Let’s be honest, have you ever liked or respected someone who said to you ‘You are either for me or against me’?Usually, the words of a bully, certainly those of limited wisdom and imagination. Especially if those words are backed up with threat and intimidation. But, this duality of thinking, right or wrong, good or bad, in or out, is all too pervasive throughout history and human psychology to this day. Economists and mathematical game theorists call this type of thinking the zero-sum game, in which each participant's gain (or loss) is exactly balanced by the losses (or gains) of the other participant(s).In other words, if someone is to win, then someone has to lose.You can find people who embrace these false dichotomies, and there are a lot of them, in politics, in the White House, in everyday life, in theology.This is not at all how I see Jesus, or the divine reality that inspired him. This not the God I believe in, or the type of church that I believe we should build.Instead, we should strive to create a community where all are welcome, all are valued, all are loved for who and what they are, without reserve and without limit.
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10:09
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10:09
A new person within
A Bishop was once reported in the press to have commented that the resurrection was about a ‘conjuring trick with old bones’. Bishop David Jenkins was branded the ‘unbelieving Bishop’ and the satirical TV puppet show ‘Spitting Image’ even had a sketch of him persuading God to become an atheist.That misquote of the Bishop has cascaded down through the years, following him wherever he went – the problem is – he never said it.In fact, what the Bishop of Durham had said was that the resurrection is ‘so much more than a conjuring trick with old bones’ an entirely different statement.Because Bishop David was trying to get us to focus on the meaning, the significance of the resurrection, on the transformation of the disciples and the growth of the Christian community, and potentially of ourselves, rather than obsessing about overly literal interpretations of the experience of Jesus, real or embellished, after his death.The secret to practising resurrection is in letting go of the artificial self, the person we pretend to be, the masks we wear, the possessions that trap us and giving ourselves to something greater than ourselves.The Jewish theologian Martin Buber tells the story of an ageing pious man, Rabbi Susya, who became fearful as his life drew to a close. His friends chided him saying “What! Are you afraid that you’ll be reproached for not being Moses” “No,” the rabbi replied. “That I was not truly myself”.
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11:50
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11:50
Who deserves justice?
I cannot stand unfairness and injustice.Today, not only as Chair of Changing Attitude Ireland, but also simply as someone who abhors unfairness, I see this all too clearly in the treatment of LGBTQ people within our church. Within most churches.Of course, there are those who for one reason or another disapprove of, denigrate and discriminate against the LGBTQ community and will cite scripture or tradition, with varying degrees of casuistry and equivocation to justify their fears and prejudices. I find little to defend the variety of their arguments, but at least one knows where one stands. But what I find indefensible are those who affect to sympathise, who acknowledge the injustice, who declare themselves committed to the righting of the wrong, to securing justice for those discriminated against – but not yet. Essentially throwing a minority under the bus for some spurious and entirely illusory sense of church unity.Of course, it is usually the defenceless and the voiceless who are sacrificed so blithely, sacrifices are rarely required of those who have influence and power.But justice only for some, is really justice for none. If any organisation, and especially the church, tolerates injustice towards the few, then it is an unjust community. Its claims to show love, acceptance and compassion are meaningless unless they extend to all.And to knowingly practice injustice, just for the sake of church politics and pragmatism is even worse than prejudice and bigotry – for at least the intolerant own their opinions. But to be unjust, knowing it to be wrong, continuing anyway, for some supposed ulterior goal, is the worst kind of hypocrisy and mendacity.There can be no place for it in our church and in our lives.
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11:34
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11:34
What is the future of the Christian 'Way'?
I wonder, not only about the first Easter, but especially the Easters that soon followed, those of the first and second centuries, when Christianity was still so new, so radical and relatively untouched by the worlds of wealth and power. And the people who spoke of themselves as following ‘the Way’.We now live through a time when Christianity seems under threat as never before, at least in the West, and there is an emerging generation who regard, often rightly, some of its past beliefs and prejudices as socially and morally toxic.So, is it still possible to speak of new life and new hope? Is resurrection still a story we can tell?In fact, I believe that there are signs that the Christian faith has still very much to say to our world and to help shape the future of mankind. But it requires us to look to ‘The Way’ once again, to prioritise not what we claim to believe, but what we do, how we act, how we live out Jesus’ great commandments of love.
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9:27
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9:27
No longer playing the blame game
It was a widespread belief of Jesus’ time that suffering and misfortune were a sign of God’s displeasure and punishment, that they were somehow earned and deserved.Let’s be frank, we can even fall prey to the same superstitious beliefs today, where adversity and affliction can all too easily be labelled as the consequences of such phrases as ‘poor choices’ or ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ – at least by those who lead privileged lives.But two thousand years ago, Jesus was warning about this erroneous connection between good fortune and virtue, and misfortune and vice.Sometimes, mostly, suffering is random, undeserved, not the consequences of our guilt or complicity and conversely, good fortune and advantage in life is rarely distributed equitably.Especially it seems in American and Western politics, no question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals, than the element of luck in economic success.But in recent years, social scientists have discovered that sheer chance actually plays a much larger role in important life outcomes than most people imagine, or we are comfortable acknowledging.This, of course, should engender our compassion for those who suffer, and greater humility in our privilege – but I wonder, in reality, if it does?
This is the Think, Question, Believe podcast where we look at the Christian faith from a progressive and inclusive perspective - and that means taking the Bible seriously but not literally, honouring the past, but looking to today and into the future, and seeking to build an affirming church that serves all people with love, tolerance and acceptance. Coming from St Nicholas Church, Adare, Church of Ireland - a progressive and inclusive church. We feature in the feedspot list of most popular religious podcasts in Ireland: https://blog.feedspot.com/ireland_church_podcasts/
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