Thinking Theologically

What do you think?

This familiar question deals with beliefs and positions. It seems to me that we are stuck in a quagmire of differing beliefs and positions, politically and religiously. We keep thrashing around in this quagmire, arguing our position, attacking the opposing position, all the while making no progress.

Albert Einstein is credited with the observation, "The thinking that created the problem cannot produce its solution." A different way of approaching the issues is needed if we are to escape the quagmire. A different question is needed.

Instead of "what do you think?", perhaps we could ask "how do you think?" The question of "how" is a deeper question. It moves us beyond the beliefs and positions we so passionately hold to how we arrived at those beliefs and positions. I dare say that most of us have never considered how we came to believe what we believe.

The most common road to what we believe is what we were taught. We believe what we were taught to believe. Culture, family, tradition, religion, education, experience - all combine to teach us what to believe. (Have you ever noticed how frequently we speak of tradition or traditional?) What we believe naturally includes the assumption that we are right. After all, who would believe something they know is not right?!

We believe what we were taught to believe until exposure to a different culture, tradition, religion, educational perspective, and/or experience challenges what we have always believed. That challenge creates a crisis. How are we to respond to this different belief or position?

The default reaction to such challenges is to reject that which is different, clinging to what is familiar and comfortable. This reaction views the different belief or position as a threat that must be neutralized. We attempt to discredit the other belief, attacking it as liberal (or conservative), while defending our position as the only logical position. We often turn to tradition and the Bible to validate the position we hold. (It seems to me this default reaction is a major contributor to the quagmire in which we are trapped.)

This default reaction has a number of inherent weaknesses that undermine relationships.

• It is rooted in fear of that which is different. This unrecognized fear leads us to demonize and attack the other (not just their position) as we defend our own belief/position. This fear-based reaction prevents any dialogue that could lead to mutual understanding and respect.
• It uses "what I believe" as the standard by which right or wrong is judged. 
• It is closed to learning and growth. The assumption of "being right" rejects any need to learn anything more. It assumes the final, authoritative position that cannot be questioned. 
• It unconsciously embodies an arrogance that says "I'm right. You're wrong." Such arrogance carries the assumption of being "better than" the other. 
• It uses scripture for my own purposes. The starting point is the belief. Scripture is used to validate the belief. Using scripture this way ignores the many, diverse voices of scripture. 
• It protects a religious world we have created in our own likeness (rather than God's) in order to insure our own advantage and comfort. Jesus challenged this inclination, You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition, (Mark 7:8, NRSV). 

The Apostle Paul's words in Romans 12:2 speak to this issue of how we think. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect ((NRSV). The original Greek carries the idea of "stop being conformed." It suggests we have already been shaped by the world in which we live ... or, as I said above, by culture, family, tradition, religion, education, experience. This world-shaped thinking is a major factor in what we believe and, thus, in who we are. Transformation into the likeness of Christ comes by the renewing of your minds. The writer of Ephesians expressed the same idea. In Ephesians 4, he spoke of spiritual formation as putting off the old self and putting on a new self. At the heart of this putting off-putting on process is to be renewed in the spirit of your minds (Ephesians 4:22-24, NRSV). Transformation of heart and mind comes as the truth that Jesus taught begins to shape how we think and, thereby, how we live. As the truth that Jesus taught shapes our thinking, we put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). This Spirit-directed retraining of the way we think is what enables us to discern what is the will of God on any position.

How - not what - we think is the key question. The followers of Jesus, I trust, think theologically. That is, the followers of Jesus consciously allow the things that Jesus taught to shape how they think. (See again my 10/28/18 blog: God's Plumb Line.)

But thinking theologically is only half of the equation. Thinking only puts us in a position to act. Acting on the truth that Jesus taught is a matter of the will.  But that's another topic for another blog. Stay tuned.

Johnny One Note

I was recently referred to as "Johnny One Note." The person referring to me with this moniker intended it as a slam. From his perspective, all I talk about is the report of the Commission on a Way Forward that The UMC will address in February of 2019. Or, more accurately, the LGBTQ+ issue that is the presenting issue of the Commission's work. Indeed, in this blog, I have been speaking to this issue. My objective is to stimulate thinking (as opposed to reacting) around this issue.

I understand my role as a pastor to include (1) teaching us to live faithfully as the followers of Jesus. That includes teaching us the ways of God that Jesus taught (the Kingdom). My role also includes (2) teaching us to think theologically, that is, to allow Jesus' teachings to inform and shape our thinking, including the positions we hold. This blog has been an attempt to get us beyond black-n-white, emotionally driven thinking. It is an attempt to help us see beyond what we think is the issue (LGBTQ+ issues) to the deeper, underlying issues. It is an attempt to stimulate open conversation that seeks to hear and be heard so that we can love as Jesus loved even though we don't agree with one another. I do not intend to tell people what or how to think. My intention is to foster thinking and conversation by sharing my own thinking.

Failure to do this kind of work (my teaching role and the difficult conversations) allows us to live out of our default human nature. We unconsciously follow our natural inclination, using God and the Bible to defend the positions we already hold with no thought of the Kingdom. We withdraw into a religious world we have created in our own likeness for our own advantage and comfort.

While the Johnny One Note moniker was intended as a slam, I embrace it as a compliment. I do have one consistent note that I play: living faithfully as the followers of Jesus, allowing his teachings to shape our hearts and minds so that our actions and relationships are an expression of the ways of God that he taught (the Kingdom of  God). For me, to live faithfully as the follower of Jesus is to live out of grace and love to all people.

So going forward (assuming you'll continue to read this blog), you will hear that "one note" of living faithfully as the followers of Jesus over and over again. I'll move beyond the Commission of a Way Forward and LGBTQ+ issues. There'll be other issues to which I'll speak. But what I have to say will always be me singing that "one note."

Ninety and Nine

One of Jesus' most familiar parables is of the shepherd who left the ninety-nine sheep to go look for the one sheep that was lost.

Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance, (Luke 15:4-7, NRSV).

The parable draws on our common experience - "which one of you does not ...?" Who doesn't look for that which they lost? Once we realize something is lost, we go looking for it. We look for it because it is important to us. Even if we have more of the same thing - ninety-nine - we still value and look for the one that was lost.

This parable is one of three parables recorded back-to-back in Luke 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. Each of the three parables proclaims the same truth about God. God is the shepherd, the woman who lost a coin, the father who joyfully welcomes his lost son. God goes to great lengths to find the one that is lost because each one is important to God. When that which is lost is found, God rejoices and throws a party to celebrate.

Jesus told the parables in response to criticism from the scribes and Pharisees: This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them, (Luke 15:2).

The criticism and Jesus' response highlight two key differences between Jesus and the religious leaders: how they viewed those who were different and, thereby, how they treated them. How we view others always determines how we treat them.

The scribes and Pharisees viewed those who were different as sinners. The term sinners meant the others did not live by the Mosaic Law as the scribes interpreted it. Because they did not conform to the scribal expectations, they were considered ritually unclean and, thereby, not eligible to worship at the Temple. They could only worship at the Temple after they went through a process of ritual cleansing. Because the scribes and Pharisees viewed the others as unclean, they would not associate with sinners lest they become ritually unclean through contact with them. They treated them as socially unacceptable and deserving of condemnation and contempt.

Jesus viewed these so-called sinners differently and, thus, treated them differently. The three parables reflect how Jesus viewed them: as one important to and loved by God. Consequently, Jesus treated  them with dignity and respect as beloved children of God. In eating with them, Jesus embraced them  as full members of God's covenant people.

These differences in how so-called sinners were viewed and treated reflect another significant difference between Jesus and the religious leaders. Jesus' acceptance of those the religious leaders called sinners was unconditional. Jesus embraced them as they were because he saw them through the eyes of God. Jesus treated them with grace and forgiveness. For the religious leaders, acceptance was conditional. Acceptance had to be earned, deserved by conforming to expectations. If/when the so-called sinners conformed to the expected religious-moral code, then they would be accepted. Rejection, condemnation, and scorn were used to pressure conformity.

It seems to me that Jesus' parable of the lost sheep raises probing questions as we United Methodist deal with the division and angst in The UMC over the Way Forward.

• How do we view those who are different from us - through the eyes of God or through the eyes of our religious-moral standards?
• Does our treatment of "the other" reflect God's unconditional love and grace or our expectations of conformity to our religious-moral standards?
• Have we polarized ourselves into the same kind of us-them categories that we see in the religious culture of Jesus' day?
• Does our position reflect God's unwillingness for even one to be lost?
• Who is excluded by the position we have taken?

When All Is Said and Done and the Dust Has Settled

The report of the Commission on a Way Forward being considered in the February, 2019, special session of the General Conference has created angst within the hearts of many in The UMC. The driving question - and fear - is "what will happen to The UMC?" Will The UMC split the way other denominations have split over the LGBTQ+ issue? Will it splinter into multiple pieces? Will The UMC as we have known it be gone? What will happen to my local congregation of The UMC?

Many factors contribute to this angst and fear, but three in particular. The first is that most people (as a friend recently pointed out) have already made up their minds about the LGBTQ+ issue. Their position is clear in their minds. No conversation (or blog!) is going to change that position. The second factor is a sense of powerlessness, i.e., we have no "voice" in the decision. The elected delegates to the special session will make the decision. That reality leads to the third factor: what they decide will impact us and The UMC. We have no way, at this time, to know the nature of the impact or the impact on our local congregation. That unknown fuels the angst and fear even more.

Underlying the angst and fear is the question (or fear!): what if they decide something that does not align with my position?

When all is said and done and the dust is settled, three realities will be unchanged.

First, who God is will be unchanged. God will still be God. God's faithful love is not affected by any vote.

Second, who we are will be unchanged. We will still be the beloved children of God, claimed by grace in Christ Jesus. We will still be the followers of Jesus.

Third, FUMCA will still be FUMCA. FUMCA has been a witness to Christ in Arlington for 140 years. We will continue to be FUMCA. We will continue to do ministry in our community. We are not going anywhere.

When all is said and done and the dust is settled, the determining factor in what lies ahead will not be the decision that will be made by the delegates to the special session in February. The determining factor will be our response to their decision. Our power - our only power - is in how we choose to respond. This power over our own selves is all the power we have or need.

The ability to choose - what we call free will - is God's gift to us. Through this gift, God empowers us to be the partial architects of our own lives. But this gift is also an awesome responsibility. We determine what kind of people we will be by the choices we make.

So how do we choose? What shapes our choices?

For those of us who are the people of God and the followers of Jesus, the ways of God that Jesus taught (the Kingdom) shape our thinking and, thereby, our choices. The Spirit guides us (Galatians 5:16, 25).

Unfortunately, the ways of the Kingdom are not the only shaping influence to our thinking. Our thinking is shaped by our default human nature, by the environment of our early, formative years, by the culture in which we live, by our ethnicity, by our socio-economic status, by those around us, etc. These multiple influences on our thinking are why the biblical writer described the discipleship process as putting off the old self and putting on the new self by the renewing of the mind (Ephesians 4:22-24). The Apostle Paul said it this way: do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2, NRSV adapted). Apart from the teachings of Jesus and the guidance of the Spirit, we cannot discern God's will. We will unconsciously confuse what we already believe with God's will.

So how do we deal with our angst and fear around this issue? We reclaim our power to choose.

When all is said and done and the dust is settled, some of us will choose to live in relationship with one another (unity) even though we hold different positions on this issue (not uniformity). This choice is our way of being faithful to God's call on our lives. We choose to live out of our identity as the people of God and the followers of Jesus, living the ways of God (the Kingdom) that Jesus taught. The choice to live in unity is our refusal to allow a single issue to define who we are.

When all is said and done and the dust is settled, others of us will disagree with the decision that will be made. We will choose to withdraw from fellowship with those who hold a different position on this issue. We view this loyalty to our position as our way of being faithful to God's call on our lives. We too seek to live out of our identity as the people of God and the followers of Jesus. We view the decision that will be made as a threat to and a diminishing of that identity - something we cannot tolerate.

Either way we choose, we are not powerless. We determine - by how we choose to respond - who we will be. Our choice reflects what faithfulness looks like in our mind.

I pray the choice we make reflects the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:1-11) and the guidance of the Spirit.