Tuesday, February 1, 2011

February, 2011 - Social Concern (Part Two)

Issues: Seminary Training

Seminary urban studies programs seek to make seminarians critically aware of political reality, welfare bureaucracy, ward politics, and other structures of urban life. Knowing where to go and to whom to speak are only the beginning of wise pastoral care in the city, to say nothing of congregational development. For that reason, the more classical models of the pastor such as prophet, priest, and shepherd need one more from the Hebrew Bible: the wisdom teacher. Such a person might be described as worldly wise and street smart. He or she may pay more attention to the order of creation than of redemption. There is less triumphalism and more rigorous honesty, maybe even a “holy” skepticism about life. And there is appreciation for what the arts and sciences have to offer, not just to increase knowledge but also wisdom. Wisdom teachers know the dialectical tension of being “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

If congregations are, in and of themselves, a witness, a social process moving toward a new cosmos, such will not happen by accident. Everything from fear to prejudice will inhibit the process. But if a pastor is wise, she or he will know and benefit from being aware of how organizations behave-that power shared is power multiplied, and that all sorts of minorities make up power blocs. My own study with Robert Worley, a specialist in church organizational behavior, introduced me to this discipline. If a congregation is in a neighborhood of racial transition, let us say with a movement of African-Americans, pastors will be strategically prophetic studying Kochman's Black and White: Styles in Conflict with the congregation, as a way of wisely understanding that communication patterns are cultural more than racial. Is this not part of the way God is, in the fullness of time, gathering up all things in Christ?

Similar literature exists on rural ministry, on work in small towns, and in specialized forms of pastoral care. My point is that pastoral theology, especially if it is concerned with the development of the priesthood of the congregation, cannot plead ignorance of these things and hope to be trusted by congregations. Yet the authority for engaging in such arduous work is the gospel. St. Paul found himself entrusted with a commission okoua in 1 Corinthians 9:17 and Ephesians 3:2. It had to do not only with something preached but with something going public, not just with a sermon but with sociology. Wise rule (Worley), wise pastoral care, and wise leadership have much to do with God's gathering up all things in Christ; and the congregation of believers who are trying to be and do Christ to each other are, in their very sociology, a witness to God's society-creating grace. As we are reminded in the Gospel of Luke, wisdom is justified in her children, or, sad to say, repudiated, as the case may be.

C. John Weborg (1937- ), “It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us: Clergy and Laity in Interaction,” from Servant Leadership, Volume One: Authority and Governance in the Church, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 125,126.

Issues: Divorce
The problems [surrounding divorce] are real, but the determining question is, “For what do we as Christians stand?” Can we ignore the New Testament view on divorce? Does the Covenant stand for anything other than tolerance? Karl Olsson correctly noted that “the only constituting principle of the Covenant is new life in Christ and without that we have no principle of coherence.” Does new life in Christ change the way we handle our egos, our sexuality, our marriages, and the way we treat the question of divorce?

The truth is that we must still minister to divorced people with all the difficulties of their lives. There are no easy answers to the problems of people's lives. The temptation exists to create answers and force people to conform. As one scholar put it, “Doctrine should never be compromised by cases.” Such a view of theology is sterile and incomplete. Theology is to be applied to life with all its difficulties. Paul's method is instructive. He was a task theologian reflecting on the “cases” of his churches in the light of the Gospel. The problem, of course, is that in dealing with cases we easily become hopelessly entangled in casuistry and are open to charges of inconsistency. What is required is integrity in following Christ.

Even where integrity has been compromised, divorced people need ministry. They find themselves in a world that has been destroyed. They need acceptance, grace to face the truth, mercy, and discipline.

The attempts of the Church to deal with the problem of divorce and remarriage have been and continue to be varied. The following options should be mentioned:

1. The rigorist position which argues for the absolute indissolubility of marriage. Neither divorce nor remarriage is acceptable.
2. The legislative approach which allows two reasons for divorce: adultery (based on Matthew's “exception” clauses) and desertion by an unbeliever (the Pauline privilege based on 1 Corinthians 7:15). The “Erasmian” understanding would allow remarriage; others would argue that remarriage is not permitted even under these circumstances.
3. A double standard approach which is more restrictive for Christians and less restrictive for non-Christians (based on 1 Corinthians 7:11 and 15).
4. The dispensational approach which views Jesus' statements as part of the kingdom teaching offered to the Jews and, therefore, the Church is not bound by them. Remarriage would be allowed.
5 The pastoral (or more liberal) approach which seeks to take the lesser of two evils. The Reformers allowed divorce for desertion, cruelty, and refusal of conjugal duty. Remarriage is usually allowed.
6. The Roman Catholic approach which can annul marriages and dissolve non-sacramental marriages (the Petrine privilege). Remarriage is allowed.
Few of us will be attracted to the Roman Catholic approach or the dispensational bracketing of the teaching of Jesus. One can understand why the other approaches developed, but in the end not one of them is satisfying for the sheer reason that there are no easy answers on this subject. If one limits divorce to cases of adultery, some people will commit adultery to escape a hopeless marriage. Further, on the more restrictive approaches, we find ourselves more tolerant of people who have been promiscuous prior to marriage than to people who have been faithful within marriage, but seek remarriage after divorce.

The real question is, “What do we do when the unthinkable happens, when the indissoluble is broken?” There can be no “soft” reaction to divorce. Divorce may be understandable in a given circumstance, but it cannot be made a light affair. Recent attempts to see divorce in a more positive light because of longer life expectancy or as a new pattern for marriage must be rejected forcefully. Nor is it appropriate to speak of the grace of divorce. Without doubt, divorce is necessary at times due to abuse and destructive relationships, but it is always tragic and partakes of sin. People must be helped to speak the truth about their own lives and sin and to confess their failures and repent of their sin. They do not need to be made to grovel, but they do need to speak truth with God, their families, and themselves. Divorced people need the grace and support of the Church while they piece their lives back together. The failure of the Church to minister to divorced people, even to seek them out, is unconscionable.

Klyne Snodgrass (1944- ), Divorce and Remarrige (Occasional Paper Number Three, 1989), pp. 13,14,15.

Issues: AIDS

So what does this story [Jesus’ healing of the leper, Luke 5:12-16] have to do with you and me and the issue of AIDS? The Church has a unique responsibility in the face of this dread disease. AIDS labels those afflicted by it as “untouchable.” In light of that the Church has been given a unique responsibility to carry on the ministry of Jesus, to reach out and touch those afflicted by AIDS--the modem-day “untouchables.” When we reach out and touch three things happen, the same three things that occurred when Jesus touched that first-century leper.

First, we reflect the character of our God. Our touch in his name demonstrates that God responds to brokenness and suffering and pain, not with punishment and judgment, as some would lead us to believe, but with love and grace and compassion. As the Church chooses to respond in that same way, it reflects God's character of compassion. The Church becomes a place where people feel free to bring their pain and their grief and their suffering, knowing that they will find comfort and care. Reaching out in the name of Christ means that we reflect the truth about God's character.

Second, reaching out and touching the “untouchable” bridges the gap of alienation. I read a story recently about a pastor who learned about a young man dying of AIDS. When the pastor went to visit him, the young man told him that he was only the second person to visit him in three months. Alienation is one of the greatest problems among people who have AIDS. But alienation is not only a phenomenon experienced by the AIDS victim; it extends to their families as well, since families are often afraid to share the truth about their loved one's illness. This alienation is caused by a mixture of fear, homophobia, misinformation, and judgment. But as Jesus reached across the chasm of fear, sickness, and moralism when he touched the leper, so our reaching out to touch--literally touch--and get involved with those suffering from AIDS and their families serves to bridge the gap of alienation. As one person with AIDS puts it, “Sometimes all I need is a hug; if someone would just hug me, things would seem better.” Reaching out to touch and get involved bridges the gap of alienation.

Finally, when we reach out and touch it brings about healing. Not always physical healing, but a kind of spiritual and emotional healing from the inside out that results in a sense of wholeness and dignity and hope. It is that sense of hope that will enable a person with AIDS to live--not as someone “dying from AIDS” so much as a person “living with AIDS.”

Pamela M. Nelson, (1956- ), “AIDS, the Church, and You: A Challenge to Care” (Covenant Tract, 1988).

Issues: Pollution

POLLUTION

Pollution, pollution is everywhere,
In the water and in the air.
Carbon monoxide and factories too
Are ruining the skies so blue.

Soon there will be no air to breathe
As waste products from factories seethe.
You can’t see because of the fog
And you can’t breathe because of the smog.

All the birds will one day die
And no more will we see them fly,
Even if we don’t understand,
It was us that ruined the land.

Once it was perfect, plants were alive too,
But now they may die, even you.
With pollution, wastes and other things plus,
Can you imagine what will happen to us?

Faye Hoberman (1970- ), Age 11, Newell, Iowa
From Poems and Prayers from the Ark, Priscilla Johnson, ed. (1984), p. 63.

Issues: Race

Racial cleavage in the United States is not unrelated to the progress of missionary endeavor in the Congo. What happens in Chicago or Detroit is known as quickly in [Congo] as what happens in Johannesburg or Algiers. White racial pride which leads to discrimination against nonwhites and reduces them to a status of inferiority is said by the churches (including the Covenant) to be immoral and contrary to the ethical precepts of the New Testament. For the churches to declare this principle is one thing; for the churches to act in accordance with this principle is something else.

L. Arden Almquist (1921- ), Covenant Missions in Congo (1958), p. 78.

Issues: Urban Life

CITY

I have come to regard
My conscience as a city
With tall churches rising
From its heart; but pity

Is in the streets,
And cold water, low rent
Flats have sprung about
My tall churches. Tenement,

Tenement, tenement;
Each brick building comes
To devastate my churches,
And my city is becoming slums.

Fred Moeckel (1929-1966), None But A Child May Enter (1982), p. 29.

Issues: Local Church Involvements

When Jesus takes command of a church, it no longer stands on the sidelines and contemplates whether or not it should become involved in the important issues of the day. He leads it right into the midst of human need. At fellowship meetings and social gatherings, the conversation invariably turns to means by which they can give themselves to the needs of men. Every problem situation in the community and every report of human need will prompt the inquiry if there is any way their help might be needed.

When the church is thus immersed in human need, it can no longer make arbitrary decisions regarding its actions. It finds it necessary to act because it has become so involved in the lives of people it cannot be faithful to them without taking action. Its actions are always determined by its concern for people who are dependent on it. An illustration might be a church that has a vital ministry to young people in the slums. Its primary concern will be to win these young people to Christ. However, its involvement with them will require it to concern itself with any political action that may affect them, to fight for adequate educational opportunities for them, and to interest itself in everything that relates to their lives in any way.

Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), Salvation and Secularity (1968), p. 90.

Issues: Peace

MATTHEW 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called
the children of God.”

Who is a peacemaker?
He who sets himself between
hatred and worse hatred;
whose hand is never seen

save in the attitude
of love; he who bears
no vengeance, no reprisal,
no avarice; who shares

the mockery men made
of one Peacemaker who tried
to speak of peace to men of war--
and Who was crucified.

Fred Moeckel (1929-1966), Recording Angel (1969), p. 83.

Church’s Unique Role

We have our priorities wrong if we think that the only way to develop our church's agenda for social ministry is to flip on the television, open the newspaper, or listen to our colleagues. No, first open your Bible with a prayer to God, “Lord, show me what you think is important for our social ministry.” Why don't we invite the Ten Commandments to question and illuminate our social as well as personal lives? For example, what are we (and our culture) worshiping today? What do we sacrifice for? What is at the controlling and meaning center of our life? Do we in any way worship the visible work of our human hands? What is the meaning of the names and labels we use? Do we take in vain the name of God by the way we live? Do we treat those made in the image of God with contempt when we misuse or demean their names? Do we contribute to murder and killing in any indirect ways? Do we steal in covert ways? Is there such a thing as institutional theft by unfair taxes, wages, or interest rates, or by gouging patients desperate of our critical care in hospital or court? These are only examples of a different way to develop a list of urgent social issues.

The same approach “from above” can be pursued through reflection on the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, passages in the prophets or apostles' teaching, the Wisdom literature, or the great narratives of Old and New Testaments. Certainly, “from below” listening to the cries of our neighbors will yield many of the same concerns as our approach “from above.” But a direct pursuit of God's agenda promises a more helpful and more profound social ministry. Can we really address problems of abortion, capital punishment, adultery, sex, and health-care costs before we address the most basic issue of who or what we worship?

By starting on the foundation and from the center, Christians will be empowered to bring something unique, innovative, and profound to our troubled times. Who needs Christians to pour holy water on Republican or Democratic party interests? Why simply add a chorus of “amens” to this or that polarized interest group? Why can't Christians bear witness to a unity that breaks down factional strife and introduces a third way of living? Why not? Because we Christians are all too often propagandize by the world and all too ignorant of our biblical foundation. And this ignorance is a terrible loss to a shallow world desperate for profound insight, a moribund political climate thirsting for true innovation, and a predatory economy in need of servant leadership and enterpreneurship.

David W. Gill (1946- ), “The Unique Role of the Church in a Troubled Society”
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 71,72.

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Nearly seventeen years into retirement, I am enjoying the opportunity to share thoughts and life experiences on a regular basis. This blog is part of a larger personal website at www.rootedwings.com. Your comments, thoughts, and life experience responses are not only invited but welcome!