist past and history of female subjugation as well. The Baptist Mission group in Haiti will tell you that they were there to “save” those poor children. It has seemed to become one of the latest phenomenon in the Western World to “save” children of color by adopting and removing them from their culture and community with little regard to how their disconnection from their culture will impact their development as human beings…much less any analysis of the social dynamics that even make it possible for parents to consider giving their children to White Saviors from the United States. It turns out that the more than 30 children who were kidnapped were NOT all orphans. Some of their parents survived the earthquake and for the parents that didn’t survive, who says the next of kin couldn’t have taken the child in? I’m not necessarily questioning the motives of the White Missionaries from Idaho – many people were moved with compassion upon seeing the devastation in Haiti and engaged in remarkable acts of kindness. What I am holding up for scrutiny, however, is the level of arrogance that this group had to possess in order to engage in this action. Reports have surfaced that suggest that Laura Silsby, the leader of this missionary group, “didn’t think about Haitian permission to take the children out of the country.” [SOURCE: The Baptist Press]. (The idiocy of that misstep aside, what levels of White American privilege and arrogance have to be present in order for you to think you can just fly to another country and take other people’s children like they’re tourist trinkets!?)

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It should.

Those sensitive to the history of Christian Mission from the perspective of the Indigenous Community, remember how Christian Missionaries engaged in aboriginal child separations and removals in Australia in the name of “civilizing” and “christianizing” the indigenous community – in hopes of ultimately destroying their culture and forcing them to assimilate into the dominant culture.

As I said at the outset, this analysis does not suggest that all Christian Mission and all Christian Missionaries are really tools of Western, White imperial plans. (I also don’t want to suggest that only White Missionaries become tripped up in the potholes of the western missionary paradigm. There are “westernized” missionaries of Color as well who propagate unexamined understandings of God and Faith in foreign lands.)

In light of all that I’ve shared, there are many examples as well of Christian Missionaries from the West who have surrendered their privilege and arrogance to follow the leadership of those within Indigenous Communities and probably most importantly have committed themselves to the establishment of real relationship with those in other lands. Relationship with no strings attached. A real “I-Thou” Human Connection that sees the Image of the Divine in the other.

That’s what Brazilian pastor, Claudio Oliver, recommends in this short youtube video. He speaks of the importance of “Friendship Trips” over the traditional “Mission Trips”. Heeding his words and the words of so many others like Lamin Sanneh who speak on these issues, will help prevent Christian Mission from drifting into a dangerously wayward direction that is disconnected from The Way of Jesus. This is a perfect time for Christian Missionaries to hold up the mirror, lay aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us, disconnect from the Western concept of Mission, and explore what it means to first be Friends.

Fast forward 147 years.

So when the clock struck 12 midnight and 2010 was ushered in, I was with my church family in worship. I got home and got a little rest, but was up and moving by about 10AM in order to make my way to a 12 Noon vigil organized in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their allies. Sponsored by the local chapter of the international peace group, Women in Black, people from various parts of Maryland and DC came together on a COLD first day of the year to show our support for the Gaza Freedom March and the Palestinian struggle against apartheid -which is being imposed on them by the Israeli Government.

In the video below, I interviewed David Hosey, a good brother, Christian missionary, and National Media Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. He speaks briefly about why he is involved in this effort.

Enjoy the video.