[Oe List ...] 1/02/20, Progressing Spirit: Rev. Jessica Shine: Why The Church Must Die - Part 2; Song revisited

Ellie Stock elliestock at aol.com
Sun Jan 5 15:35:59 PST 2020 

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Why The Church Must Die - Part 2
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|  Essay by Rev. Jessica Shine
January 2, 2020Churchianity must die and it is dying. I know, that probably hurt a little to read. If it makes you feel better, it hurt to write it too. However, the sooner we accept that death is part of the cycle, we can shift into midwifing a new movement of the Jesus story. For more background, check out part one of this article here . I mentioned previously that the Church is dying and must because it often is no longer a source of connection to each other or the Divine. In response, I've heard progressives and evangelicals say, “…except for my church.”In this article my premise is simple, the Church is dying. Progressive church. Evangelical church. Mainline church. And rather than point fingers at each other, or continue to bicker about theology or theopraxy, my challenge is that we are more alike than we think. That’s right, progressives and evangelicals have way more in common than most of us would like to admit. As an ex-evangelical pastor, I am hoping that this commonality will lead us to create a wider middle path for whatever is about to manifest, and that together we will help create sacred community in the way of Jesus. Along with that, I'm hoping that as leaders and midwives, we will aid in the graceful and compassionate death of something we have cherished.But first ….let's talk about meritocracy.Meritocracy is defined as a “political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than wealth or social class.”[1] In theory, this idea of reward based on merit seems good and helpful, in fact we use it all the time in American culture. 'I earned that’ or ‘I worked hard to get …’ Meritocracy invites the one who ‘merited’ an object to feel a sense of ownership and worth because of their accomplishment, and at times can open the door for entitlement.Meritocracy is a shared, yet often unspoken, fundamentalist and progressive christian belief.  We say things like, ‘well if you just read the scripture, or study enough you could figure out …’ As Christians, our belief system has been shaped by the culture we grew up in, it has given us (at least a partial) lens for how to see and interact with Jesus (and the Bible). I’m not arguing against hard work or diligent study. I am, however, trying to point out that what fuels our sense of entitlement about correctness (whether we’re fundamental or progressive) is usually based in meritocracy.Meritocracy doesn’t work the way we think it’s supposed to and there’s a good reason why. “It is good sense to appoint individual people to jobs on their merit. It is the opposite when those who are judged to have merit of a particular kind harden into a new social class without room in it for others,” writes author Michael Dunlop Young, who first coined the term meritocracy in a satirical novel in 1958[2]. ‘It describes a dystopian society in a future United Kingdom in which intelligence and merit have become the central tenet of society, replacing previous divisions of social class and creating a society stratified between a merited power-holding elite and a disenfranchised underclass of the less merited.[3] ’Sound familiar?Step away from the political scene for a moment, where wage gap data is undeniable, and let’s talk about how this is manifesting in the church. In the Jesus movement of the 60's and 70’s Christianity sought to intentionally redefine and reconnect with Jesus. He was now emphasized as intercessor and friend, and thus began the birth of modern evangelicalism. Singable tunes with easy to learn lyrics that reinforced that theology, and annoyed hymnal purists and organists alike. Almost two centuries later the emergence of the Jesus Seminar again invited the redefining of Jesus and reorienting to Jesus as a valued teacher, but not necessarily a historic figure. This led to the birth of modern progressive Christianity. You may be thinking, ‘See, we're nothing alike!’ Yet both movements also placed a high value on their correctness. Their merit was (and still is) in being right, often making community very difficult for those who are wandering along a middle ground between the two - Jesus loving people who see the inconsistencies and weird story telling in the text and practical atheists who value an ethical and grace filled approach to living.And yet, the Jesus of the gospels stands in stark contrast to production (and deconstruction only) as a means to a fulfilled life. For example, in the book attributed to Matthew, Jesus goes to the desert after a show stopping baptism, complete with descending dove and heavenly proclamation. Instead of engaging cheering crowds and announcing John had it right, Jesus retreats.[4] He doesn’t take an opportunity to talk about why he’s the best candidate, or how well he knows the Hebrew texts. He doesn’t lobby or call a conference or start a giving campaign. He retreats, has a mystical experience, then builds a community of random women and men.We are stuck in the meritocratic worldview when we make tests of community with Bible translations, seminary education, and degrees earned. Yes, these matter and inform us, but do they enrich our sense of connection or our sense of correctness? The church must die because we’ve elevated rightness as a means to belonging, and that is our meritocracy. We've relegated belonging by belief and behavior, and at times that has helped. However, having such a hard edge has also pushed people away. Jesus was radically inclusive (see also adulterer announcing the resurrection).Fundamentalists and progressives also share a narrow and exclusive language. Before you stop reading, consider this: both are products of European Protestant movements. Both have chosen to define themselves by what they don’t believe. Neither have often asked, ‘how does this theology or doctrine affect Black, indigenous, and people of color? (BIPOC)’[5] The church is dying and to be honest, this is a white progressive problem. Communities of color often have an inherent sense of intergenerational wisdom and gathering, and invite young voices to lead alongside seasoned veterans. The church is dying because it has only given room to a certain group it has deemed worthy of leading, serving, singing, or speaking. And that church must die.The church, as it has been (theology and structure), must die because it has imposed a euro-centric lens of the Jesus story on many BIPOC. This is called ‘othering’. We’ve done this in America and all other countries we’ve ‘evangelized[6].' Now many of these people are living in a framework that may or may not match their heritage. The American Church has historically never made room (initially or intentionally) for BIPOC, except as converts or people who were in need of correction. BIPOC were referred to as the ‘other’, the less fortunate, the poor, the destitute. Even when they weren’t actually in that group, white culture still lumps them in with the ‘needy’ or those who have less. Racism in America wasn’t opposed by a Christian denomination until the mid 20th century, almost 500 years after the initial colonization of this continent, and it is still an issue in my lifetime[7]. We aren’t ‘past that’ yet and this is why the Church must die.The church must die because it has become complicit in othering. Newsflash, this also isn’t new. It manifested in the United States through the slavery movement (often promoted and reinforced by mis-informed white Christians). AND, in case you feel proud that ‘your denomination’ wasn’t like that ….also newsflash, it was. Every home grown Christian group that has sprouted up on North American soil has been complicit in this, or is still propagating racism through their theology.Whether it’s orthodoxy or orthopraxy, beware of your progressive self becoming regressive. Many Jesus loving people want to be progressive, at least we want to be thought of as progressive or applauded for our ‘open mind’. But are we really open minded? The church and churchianity must die because it has stopped learning. It has shifted to maintenance and away from the hard struggle for community. We need community, we need the sacred. However, as BIPOC have adopted euro-centric Christian theology, it’s not enough for white Protestantism to be correct.Lastly, the church is going to die because we need to discover grace again. Evangelicalism’s shadow is production: buildings, offerings, evangelizing, keeping the machine going. Progressive Christianity’s shadow is in deconstruction: reducing and analyzing stories to the point of wringing them of wonder. Do we, as fundamentalists or progressives, have enough grace to say ‘I’m sorry’? To acknowledge our complicity in exclusivity through our language and lifestyle? How many close friends of color do you have? Would your life miss something without them?Can we have grace in how we worship and how we hold community?[8] Can we make room, a wider middle path, for those who aren’t sure? We need to rediscover grace in this re-birthing to 1) listen to each other and 2) to learn from each other’s experiences as well as our own.The church has already died for many of us. Yes, there is growth for us to find vulnerability with self and God apart from church. And there is growth for the movement to self examen. We will most likely always have edges and now is the time for a wider middle way. The new question is how do we build community and follow the teachings of Jesus.How do we hold this journey with grace? Individually? Corporately? Communally? For some it will mean leaving church. Can we walk with them in love and grieve together? For some it will mean staying and fighting to make room, for themselves and for the marginalized. For others it will mean shifting into something new, something we haven’t experienced before.How do we find or make this or have this type of community? YES, there are communities showing us a way. Yes, there are thriving communities moving away from a top down, production culture that propagates meritocratic spirituality - communities that are shifting to a round table, communal, and experiential model. These communities are radically inclusive  and focused on restorative justice, with leadership that is a diverse reflection of the community they desire. Some are taking their church into the wild. I’ll share more in part three, alongside my own ideas for the future of our sacred community. For now, I understand it’s much easier to talk about rebirth than it is to talk about impending death. Yet, this is what is being required of us, gracious honesty and radical trust. Trust in each other and trust in the story of Jesus. That even in death there is a way.~ Rev. Jessica Shine
Read online here

Rev. Jessica Shine earned degrees in theology and divinity, but still hasn’t figured out how to walk on water. Despite this, she was ordained to ministry by the Seventh-day Adventist church and continues offering spiritual care as a clergy member of The CHI Interfaith Community (based in Berkeley, CA). With two decades of experience serving church communities, police officers, hospital staff, and teenagers, Shine has a passion for people and a skill for communicating in transformative ways. Her spirituality began in childhood, was influenced by Jimmy Swaggart and Mother Theresa, and continues in the Pacific Northwest where she resides on Kalapuya land.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy[2] The Rise of the Meritocracy, Young Michael Dunlop[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy[4] Matthew 3:13-4:11[5] BIPOC is an acronym for black, indigenous, people of color.[6] To quote a favorite song, ‘that’s me in the corner’. Yep, I’ve led and helped organize overseas missions and believed we were helping, I hope at least part of that is true. And I wish I was more aware of the sacred culture we were entering.[7] Both Methodist and Seventh-day Adventist denominations have struggled when trying to unite black and white conferences because of wage gap differences and power.[8] https://progressingspirit.com/2019/12/19/10-things-smart-progressive-churches-know-about-worship-part-1/  |

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Question & Answer

 
Q: By Marlene

Do you read the ENTIRE Bible? My desire would be that my children and grandchildren are not exposed to this belief system. It is not Biblical.

A: By Rev. Deshna Charron
 Dear Marlene,Thank you for your comments. Yes, progressive Christians also read the Bible. We approach the Bible from a historical/critical method. We look at the history known on who wrote the books in the Bible, when they were written, and historian scholars’ best interpretation of why they were written. We also look at the original language that it would have been written in, Aramaic, and try to find the best translation. Finally, we do not read the Bible literally, but rather from an evolving understanding so that it can be applied to modern day. I wish you the best in finding an approach to Christianity that fits your needs and life.~ Deshna
Hello Deshna,Thank-you for your prompt reply. With all due respect, I do have one more question ... what is the way of salvation?According to John 14:6, Jesus is the only way. Accepting the fact that we are sinners, asking for forgiveness, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ (who took our sin upon Himself) and in faith, calling on Him to be a part of our lives and building a relationship with Him. With your "evolving understanding of Scripture" to suit the needs of society, has this changed, too?Dear Marlene,I can not speak for all progressive Christians on this one. But for myself, I would say that IF Jesus did indeed say that - and that is a big IF because scholars, progressive or not, know that the books called the new testament were written by human authors after the life of Jesus - these human authors were writing from their own perspective based on their own desires, fears and political agendas. These human authors were fallible. The books in the Bible grew over a very long period of about a thousand years, and it was only after several more centuries that the collection of books or canon, now accepted by Christians as Holy Scripture, was settled in 397 CE in the Constantinian Roman Empire. The Bible is not perfect. And it should not be read literally. The Scripture contains unethical material. There is genocide, murder, war, sexism, child sacrifice, homophobia. It is a teaching and wisdom collection of prophetic and poetic sharing from almost 2,000 years ago.But alas, the hope for understanding passages like this is in the life that Jesus led. So if Jesus is the “Way,” the way is how he lived his life. And Jesus' main teaching is that radical sacrificial love must extend to all, even our enemies, with special focus on the poor, those marginalized by religion and empire, the outcasts and the vulnerable. It seems highly unlikely that he would then also say that those who have had no access to him, or haven't heard of him, or who have been raised with very different beliefs do not have access to the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor do I believe that Jesus would have preached about an actual hell. I believe that the way to salvation is through our actions, to be as Jesus was, alongside other enlightened beings: radically inclusive, radically hospitable, living in loving-kindness, compassionate, showing mercy, speaking truth to power, offering forgiveness, seeking reconciliation, and restorative justice. The Way of Jesus is to see God within all, to seek God within ourselves, to be like children in awe of beauty and nature, and to turn the tables on the oppressive Empire. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you, Marlene, as much as it is in anyone. We are saved when we go within and find it. We are saved when we live a life of radical love.I believe the way of salvation according to Jesus was in how he lived and how he died. He died not for our sins but because of our sins ...because people of power decided to punish him for his revolutionary ways. His radical sacrificial love was a threat to the Empire. Salvation and sacrifice aren't personal experiences, but ones that must happen in community, as is still the custom of Jewish theology. Salvation is not individual, as modern evangelicalism has taught you to believe. Jesus was Jewish and his theology was different. Salvation happens when we find the Sacred Oneness of all and the world is ever changed for it.~ Rev. Deshna Charron

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About the Author
Rev. Deshna Charron is Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit and is an ordained Interfaith Minister. She is an author, international speaker, and a visionary.  She grew up in a thriving progressive Christian church and has worked in the field for over 13 years. She graduated from UCSB with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Global Peace and Security. She is a lead author and editor on the children’s curriculum: A Joyful Path, Spiritual Curriculum. She co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. She is the Executive Producer of Embrace Festival. She is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually, and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens.   |

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Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited


The Origins of the Bible, Part XIII:
II Isaiah — The Figure of the "Servant"

Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong
October 2, 2008If I were to ask an ordinary group of people, even church people, to tell me about the message of the prophet we call II Isaiah, I suspect I would be greeted by a glassy-eyed stare. Yet if I were to ask the same group if they had ever heard or even sung in a production of Handel’s Oratorio, entitled “Messiah,” almost every hand would go up. The sad fact about our educational system, both secular and ecclesiastical, is that few people seem to know that Handel’s Messiah is in large measure a musical rendition of II Isaiah and that the “expected” one about whom II Isaiah writes in this work is not Jesus, but a mythical figure that we know simply as the “Servant,” sometimes called the “Suffering Servant.” It is about this “Servant,” not Jesus, that Handel sets to music II Isaiah’s words to form a magnificent contralto solo: “He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The confusion of the “Servant” with Jesus should not be surprising, since the earliest gospel, Mark, drew heavily upon II Isaiah to compose his narrative of the crucifixion. People are accustomed to reading the Good Friday story as if it were a historical recollection of Jesus’ death. It is not. It is, rather, an interpretive portrait of Jesus’ death drawn not from eyewitnesses on the scene, but from II Isaiah. It is II Isaiah, not history, that supplied such familiar details in the crucifixion story as Jesus’ silence before his accusers (Isa. 55:7), the presence of the thieves on either side of him during his crucifixion (Isa. 55:12) and the narrative of the rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, providing a tomb for his burial (Isa. 53:9). The interpretation of Jesus’ death as an act of vicarious suffering also originates in II Isaiah, as does the way the gospels and even St. Paul interpreted the meaning of the death of Jesus as one of vicarious suffering. It was the “Servant” who was punished in place of the guilty. It was about the “Servant” that II Isaiah wrote: “Surely he has borne our griefs, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted; but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:4, 5 KJV).”

Over the years, however, these words have been so deeply associated with Jesus in our memories that most people think they were actually written about him. The familiar Protestant interpretation of the cross, “Jesus died for my sins,” comes directly from II Isaiah. The Catholic understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice, in which Jesus paid the price of Adam’s fall to bring about salvation, is also drawn from II Isaiah. The words of II Isaiah have shaped Christianity so deeply that we have, by a process of religious osmosis, absorbed much of II Isaiah into our conscious and unconscious minds. When these words then got literalized in Christian history as doctrine and dogma, the significant distortions that mark the Christian faith today, that focus on blood, sacrifice, guilt and atonement, began to take shape. That was, however, not the original meaning of these words. What then was? And who is the “Servant?” To answer these questions we must undertake an historical analysis of II Isaiah, which is, I believe the most influential of all the Jewish prophetic works.

The book we call II Isaiah is made up of the words written by an unknown Jewish person who lived during the time that the Babylonian Exile was coming to an end, roughly between 550 and 500 BCE. The thing that brought that exile to an end was the rise to power of the Persians (roughly modern day Iran) which challenged the hegemony of the Babylonians (roughly modern day Iraq). Cyrus, the king who led the Persian onslaught, awakened such hope among the captive Jews that II Isaiah described him with these words: “How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth tidings of good that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth (Isa. 52:7 KJV).” Cyrus was well known for his policy of allowing conquered peoples to return to their homeland and in this reputation the Jews vested their hopes. These exiled people, who were to be the beneficiaries of Cyrus’ policy, were by now the grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who had originally been taken from their homes by the conquering Babylonian army some 50-60 years earlier. Thus they saw Cyrus as God’s instrument, who would enable them to go home. The beauty of Jerusalem, the glory and grandeur of the land of the Jews, had been passed on by those who died in captivity to these second and third generation descendents who had never set a foot upon the land of the Jews. The fantasies accompanying their desire to return to that “promised land” clearly grew as they always do in the absence of reality. They were thrilled at the prospect of going “home.” It was for this purpose that they kept themselves intact as an identifiable people. If they were going to reclaim what they believed was their national destiny, to be the “people through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed,” they then had to restore their nation. That destiny would only come from a revived people who had reclaimed their place of honor among the nations and re-established the city of Jerusalem as the center of the world, even as the place where heaven and earth touched. Those were the thoughts that motivated their yearning to return to the land of their ancestors. The defeated Babylonians were no longer their conquerors and so the migration back to their ancestral home began.

These exiles, however, were not prepared for the sight that greeted them when they reached the land of which they had dreamed for so long. Judah was a wasteland and Jerusalem a pile of rubble. It took only one glimpse of this devastation to put an end to their dreams and their hopes. There was no way a nation so defeated and so downtrodden could ever aspire to become “a light to enlighten the Gentiles.” They saw no way that they could ever be “a blessing to the nations of the world.” Click here to continue reading. ~  John Shelby Spong  |

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