Sunday Morning Freedom - Credo -puto - ego interrogo ( I believe, I think and I question)


Is the modern church really a spiritual marketplace? Just reflecting! I suggest that the modern church no longer reflects its origin. In some cases, It no longer is a place of revitalization, refuge or rest from worry. It has become a place where people come to feel better about themselves, not to be challenged to do more for a commonly callous, cold and rigid minded society.  I love God, but have serious concerns that reflect my experiences as of late with the Christian Church. As a scholar, I realize that creating a normative off of one's personal experiences is not only problematic, but is symptomatic of irrationality and isolates personal opinion towards a point of piety over and against the thoughts of others. However, my Sunday morning experiences as a Baptist preacher, theologian and now a practitioner of the faith have created points of divergence for me that I am choosing air out not simply locally, but Globally.  I suspect that many have become weary of systematic Sunday attendance and weekly meetings among groups of people who profess love for God, but are ignorant of the life experiences connected to the poor, not considerate of the religious experiences that cross cultural lines and habitually obfuscate Christocentric Principals in effort to further marginalize the those with whom we share differences in doctrine and opinion. 

One is either bereft of faith in the human condition, or  could aptly charge God with Divine neglect. What kind of Divine Caretaker would allow such things to happen in its name? Does God answer the request of those with whom the church has deemed heretic in behavior or for people whose questions get no human answers? I suspect the answer would be no, because I consider myself not only a believer, but a doer. I cant for the life of me, continue to act as though the church has it right, no! We have surrendered in some instances, our prophetic garments, (our ability to speak truth to power) to "christian" power brokers. We are a spiritual marketplace with a rich history, but have a poisonous hostility to helping others. We ignore the entire 6th chapter of Matthew,  and have rewritten our church charters to ignore  this verse entirely 19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Churches are bankrolling on a epic scale, while members suffer drastically. Churches are not simply communities of faith, but have become monuments of wealth to the detriment and health of its own.   Diabetes, AIDS/HIV, Hunger, Elder Abuse and Neglect don't make it onto the Sunday program. No one talks about sexual molestation and the pedigree to which the church must continue to sound the trumpet on human trafficking. Educational disparities continue to entrap generations as the poor loose their footing on a cliff of inescapable depths. Have you considered the impact on a community a 10 million dollar facility has? What if churches began giving back as much as they recieve? I got angry recently when I picked up a offering envelope and read the familiar phrase 10% to God through the church, I had to ask this question, How much is God getting? What is God getting? This is no assault of the tithing, but rather an exposition on what are we doing with the resources that we have!  The church no longer focuses on the heart and soul of its community but on the brick and mortar. We build elaborate facilities to house anywhere between, dozens and thousands on a Sunday morning. Our culture has become Sanctuary oriented rather than community driven. Now, I don't hold hostage those communities of faith which are counter cultural to this trend, but if truth be told these are few and far in between. 

 Now, often in these forums a scholar easily points out issues that many of us understand, but neglects to give practical advice for a change. This writer is given to critique and moved towards action. How about we start this new year off by removing chains. I suggest we remove the chains from women and minorities. Duke University's National Congregations Study estimates that 56 million people fill the pews on any given sunday, excluding catholic and orthodox churches. An October of 2003 U.S. Congregational Life Survey – Key Findings found that On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches. Yet women, make up only 22% of the positions of leadership within the church, according the the Hartford Seminary's Congregational Self Identification Survey, 2010. Set the women free; free from cultural formations enshrined in our religious community by bad readings of the Holy Writ. Set women free for ministry, free to minister as God provides wisdom, counsel and anointing. 

Now on to a more controversial, but nonetheless important. Gay's, Lesbians, Transgender, Queer, Othered and those who questioning.. Set them free; God did not tie sexuality into the equation of anointing nor does God as exhibited by Christ never mentioning it in his 33 year sojourn, find fault in a persons sexuality. I for one don't believe that I am any more anointed than any of my brothers and sisters in the ministry who are gay, lesbian and the like. We all derive our strength from the same source and for the church to continually become a place where its best examples of God's grace find themselves on the receiving end of hateful, spiteful and painful messages is less about God's intention and more about the spread of Hyper-masculinity and the over sensitivity to cultural norms that are archaic and without any significant biblical root.  One might ask me, rather quizzically, are you saying that we should not preach the bible, my response is frank and vivid, No! The bible is the rooted text of our tradition, but I am saying we should read the text better, in community and not eisegete text in hopes of creating agenda's or to marginalize a particular population with which you disagree. Love is the common denominator within this text, it was for cause of Love, that Christ came, lived and died. We should use that love ethic to better manage the spiritual functions of our community. Let us set them free: Free from the constraints of our paradoxical theological formations , which ask them to present their gifts to God in ministry, but dually subjugating them as second class Christians or Christians waiting in an extended candidacy for full Christian credentials. We will allow them to preach a in season word, minister from the instruments of our sanctuaries, while they sit chained to our oppressive and often convoluted tirades in the form of  sermons, which demote their human worth to what occurs in the privacy of their bedrooms or questioning their agency to love whomever.
 Set them free and allow God to work as God chooses with whom God chooses. 

Next week, I will discuss, AIDS, and how the church needs to function as refuge and not the place where those with the disease are made to feel like stepchildren of the faith.

But this is a just a start! Your thoughts~