Old wounds, new bruises.
A few weeks ago a pastor named John MacArthur and a number of his colleagues wrote “A statement on social justice and the gospel.” You can read the full thing HERE for yourself though I will also summarize. While there seem to be a number of generally agreed upon theological components in this document, (as all things deceitful are partly full of truth), the pastors who created it allege that focusing on social justice undermines the message the Gospel. They claim women are not capable of leadership in the church and state there is no such thing as a “gay Christian.”
Over the last several months more and more has reached the media about the sexual assault/molestation scandals rocking the Catholic church – most recently one in Pennsylvania, where I grew up. In it’s wake there was the suggestion that the current pope knew of one such serial abuser and did not respond appropriately.
And, in the wake of the new governmental powers that be, Ive watched as Evangelicals support a president accused of sexual assault, a president who makes sweeping statements about entire groups of people, a president who has promoted violence and appointed members of the community who are known White supremicists into positions of leadership. I see my fellow Christians support an administration that separates families and leads to the victimization and traumatization of children.
Saturday night my re-occuring dream appeared once more. I am back at college. I have a single credit or class that I have to complete. Somehow they overlooked my transcript and allowed me to graduate though I am missing some crucial element to my bachelors degree. In the dream I have my Masters, just as I do in waking life, but in order to keep it I have to return to college. Here’s the thing though: this is really more of a nightmare than a casual dream. I attended a Christian college and sexual assault was just as alive and well there as anywhere. Judgment based on outward appearance, requirements about church attendance and attempts at behavioral modification were mainstays.
In the dream I am always trying to muddle through without being noticed but I am SO OLD (okay I’m only 36 but in contrast it feels like a century) and becomes impossible to blend in.
This time in the dream there was a new element. Every few minutes, as I was attempting to settle into a dorm or to sign up for that one stupid class or find my mailbox, a man would attempt to sexually assault me or another female near me. He would whisper nasty things about our identities and our pasts.
At one point, he came through the window into my bedroom the size of a small bee buzzing through the air with condemning words. I swatted and stomped – to no avail.
On Sunday I went to church and heard a message that left me weeping. And here is where we get to the point of all of this.
At the end of his message, the Pastor told a story that went like this … (as soon as the full sermon is up on the website I will post it HERE)
Tony Campolo, a sociologist and preacher, is in Honolulu for a conference. In a sequence of events that Tony himself recalls in this youtube video, it came down the end of the story for me.
Tony throws a birthday party for a prostitute at 3:30 in the morning. The diner where the party occurs is full of prostitutes and Agnes, the birthday girl, is overcome with emotion and surprise. She asks to leave in order to show her mother the birthday cake. In the wake of her exit, the room becomes quiet and awkward. So Tony does what all preachers do in weird moments – he offers to pray. He prays out loud for Agnes and her healing and transformation. When he is done, the owner of the diner says something like “You didn’t tell me you were a preacher! What kind of church do you belong to?”
And Tony, thinking he’s somewhat of a brilliant guy for coming up with this answer says:
“I belong to the kind of church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.”
And the owner says:
“No you don’t. If that existed, I would go to that kind of church.”
No you don’t.
If that existed, I would go to that kind of church.
And that’s where all of the above mentioned experiences over the last few months came together, wove before me a damning picture, and ended with weeping.
Because the suggestion that focusing on social justice undermines or distracts from the message of the Gospel IS A LIE. The assumption that any human being can determine the faith and Christianity based on one’s sexual orientation or any other outward factor IS THE MEASURE OF PRIDE AND FALSENESS ON BEHALF OF THE JUDGER.
1 Samuel 16:7 ; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ; Jeremiah 17:10 ; Romans 2:1-4
If that existed, I would go to that kind of church.
Because Christians in America can be so offended as to burn their Nike gear because Colin Kaepernik is in their advertisements – a man who protested systemic oppression and state sanctioned policing and killing of black and brown people (which, by the way, is 100% in alignment with Jesus’ character) – but say NOTHING about an entire religious institution that for hundreds of years has systematically and literally RAPED AND MOLESTED CHILDREN is DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFUL.
Isaiah 1:17 ; Jeremiah 22:3 ; Micah 6:8 ; Proverbs 29:7
If that existed, I would go to that kind of church.
Because Evangelicals continue to reportedly support a man in power who has a) taken multiple wives b) had multiple extramarital affairs c) has been accused of sexual assault d) has literally been on tape making comments about sexually assaulting women e) rejects the immigrant, the poor and the oppressed f) incites and suggests violence at rallies around the nation and g) publicly mocks the disabled, is not only astounding but again a measure of how crooked the Evangelical culture has become, how prideful and how ignorant.
Deuteronomy 27:19 ; Galatians 3:28 ; Matthew 25:31-46 ; Leviticus 19:33-34
If that existed, I would go to that kind of church.
If you are a Christian and you are not convicted by Tony Campolo’s story, you are part of the problem.
Let me say that again.
If you are a Christian and it doesn’t bother you that someone can say they would have gone to church if such a one existed, you are a part of the problem.
I am done playing bruised or broken or sitting quietly in the background or passive aggressively rebelling in my corner of the world when it comes to Christians playing at God and forgetting Jesus.
I.Am.Done.
It’s time to be that kind of church.
So let’s just do it. 