Above

What would make you mad enough to leave your church?

Nothing, I hope, but we all know better.

Rev. Gregory Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church outside St. Paul, Minnesota, knows better, too, and has had some recent first-hand experience.

In a 6-part sermon series called, “The Cross and The Sword,” he challenged his congregation not to confuse patriotism and faith in Jesus Christ. He asserted that too often, the church has allowed itself to become a pawn for politicians.

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

…And 1,000 of his 5,000 church members left.

Recently, the NY Times wrote an article about the Woodland Hills congregation and the fracture that’s taken place. I hope you can take a few moments to read it. It’s very thought-provoking, and definitely worth your time.

How can the declaration that, “the light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ,” drive 1,000 people away from their church?

The answer is part of a mystifying and deeply intriguing part of Christian life in America, circa 2006.

You see, there is a line.

Draw it out, horizontally across the world. Find your place on it, dig in, and defend.

That’s what Christianity is all about, right? I’m sure I remember Jesus saying something like, “the most important thing is being right, knowing you’re right, and defending your position from all of those who are wrong.”

Yeah, …he didn’t say that.

In his book, A New Kind of Christian, author and pastor Brian McLaren says that modern Christianity has inherent tendency toward placing everyone on a “line” of politics and conviction, somewhere from right (conservative) to left (liberal).

The point, then, too often becomes that of convincing the folks on other parts of “the line” to move over toward our ways of thinking, or to find other people out there who can “convert” to our side.

You see, Jesus stands on our part of the line ---- right?

Jesus wasn’t much for “lines,” as far as I can tell.

He wasn’t much for being used: by his disciples, by the religious establishment, by those who would make him “king,” or by those who would gain personal power by standing beside him.

In his book, McLaren suggests that perhaps there is a place “above the line.” Maybe Jesus stands there, and invites us to join him.

Here’s what I mean: take the most “hot button” issues of our day, and see where we at SOTH fall on the line.

Many of us fall to the right. Many of us fall to the left. Many of us are in the middle, and fall differently on different issues.

Where would Jesus fall? What would he say about the issues of our day?

Based on all that Jesus tells us in the Gospels, my imagination says he might say something like this:

“You have heard it said that fill in the blank is wrong. I say that any of you who hate your brother or sister have more than filled in the blank already.”

Above the line.

“Jesus,” they asked him, “what about the commandments, conflict, divorce, murder, adultery, retaliation?” “How can we justify our place on ‘the line?’”

“The line,” he says, “runs through your own heart. Look to yourself and the lumber in your own life before you pick someone else’s splinters” (Clearly, my paraphrase).

There are some big old behemoth churches out there in the world, packed every Sunday, that make their living by defending the line. It feels good there, for those who belong, and a good dose of red, white and blue every July just makes things feel even better.

No doubt, things may look good right now, but I’m afraid their “going out of business” banners may be at the print shop already.

There are 100, maybe 1000 times more people at Arbor Place Mall (a Douglasville landmark, for you out-of-towners reading along) each week than enter the doors of our churches.

Those folks, are much more likely to be looking for love, peace, reconciliation, community and relationship than someone who will tell them where they ought to stand on “the line.”

They don’t think right, or look right or act right enough to find a home in many houses of God. I pray with all I am that they can always find a place in ours.

I pray that somehow we can be “above the line” with Jesus.

That doesn’t mean we won’t each hold our own ideas and views on the issues of the day. It doesn’t even mean that our faith won’t shape the way we think about these things. It certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t disagree. Undoubtedly, we will.

It does mean, however, that no matter how much you and I disagree on an issue, we’ll never disagree on our collective need for a savior. We’ll never disagree that we both believe in Jesus. We’ll never disagree that we are called to love and serve both God and neighbor. We’ll first look to our own “lumber,” and invite other folks to join us on the journey.

We can do this. We have to. That Mall full of people is waiting…and looking. I believe that might just give them something to find “above” that ugly line.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

Well kids, school is almost back in once more. Douglas Co. Schools open on August 14th, and Adam will be preaching a three-part series starting this Sunday called, “Back to School” at 8:30 and 10:00 each Sunday.

August 6th: “Rule #1: Sit Down and Listen”
August 13th: “Rule #2: Be Nice to the Lunchlady”
August 20th: “Rule #3: Get Up, Clean Up, and Show Up”

The week that school starts back, we’ll have our community supper together, Wednesday night, August 16th at the church.