"The Radical Fringe" of Christianity

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Ron Cole, who writes "The Weary Pilgrim" describes the work of Jarrod McKenna as the "Australian version of Shane Claiborne."  "The Weary Pilgrim" highlights a podcast of Jarrod's.

What I wanted to quote, however, is how he describes Jarrod and this "radical fringe" of Christianity.

He is part of a radical element on the the fringe of the church that sees faith and works, the practice and action of faith as being critical. The teachings of Jesus put into practice must be lived out, as radically today... to dilute them, co-modify and embed them in western church culture is not the redemptive vision and imagination of Jesus. This radical fringe believes Christianity is in trouble because it has become to passive and culturally accommodating. They are stirring the luke-warm pot of status quo Christianity.

That's some powerful language there. 

And I am left with the struggle of determining how I should live this out when I have bills to pay, kids to pick up, a church to fund, construction workers to check in on, and a stewardship campaign to close out.

Sometimes I seem and feel so far from this "radical fringe."  I feel so...established...so diluted...so co-modified...so embedded.

Alas.

"Recovering Christians Outnumber Practicing Christians in the World Today"

Recovering Christians outnumber practicing Christians in the world today.  

— Matthew Fox, “A Postdenominational Priest in a Postdenominational Era” The Emerging Christian Way, 114

(A quote found over at HackingChristianity.net)

A Tolerable Christianity -- Quote from C.J. Mahaney

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It is increasingly obvious that people are prepared to tolerate Christianity up until the point that it begins to define its terms.

-- C.J. Mahaney, in his sermon "Cross-Centered Worship"

(From The Gospel-Driven Church)

My Faith Can Beat Up Your Faith

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The following is by Adam Ellis in his review of Rachel Held Evans' Evolving in Monkey Town.  I think he defines well the problem of Christian polarization in America and then sees Evans' book as a practical theology in how we deal with this polarization. 

This truly resonates with a lot that I have going on internally.  I struggle with the fences that we put up, the barriers between ourselves and those who think or act or behave differently.  We seem to define ourselves as Christians--what we are--by what we are not.  We're sure that, whatever we believe, it's not what that other person or group believes.  I just don't think that this is helpful and I really don't think that it's how Jesus was defined...primarily.

Anyway, the quote is below.  It's a good one.

The problem with polarized arguments is that both sides end up arguing for something stupid…against something equally stupid…with no way forward.  One of the major problems with Christianity in our day is that, in many ways we have begun to let polarized arguments define us.  We are in love with labels, and with categories of “us” versus “them”.  We proudly identify ourselves as “conservative” or “liberal” in terms of politics and theology and claim that if you don’t apply the same label to yourself, you must be one of “them”, and thus not a “true Christian”, like us.  We ratchet our categories ever tighter, to the point that if you even question any point of our collective unspoken creeds, we question your faithfulness and intentions.

This phenomenon has become particularly obvious in the dominant approach to Christian apologetics in America.  Having “faith” has come to mean having certainty about a particular set of beliefs.  It’s a sad situation in desperate need of a fresh perspective that dares to imagine a way forward.

St. Francis, Islam, & Competing Versions of Christianity

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This is from an Associated Baptist Press opinion piece by David Gushee called "Competing Christianities:" It's an article that says there is not just one kind of Christianity, but that there are versions of Christianity that "teach hatred of the religious/ethnic other and versions that teach sacrificial and inclusive love."  And, for some, survival is dependent on knowing the difference and knowing how to identify those who embody each of them.

But, what I wanted to get to is what he says about St. Francis, which has made me think in the wake of our current discussion about Islam and the "Ground Zero Mosque" (really the "Near Ground Zero Mosque").

My current book project on the sanctity of life reaffirms this theme for me. I just finished writing a section on the competing versions of Christianity exhibited by Christian Crusaders and Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. During the 5th Crusade, a typically bloody mess involving outrageous “holy” violence on both sides, Francis actually trekked unarmed through a war zone to meet with the Muslim sultan. While the crusaders -- egged on by the papal representative, Cardinal Pelagius -- waged war relentlessly, Francis engaged in a peaceful audience with the sultan and his religious advisors. He apparently hoped that if he could convert the sultan then all the killing would end. He failed, of course. But he seems to have won a friend in the process, and returned unharmed. His visit is today honored by both Christians and Muslims who know about it.

Somehow, I like Francis’ version of Christianity a whole lot better than the cardinal’s.

What I think is of great importance here is that this is not an article that is saying whether the mosque should be built or not, but saying that there are distinct differences within Christianity in how we view this event (or non-event) and, therefore, it is not correct to assume we just have one perspective out there.  We don't.  But...neither do Muslims.  There is not just one perspective out there or one version of Islam -- although like with most Christians I assume most Muslims will believe that there perspective is right and that the competing versions of Islam are wrong.

Therefore we, as Christians who understand that we have diversity of belief and practice and perspective in our own faith, must remember that there is a diversity of belief and practice and perspective within those faiths we come into contact with in this world. 

St. Francis and Islam -- How Can This Be A Model For Us

Today is the 9th anniversary of the horrible attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which set in motion the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We mourn the loss of the lives on those day and the nearly 7000 US and Coalition lives lost in the two wars along with countless lives of Iraqis and Afghans. 

Feelings are still hot. Pain is still real.  And it is hard, at times, as a Christian, not to get swept up in the "us" versus "them" language that demonizes whole peoples and countries and religions.  How should we deal with the Muslims who inhabit this earth with us and who are loved children of God as much as we are?  How do we do this without being "less Christian" ourselves?

I found the following helpful.  It's taken from Trinity Stores in their description of the following icon.

In 1219 St. Francis and Brother Illuminato accompanied the armies of western Europe to Damietta, Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade. His desire was to speak peacefully with Muslim people about Christianity, even if it mean dying as a martyr. He tried to stop the Crusaders from attacking the Muslims at the Battle of Damietta, but failed. After the defeat of the western armies, he crossed the battle line with Brother Illuminato, was arrested and beaten by Arab soldiers, and eventually was taken to the sultan, Malek al-Kamil.

Al-Kamil was known as a kind, generous, fair ruler. He was nephew to the great Salah al-Din. At Damietta alone he offered peace to the Crusaders five times, and, according to western accounts, treated defeated Crusaders humanely. His goal was to establish a peaceful coexistence with Christians.

After an initial attempt by Francis and the sultan to convert the other, both quickly realized that the other already knew and loved God. Francis and Illuminato remained with al-Kamil and his Sufi teacher Fakhr ad-din al-Farisi for as many as twenty days, discussing prayer and the mystical life. When Francis left, al-Kamil gave him an ivory trumpet, which is still preserved in the crypt of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi.

This encounter, which occurred between September 1 and 26, is a paradigm for interfaith dialog in our time. Despite differences in religion, people of prayer can find common ground in their experiences of God. Dialog demands that we truly listen to the other; but, before we can listen, we must see the other as a precious human being, loved by God. There is no other path to peace in this bloody 21st century.

The flames behind Francis and the sultan have a dual symbolism. In Islamic art, holy persons are shown with balls of flame behind their heads. The second purpose of these flames is to disarm a later medieval legend in which Francis challenged the Sufis to step into a raging fire to prove whose faith was correct. In this icon, the flames represent love. The text at the bottom is from the beginning of the Koran: "Praise to God, Lord of the worlds!"

The Francis-and-Islam Connection

What is the connection between St. Francis of Assisi and Islam? In 1219, St. Francis traveled to what is now northern Egypt and paid a visit to the Muslim Sultan al-Malek al-Kamil. This was at the beginning of the Fifth Crusade, but Francis and his brothers did not make this trip as part of the battle to regain the Holy Land. Rather, they went in opposition to the mainstream theological and political orthodoxies of the time, to meet the Muslim people, and to live among them as “lesser brothers.”

Francis and his brothers went to be present among this people who were being portrayed as evil enemies of Christ, and, in his evangelism of presence, Francis found the spirit of God to be alive and at work within the Muslim people, then called “the Saracens”. Francis admired their public, repeated acknowledgment of God and call to prayer, and he appreciated the deep reverence they showed to their holy book, the Qur’an.

While the main trend of the time was for Christian preachers to deliver strident, inflammatory sermons against Islam, Francis forbade his brothers to take part in these exercises. He demanded that his brothers be present first and foremost, living with and among the Saracens. They were to preach only if they felt that it would “please the Lord.” Francis worked to prevent the brotherhood from becoming embroiled in the grasp for civil and ecclesiastical offices and power, and kept the community’s focus on serving their neighbors for the glory of God only.

Based on Francis and Islam by J. Hoeberichts (Franciscan Press, 1997) Prepared for the Episcopal-Muslim Relations Committee of the Diocese of New York Ecumenical Commission by Mary O’Shaughnessy

I think I need to do some more reading here, but I think this is a model we need more of in the Christian Church.

"Christians are Such Hypocrites!"

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CHRISTIANS ARE SUCH HYPOCRITES!  Oh, they act all "Goody Two-Shoes" (insert Adam Ant song here) but they sin just like everyone else.  Isn't that the definition of being a hypocrite? 
 

1.  a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

 

2.  a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

 

(Thank you Dictionary.com).

 

However...

However...

The fact that there may be persons in the church "who pretend to have virtues" is not so much a problem with Christianity as it is a problem with Christians.  The basic premise of Christianity is that we are sinners in need of redeeming...that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  When persons join our club, we tell them they need to symbolically get washed in the waters of baptism to get that dirty sin off of them and we recognize that it's a constant struggle to live faithfully...that we're still going to be dealing with sin after JUSTIFICATION and along the road of SANCTIFICATION.

RC Sproul wrote a book in 1982 called Reason to Believe which addressed some of the objections that persons raise to the faith.  One of which is this whole hypocrisy thing.

 

What happens is that people observe church members sinning. They reason within themselves, “That person professes to be a Christian. Christians aren’t supposed to sin. That person is sinning; therefore, he is a hypocrite.” The unspoken assumption is that a Christian is one who claims he does not sin. It reality just the opposite is the case. For a Christian to be a Christian, he must first be a sinner. Being a sinner is a prerequisite for being a church member. The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgment of sin as a condition for membership. In one sense the church has fewer hypocrites than any institution because by definition the church is a haven for sinners. If the church claimed to be an organization of perfect people then her claim would be hypocritical. But no such claim is made by the church. There is no slander in the charge that the church is full of sinners. Such a statement would only compliment the church for fulfilling her divinely appointed task.

 

It is true that there are hypocrites in the church.  But that's not the fault of the church.  It's the fault of Christians who have misinterpreted the message of Jesus.

Spiritual Tourism

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You know that nice little gift shop they have near the entrance to the fancy cathedral you went to in Europe...the one where you picked up the postcard to send back home to friends or to put in your scrapbook.  Perhaps you picked up some handmade craft items, knitted by the locals.  I, myself, recall the lengthy time I spent in the gift shop at Servants In Faith And Technology in Alabama after a very meaningful week with youth.   I picked up a couple of Christmas items for family and the altar Peruvian altar cloth that's even on the altar at Girdwood Chapel as I write this.

Religion has an industry around it.  I buy resources at Cokesbury.  I buy clergy shirts somewhere else.  And don't even get me started on the entire Contemporary Christian Music industry...  Persons have found that religion can pay well in a capitalistic sense.  There's money to be made.  We sold cookbooks and coffee cups to help with our building fund.

And, sometimes, the selling is connected to some great religious experiences.  I, for one, am very well aware of what size business is tied around getting clergy to take laypersons to the Holy Land or follow in Paul's footsteps or visit some of the sites of the early church.  $ $ $ $ $ $


Emer O'Kelly, writing predominantly about Ireland, talks about this phenomena of Spiritual Tourism in an article in The Independent of Dublin, Ireland.

The author recounts a visit to Lourdes and the shock at all the sales taking place around the cathedral:

....the entire town was a retail industry of revolting proportions, summed up by empty bottles in the shape of the Virgin being sold at exorbitant prices to be filled with water from the "miraculous spring".

I bought, I remember, a Rosary guaranteed as pure silver filigree; it turned brown within days. But at least I wasn't conned into one of those little plastic boxes with chips or shreds of cloth in them, labelled first, second and third class "relics" that conferred special grace, and which were guaranteed to have touched a holy corpse, or to be a bit of bone from it, or have been taken from its grave, and which, if fingered while saying a prayer, would provide extra first, second or third class spiritual grace.

And how was it back in England as the Catholic Church prepared for the coming of Pope Benedict?

...the Catholic Church has a special "merchandising website" for the forthcoming visit there of Pope Benedict. The "papal product lines" include baseball caps, sweat shirts, hoodies and fridge magnets, as well as a load of stuff, including mugs, commemorating John Henry Cardinal Newman who will be beatified during the Pope's visit to Britain.

Ireland was getting into the business as well...marketing to different categories of "spiritual tourists" -- the sacred tourists (really wanting a penitential experience), those into cultural spirituality (which is less rigorous), and those who are in it for spirituality and heritage (who want a better look at the country and its peoples).

The author holds no punches as to how he feels about the leadership of the country being in cahoots with the Church of Ireland as they "market" their spirtuality to bring in the tourism dollars.  He closes out his article:

So all aboard the holy marketing train to search for meaning, and buy your way to holiness.

And that the State, in the persons of its government tourism agency, is aiding and abetting this distasteful exploitation of one of the most personal elements of people's lives is truly nauseating.

Well, there you have it.

Christianity (Puritans) and Capitalism

There is a whole lot of connection between mainline Christianity and mainline Capitalism.  The interplay is scary at times.  But, was it always that way?  Apparently not. 

See this from over at the New York Times' "Idea of the Day" blog -- although it's from a week ago now.  It's called, "How Puritans Turned Capitalist."


The Idea is: 

When Boston’s dour Puritan preachers embraced markets as a moral good three and a half centuries ago, it was a watershed in the formation of the American economy and the national character.

This idea come from Mark Valeri's book, "Heavenly Merchandize: How Religion Shaped Commerce in Puritan America" and claims that, when life got rough in Puritan America, those who used to disdain the market as evil, started seeing that it was necessary to have some economic growth to get the country on track.  It was, perhaps, self-preservation that got some of our more conservative religious folk on the capitalism bandwagon...all in the name of Jesus.

 

Here's what Valeri says about Rev. Samuel Willard, one of those Puritans who helped this change along...

[He] preached during a period when Boston merchants believed that their occupation was essential to the commonweal — to England’s prosperity and therefore to Protestantism and liberty. Their strategies to convey goods, credit, and power throughout the British Atlantic proved them to be patrons of the empire. Many moralists, Willard included, valorized them in such terms. His successors, leading Boston pastors of the 1710s, 1720s, and 1730s, went further. They, along with their parishioners, sanctioned the practices that guaranteed economic success as moral mandates, and the rules that governed commercial exchange as natural and divine laws. Their convictions informed a market culture that, by many accounts, came to maturity by 1750 and provided motives for rebellion against the British Empire after the cessation of war with France. 

You can read a lot more from the author in an interview with the Boston Globe. 

So, if this is how the connection between consumerism and American Christianity was solidified, how do we "unsolidify" it? 

If I Had and Extra $21 Million...

I'd buy a MARBLE JESUS.

Yup...for $21 Million I'd buy this marble Jesus that appeared in some tile work in a guy's bathroom.  This "Jesus" apparently has healing powers and the seller will even throw in his HOUSE along with Jesus.

This is an actual EBay Ad.  Here's what the ad says:

This magnificent blessing is made up of four individual 12 x 12 marble tiles and is found at eye level on the head of my shower wall.  I firmly believe that the image of  Jesus is in close proximity to the shower faucet in order to represent the Baptismal qualities of water, and the promises one makes in renewing and refreshing one’s spirit.  Since discovering this miracle and trying to bring it to market, I have had trials and tribulations, but I have persevered because of  God’s grace present in my life through this unexplainable occurrence.

In fairness, the seller says that a large percentage of the money will go to church causes. However, I can't help but think I could find better uses for my (still yet to be realized) $21 Million. 

If you're in the mood for some snark, see what "Jesus Needs New PR" says.