About two years ago, the Grace Search Committee arranged to have some of the members who missed the Washington, DC trip visit me at a small church in southwest Missouri. After the service and another round of questions, one of the committee members asked me, “Do you have any questions?” Since the conversation focused on pretty serious theological questions, I gave them some of my questions. What about the Bible makes you want to cry? What makes you angry? What are the questions you live by?
A recent article in an urban Tulsa newspaper declared that Christianity in Tulsa was on the decline. It went on to divide the local population into three categories: “the churched [by this the author meant large evangelical bodies], the apathetic unchurched, and the discontented de-churched.” The article implied that a faithful Christian could not harbor any doubts. The theological and spiritual focus of churches like Grace in Muskogee was completely ignored by the article.
My first reaction was to take offense at the oversight, but in closer consideration, the oversight was a compliment and an opportunity. It was a compliment because churches like Grace do not fit into the tight mold this author cast for his definition of Christian. What he considered “church” consisted of free form, spontaneous prayer, a faith formed around answers and certainties, and an utterly rigid theology, connecting salvation with prosperity and giving to the church. Where would Grace Episcopal Church line up in the “Christianity” of this author?
In contrast to free form spontaneous prayers we have prayers that are hundreds or thousands of years old. The words of these prayers are often written in beautiful English and have stood the test of time. The first English Bible of William Tyndale, along with Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer are said to have a stronger influence on the English language than Shakespeare. The Protestant Reformers rejected the fixed form prayers of the Roman Catholics (and later Anglicans), saying they were “dead” and “devoid of contemporary value.” But I would counter by saying that these prayers have been honed to a fine edge by long use and they are timeless. Take a prayer book home some time and study what we say on Sunday. You will be amazed at what you find.
Next we consider the issue of faith and doubt. It is the oldest trick in the book for a charismatic leader to hold up the Bible and tell a congregation, “I have the answers. I know that God wants you to be prosperous. If you just believe these things and don’t ask any difficult questions, you can be part of the inside group.” The sales trick I am talking about is called “bait and switch.”
The real thing here is to become a follower of Jesus, not some charismatic guy on TV. Becoming a follower of Jesus involves taking risks, asking questions, living with doubt, not expecting answers, and fundamentally living a life in constant tension – living a life full of questions. We may not be able to fill a church with 6,000 worshippers. We may not have visions of a 900 foot Jesus. Yes we will go to the grave with our doubts. We will live a righteous life with integrity, and we might have a little fun together along the way.
Finally we face off rigid theology versus open theology. In the 1830s the Roman Catholic Church developed what was called the “Baltimore Catechism.” The catechism in our prayer book (page 845) is closely related to that. They were attempts to teach busy pioneer people the elements of the faith in a systematic, question and answer format. When I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, the standard joke was that you had to memorize the catechism because the bishop might ask you an embarrassing question at the service!
Today we hardly give the “paint by numbers” approach a second thought. Far more pressing questions weigh on us, such as, “Does the violence in the Bible condone ‘ethnic cleansing’ we see around the world today?” “If God favors the poor, does the rapid rise in worldwide poverty mean that Christianity and especially Christian missions worldwide have been a failure?” “I know that I am saved only by God’s grace and that at the end of my days I will be judged for my life. What kind of life am I supposed to live now?”
A very popular TV evangelist once told us that “God wants you to be prosperous.” Shortly after that he raised funds for building a sixty story medical complex saying he had a vision of a 900 foot Jesus. I won’t dispute the vision, but I will tell you that the statement connecting Christian faith to prosperity is a heresy disputed in the 1st, 3rd, 8th, and 15th centuries. The heresy is known as “Simony” or “Pelagianism.” I can stand on pretty solid biblical ground and guarantee you that God does NOT want you to be prosperous. God wants you to be generous.
The opportunity we have is huge. From this article I can conclude that a large portion of young, educated people who write articles like this for local papers do not even know Grace Episcopal Church exists. They do not know that we offer an alternative to the toxic Christianity that surrounds us. They can barely comprehend that a church exists in Muskogee that welcomes and loves every human being who comes through these doors. It is our job to reach out to them and show them.
Something will fill the spiritual void in these young people. If we do not reach them who will? If we do not reach out to them in 2012, when will we?