Bureaucracy? No Koan Do!
Forgive me if my alter-ego Ocie Dee refuses to let me relinquish my fixation on Russ Moore’s tirade against the World Council of Churches. But….
What if, at its most recent assembly, instead of recognizing the Holy Spirit in other religions, the WCC had claimed to recognize the Holy Spirit in decision-making bureaucracies composed of religious people?
I think Russ would have had far greater reason to rail. And I might’ve railed alongside him. And maybe you would forgive me, because….
My denomination’s General Assembly is coming to my house this year. This means that Birmingham, AL, will sponge up several thousand sojourning Presbyterians (for every voting commissioner there’ll doubtless be five to ten persuaders) dead set on moving the church toward correct (read “moral” or “righteous”) decisions. Decisions about what, you ask.
About subjects spooned from the smorgasbord of controversies that are advanced, exploited and, if I my coin a word, hysterified by high-powered advertisers who call themselves CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc.
Sexual orientation, Palestinian-Israeli relations, abortion, and others will be among the main courses. In all cases, there'll be strong beliefs that a decision (usually a once-and-for-all decision) MUST be made.
Thousands will come to Birmingham, believing that the Holy Spirit means for decisions to be made. Most of them will claim to know the nature of those Holy-Spirit decisions. A great many, perhaps most, will believe that this is how we recognize the Holy Spirit—by making big decisions. (“Yep, the Holy Spirit was there 'cause we got ‘er done!”)
Few will recognize that this is a very western way of seeing things—this notion that God’s got some kind of strategic solution that, if we’ll just seize it, will erase all our troubles. And so—to give witness to the Holy Spirit—we’ll sharpen our swords and fight to seize that righteous decision.
Where am I going with all this? Well, Julie’s words (“Holy Contradiction, Batman,” see below), prompted my little tirade. As Julie points out so well, following Jesus means living in paradox, living in contradiction. “Living in holy contradiction comes only after deep wrestling and concluding the truth of two truths and with Shirley Guthrie saying, ‘All truth is God’s truth,’” she writes.
As I reflect on this, I see that, usually, religious bureaucracies, however unwittingly, prevent faith from deepening because they view the holy contradiction as a mortal enemy. “A decision MUST be made! We can’t come all this way and not make a BIG decision!” What the bureaucracy doesn’t (can’t?) see is that its obsession with solving the problem is not unlike a mad junky’s craving for crack—with the results being equally self-devastating.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to decisions. And here’s one I wish to advocate: that people of faith and of varying views decide to live together in holy contradiction, that they say no to crack, say no to the rush to decision-making, and instead open themselves to the Holy Spirit, by pondering together the koans of our faith—e.g., that we worship a God who leads us into temptation and one who taught us to pray saying, “lead us not into temptation’’; one who said that those born of the Spirit are blown willy-nilly by the Spirit wind, and yet who also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Julie’s got it: it’s in the koans that we find God’s gracious Spirit, not in the decisions.
What if, at its most recent assembly, instead of recognizing the Holy Spirit in other religions, the WCC had claimed to recognize the Holy Spirit in decision-making bureaucracies composed of religious people?
I think Russ would have had far greater reason to rail. And I might’ve railed alongside him. And maybe you would forgive me, because….
My denomination’s General Assembly is coming to my house this year. This means that Birmingham, AL, will sponge up several thousand sojourning Presbyterians (for every voting commissioner there’ll doubtless be five to ten persuaders) dead set on moving the church toward correct (read “moral” or “righteous”) decisions. Decisions about what, you ask.
About subjects spooned from the smorgasbord of controversies that are advanced, exploited and, if I my coin a word, hysterified by high-powered advertisers who call themselves CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc.
Sexual orientation, Palestinian-Israeli relations, abortion, and others will be among the main courses. In all cases, there'll be strong beliefs that a decision (usually a once-and-for-all decision) MUST be made.
Thousands will come to Birmingham, believing that the Holy Spirit means for decisions to be made. Most of them will claim to know the nature of those Holy-Spirit decisions. A great many, perhaps most, will believe that this is how we recognize the Holy Spirit—by making big decisions. (“Yep, the Holy Spirit was there 'cause we got ‘er done!”)
Few will recognize that this is a very western way of seeing things—this notion that God’s got some kind of strategic solution that, if we’ll just seize it, will erase all our troubles. And so—to give witness to the Holy Spirit—we’ll sharpen our swords and fight to seize that righteous decision.
Where am I going with all this? Well, Julie’s words (“Holy Contradiction, Batman,” see below), prompted my little tirade. As Julie points out so well, following Jesus means living in paradox, living in contradiction. “Living in holy contradiction comes only after deep wrestling and concluding the truth of two truths and with Shirley Guthrie saying, ‘All truth is God’s truth,’” she writes.
As I reflect on this, I see that, usually, religious bureaucracies, however unwittingly, prevent faith from deepening because they view the holy contradiction as a mortal enemy. “A decision MUST be made! We can’t come all this way and not make a BIG decision!” What the bureaucracy doesn’t (can’t?) see is that its obsession with solving the problem is not unlike a mad junky’s craving for crack—with the results being equally self-devastating.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to decisions. And here’s one I wish to advocate: that people of faith and of varying views decide to live together in holy contradiction, that they say no to crack, say no to the rush to decision-making, and instead open themselves to the Holy Spirit, by pondering together the koans of our faith—e.g., that we worship a God who leads us into temptation and one who taught us to pray saying, “lead us not into temptation’’; one who said that those born of the Spirit are blown willy-nilly by the Spirit wind, and yet who also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Julie’s got it: it’s in the koans that we find God’s gracious Spirit, not in the decisions.
Gerald Stephens Jr.
posted by Rick at 9:17 PM
2 Comments:
Holly,
This is un-Gerald. Or is it just a different (uglier) side of Al?
Here are the answers to your questions; I’m afraid though they’re based on a different premise, not that the task force is calling us to a different way of being church, but only to postpone business as usual.
Q. How do we make decisions when our sisters and brothers are all over the map (literally, theologically, politically, and sexually)? A. We postpone them for theological, political, and sexual reasons.
Q. Given the task force’s experience, must we conclude that there is a limit to how the Holy Spirit works? A. Not one we can imagine—theologically, politically, sexually, or at all.
Q. Does the Spirit carry an elevator placard—limit 20 people or 4,000 pounds? A. Which 20? Or, can God create a stone God can’t pick up?
Q. Is it possible for the Holy Spirit to move 700 delegates at one time? A. No. Or not before the eschaton.
Q. Are decisions, made or not made, any indication of the work of the Holy Spirit? A. By themselves, neither.
Q. Do you think the Task Force report calls us to live together in the "holy contradiction" that you mentioned? A. If we can refrain from defining the Holy Spirit. Maybe.
Rick
Holly,
Sorry I’m so slow in responding to your comment on my tirade against the G.A. (I probably should’ve ended that sentence after the word “slow.”)
Anyway, how dare Rick step in, steal….usurp….whatever… my cynicism! He believes that the so-called PUP (peace, unity and purity) task force is not calling us to a different way, but simply postponing business as usual.
I disrespectfully disagree. If the PUP task force had been peopled with slackers—of which there are more than many in our denomination (I should know ‘cause I are one)—then I would agree with Rick that they’re trying to pull the big “slow down.” But, it seems to me, the members of the task force had a sort of bureaucratic history—and most had an agenda if not an ax to grind. These are people who wound up doing something that looks phenomenally out of character for them. (In the Bible, stuff like that frequently evidences the meddling of God!)
I think—watch this, I’m about to make Rick gag!—over time, the task force found the magic post-modern door. If not consciously, then subconsciously (perhaps even unconsciously), they discerned that the past—i.e., the era of “once size fits all, so shut up and wear it!”—is finished and gone. Modernists will say what Rick says, that the task force is trying to postpone, or that they lack the nuggets to make a courageous decision. The task force—damn’ em—swooped onto the playing field and took the ball in what seemed the final period of the game; then they went off and started one of those silly 1960s/1970s non-competitive, everybody-wins activities. The players are pissed. And so are the fans who aren’t slackers (and there are lots of those, too).
So, yeah, you read me right and I’m in agreement with your perception, that the task force is calling us to stop fighting, to stay in and foster relationship. And yes, what I was trying to say--in response to Julie’s blog “Holy Contradiction, Batman,”--is: I think the PUP report is an attempt to give us the space to live in holy contradiction.
Now, all that said, I think the task force recommendation is doomed. (There, got my cynicism back!) I don’t’ think our denomination comprises enough folks who’d be comfortable living in holy contradiction. Generally such people are not called “Presbyterian.”
And yes, it is possible for the Holy Spirit to move 700 commissioners at one time. (So perhaps an slither of hope remains). And as for your question: “Are decisions, made or not made, any indication of the work of Holy Spirit?” I can only say, “Sometimes, but not always.”
Well, there it is. Thanks, Holly. And I hope to see you in Birmingham in June.
Ger
Post a Comment
<< Home