I was deeply dismayed by the outcome of the
election. I cannot support a man like
Trump with his views and his behavior. I
am deeply concerned about those on the fringe, the weak and vulnerable, those
outside of the white Anglo-Saxon domain.
I believe Hillary was not only capable to be the next president, but
that she would have led the US into a good season. I liked her politics. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that what
sickened me might make you celebrate?
That’s what I need to talk about here…
I’ll start with divulging more political information
about me: I voted Liberal. I believe there should be a carbon tax. I believe the Trudeau Gov’t is far-sighted,
regardless of its mistakes. I should
also add that I voted NDP.
More opinions of mine? I think that Pope Francis is a very good
man. He is addressing issues of power
abuse and the subjugation of women and the poor that have never been talked
about at that level of influence before….
I believe we should welcome immigrants; protect the
vulnerable and our minorities.
I am an environmental activist and I think everyone
who calls self a Christian should be too.
Everyone should be actively caring for our land. I think that recycling
is essential. Thinking in terms of 7
generations into the future is how I want to live my life. I do not panic that the end is near, allowing
me to drop the ball on everything else but saving souls. I cannot assume our Creator doesn’t really
care about His creation because it’s all going to burn anyway.
Since I’m hitting these controversial subjects anyway,
I should add that I see the nation of Israel as all those who call themselves
redeemed, that “Israel” is not a geographical place but a metaphor for the
people of God who know Him as their Lord.
I confess I have friends in the LGBT community. I am close to numerous kids-now-adults who
are currently undergoing a sex change.
And I really don’t care if the washrooms have gender-neutral labels on
them. I have friends who have chosen
abortion over giving birth. I have
friends who cohabit and probably will never get married. I have friends in other religious categories: Sikhs, Muslim, Jews, Atheists. I am not always comfortable with their
choices or world views, but we are still forging our friendships; we still call
one another friends even though we don’t
think the same. I still believe I am
called to love in every one of these relationships, even though I sometimes am
at a complete loss as to how to go about it.
… I understand this may be very offensive; the
church has long been divided on these ideas; godly and intelligent men and
women have stood on both sides of the divide.
Our history attests to how difficult it is. People have been burned at the stake,
sanctioned by the church. The
inquisition. Apartheid... Perhaps I have, just now, burned bridges with
you because the divide between right and left/ liberal and conservative is just
too big for us? I may have positioned
myself in just one too many a problematic camp for you to hear me any longer.
-- Here’s the thing, though. … I am
not really in any political camp, other than the Kingdom Camp – at least I try
to be. I want to hold my political views lightly; i do not want them to
determine whom I will befriend and whom I will not. I do not want to polarize others because I
said some things earlier that caused offense, but neither can any one of us be
muzzled for our opinions, or feel they have to walk on eggshells. What does matter is how we talk about these
things. If one spiritualizes his
political views as being invested with the authority of scriptures and God,
then there is great danger of imposing a religious rule over one another.
I recognized a long time ago that my theology – what
I believed about God - has gone through
some major overhauls even over the last 5 years. More so over the last 20 years! I don’t think like I did when I was 18; my
world views have expanded, contracted, gone sideways and upside down. My early, simple beliefs about who God is
have been shattered by a number of things:
by the disappointment of people whom I thought were solid and righteous
and then were exposed to be terribly wrong, by a church that shook my world when
it fell apart, by certain books I’ve read, movies I saw, university courses
that undid my assumptions -- all of these experiences and exposures to
different ways of thinking have stretched and rocked what I believed. Hear my heart in this: we are never beyond the influence of the
voices we surround ourselves with; we are not unaffected by individuals and circles
we spend time in. So, yes, it matters
who we hang out with. Equally important,
though, is to note whom we do not
interact with. How much do we avoid those who do things differently than we
would, who think differently. Do we live
in carefully constructed silos with a whole lot of judgment over those we watch
but do not know? And here’s the problem we have living where we do: The CNP is a small place. And our church is even smaller! We are a messy assortment of left/right,
liberal/conservative, a whole lot of church streams and a wide, wide range of
theologies. If we are to interact at all, we
must figure out how to live in this tension of our differences.
If we cannot do this, then we have no choice but to build
a wall. Or run away and form a
commune. Or see the church as a safe
lifeboat where we float above the sinful world and only let those in who think
like we do. Or gather our tribe and
prepare for battle so we can fight those “others”. We have names for these Others, depending on where we stand: rednecks.
Tree huggers. Yogis. Activists.
Liberals. Democrats. Fallen.
Lost. These labels keep us safely
separate because we cannot possibly see ourselves aligning with them until they
have assured us with similar enough speech or behaviours; we do not have it in us
to love them unconditionally. We do not
know how to be tolerant because we have confused it with being righteous or
“not of this world”.
No, at the end of the day my political opinions, my
positions on certain world issues, even my theological views about end times or
Israel or gender – none of that qualifies or disqualifies me before God. It’s my heart. Am I teachable? Do I have humility? Can I love in the face of these differences? Can I draw in close to the heart of the Lord
and ask Him to fill me with His holiness?
Can I forgive and not hold offense?
Can I serve and be in community with integrity and full presence? Can I talk about ideas without villainizing
those who don’t agree with me?
After the results of the election on Wednesday
morning, I had a long-haul prayer with God.
I wrestled deeply. Not because of
the outcome, but because of my inner condition.
I was so filled with disgust and loathing, so angry. And I knew
it was not the Kingdom way – that in itself exhausted me because I wanted so
badly to stay angry, so badly to spew on about Trump, so badly to linger in
that bitter-sweet place of contempt! The
fruits of this? Fear. So much fear and loathing and finger-pointing. Nothing of this is in “step with the Spirit”.
In
Blueprint, we are studying Ephesians 4:
Unity in the Body of Christ. This unity… requires us to grow up and be mature; each one
of us must have these same end goals:
-
to see the church grow and be built up.
-
to be the salt and light in the world;
-
to participate in the reconciliation that Pastor Al has been preaching about
from II Cor. 5: reconciliation between individuals, between neighbours, between
communities and nations…between those of us who call this church home.
-
to welcome Jesus into the spaces we are in.
“Be completely humble, bearing one another in
love. Make every effort to keep the
unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace – just as you were called to one
hope, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all
and in all.” Eph 4 goes on to say
that each one of us has been given a portion of grace. We are not to settle for a small portion.
This is my personal battle right now – to grow in grace. I actually have to fight for it. Because I know every one of us is called to the bigger Story of redemption, despite what our personal politics are.
This is my personal battle right now – to grow in grace. I actually have to fight for it. Because I know every one of us is called to the bigger Story of redemption, despite what our personal politics are.
So
let’s listen carefully to one another.
Let us choose our speech thoughtfully.
Let us be kind to one another and not make assumptions. Let us resist the urge to villainize one
another if we hear certain terms come out of our mouths. May we learn to talk together about ideas
without the religious or political spirit dividing us into camps. Diversity is not a bad thing. It’s ok to disagree because God is bigger
than our current ideas. This is a
process. Eph 4:22-32 : “to put off our old self…to be made new in
the attitude of our minds, to put on the new self, created by God in true
righteousness and holiness.. Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”
This
is a tall order. It is a very
challenging walk. I have only so much
ability to stretch and be tolerant and listen well. I chafe against the status
quo; I do not run easily with the herd.
And yet I so badly want to please people and really do need affirmation ….
I realized through this election that I am more tribal than I thought. I am surprisingly intolerant of those whom I consider
intolerant. In fact, I tend to avoid
them because, admittedly, I am also a coward.
I hate confrontation. And it is this condition that the Holy Spirit has
been dealing with in me this week. Because
the Spirit of God lives in me, He is sifting through all my stuff. I must recognize that I have blind spots,
that my point of view is actually very limited.
This week I understood in a new way what Paul says
when he starts Ch 4 with “I am a prisoner
of Christ..” I am actually captive
to His ways. I don’t have a choice about
liking or not liking people, accepting or not accepting, etc. I am called to walk in the Way of
Christ. Period. And this means I must be wise about what I
talk about. I have to be sensitive to
other people’s beliefs. I cannot trumpet
my opinions wherever I want to or however I want to because I think I am
right. I am not my own free agent that I
can go do whatever pleases me. There’s
timing and context.
Here’s the big truth: we need our differences. We need this variety of thinking. We need to learn how to share our ideas and not get huffy. We need to learn how to “put on Christ”. This place, Crowsnest Christian Centre, is about as good and vital a training ground as any bootcamp out there. Let us guard it carefully.
Here’s the big truth: we need our differences. We need this variety of thinking. We need to learn how to share our ideas and not get huffy. We need to learn how to “put on Christ”. This place, Crowsnest Christian Centre, is about as good and vital a training ground as any bootcamp out there. Let us guard it carefully.
Karen Tamminga Paton
