by Steve | Feb 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
A Peek Behind the Curtain
A survey of recent books from F. Willis Johnson, Lecrae, William H. Willimon, and John Perkins
By Courtney Lott
2017
“I looked, and behold, great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9)
In John’s vision of the kingdom of God we are presented with a very diverse picture of its citizens. The worshippers come from every race, every language, every nation. Far from monochromatic, the kingdom of Heaven is an undoing of Babel, a breaking of barriers, the unification of Christ’s body. But when we look at our churches today, at our congregations, what do we see? Though in many ways the church has taken great strides against racism, the after effects of old structures and mindsets remain like fingerprints on a mirror. As Christians, we are called to take a sober look at these things.
Racial reconciliation is hard, but thankfully, many have undertaken to aid the church in this difficult journey. The following books are helpful perspectives for this conversation. Each voice is different and offers its own unique angle.
Holding Up Your Corner by F. Willis Johnson
For situations fraught with sensitivity, practical guidance is essential. In Holding up Your Corner, the Rev. F. Willis Johnson, a United Methodist pastor, provides wisdom and insight. Offering helpful definitions and sober advice that is practical rather than preachy, this book equips leaders and readers to approach racial reconciliation with grace. Through his accounts of the racial strife in Ferguson, Missouri, and similar events, Johnson gives his audience the unique experience of seeing the world through his eyes.
“Once we have acknowledged someone’s humanity, we can move on to affirmation – respecting their humanity,” Johnson writes. “Hear this: affirmation is neither an act of complicity nor condemnation. Affirming someone’s experience – their humanity in their own experience – does not mean you approve their ideology or behavior. We can love people without agreeing with them. That bears repeating: we can love people without agreeing with them. In the words of Howard Thurman, ‘Hatred does not empower, it decays. Only through self-love and love for one another can God’s justice prevail.’ In short, affirmation is a willingness to emphasize our interdependence and commonality over our difference.”
Holding up Your Corner is carefully rooted in the scriptural idea of balancing both justice and mercy, truth and grace, the practical and prophetic. It reaches out with gentleness and humility that challenge the reader in such a way as to promote conversation rather than dampen it. Johnson’s humble way of engaging his audience invites engagement rather than shutting it down. This book is a desperately needed guide through the difficult terrain that the church now faces in regard to loving the “other.”
Unashamed by Lecrae
Unashamed, the autobiography of mega-star Christian rapper, Lecrae, holds as its central concept the need for acceptance. From the first page, the writing conveys the painful sting of rejection. The reader can’t help but wince through the author’s childhood abandonment issues and heartache, then rejoice at the acceptance found in Christ. Yet Lecrae offers a starkly honest picture of his conversion and doesn’t shy from sharing his struggles with sanctification.
This particular path, the suffering of his youth and the abandonment he felt, prepared him for the role of a “lamenter” rapper. It was only when he allowed himself to be vulnerable and honest about his own battles, and stopped trying to preach like a “Pastor Rapper” that the “magic” came. Lecrae describes his unique position within the industry and how it provides him with the opportunity to reach people others might not be able to. He writes:
“Operating as a ‘Pastor Rapper’ was hard work for me because it wasn’t playing to my strengths. Rather than letting the music pour out of me when the inspiration came, I would spend hours studying beforehand … Being theologically educated is a great thing. And using music to explicitly express theology is needed. But I mistakenly believed it was the only way to make music. On the rare occasion, however, I would let go and let the ‘lamenter’ in me come out. When I did – when I let Lecrae just be Lecrae – it would spark magic… Rather than make myself the winner, I allowed myself to be the loser… People wrote to say how much that song impacted them because it was real and vulnerable. And this was one of the first moments I began to wonder if maybe God was calling me to make a shift in my music and begin producing new songs that were truer to how I was naturally made.”
Who Lynched Willie Earle? by Willam H. Willimon
Centered around a specific event, Who Lynched Willie Earle approaches the issue of race from a historical standpoint. Bishop Will Willimon creatively reimagines Pastor Hawley Lynn’s thought process leading up to his sermon condemning the lynching of a black man accused, but not convicted, of murder. Pastor Lynn confronted his own congregation with the mindset he believed led to the lynching, the deeply ingrained attitudes that allowed the mob to pervert “democratic justice” and execute Willie Earle.
Willimon, prolific author and retired United Methodist bishop, proceeds to analyze the sermon. Not only does he take into consideration the history of America, but also connects this with Israel, the Gentiles, and the kingdom of God. Willimon also points out Pastor Hawley’s own blind spots, in which he failed to address systemic, institutional racism. In this, Willimon says, the church was able to “disassociate themselves from the sin and to bolster their confidence in Jim Crow.” In spite of his failings, Willimon calls Pastor Hawley’s sermon “heroic homiletics”.
“Though these sociological and historical facts about racism are significant, race is a specifically Christian problem because of the God we are attempting to worship and to obey,” Willimon writes. “In the gospel, we are given the means to be color-courageous, to talk about matters our culture would rather keep silent. That you have persevered this far in this book suggests you are exercising a bravery that is not self-derived. Paul says that, in God’s realm, Jews and Greeks, slave and free, ‘You all are one in Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 3:28). It is a baptismal call, not for color-blindness or arguing that gender or race are inconsequential, but rather a theological affirmation that Jesus Christ enables a new eschatological community where conventional, worldly signifiers don’t mean what they meant in the kingdoms of this world.”
Dream with Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win by John Perkins
Like Unashamed, Dr. John Perkins’ approach is extremely personal and humble. In spite of this, he does not shy away from calling out injustice and racism. Quoting Frederick Douglas and sighting the stark reality of his own experience with segregation, Perkins focuses on the “walls that have kept black people and white people apart, even in places where we had so much in common.”
“Anyone who knows my story would expect this book to ooze with justice issues. After all, the pain caused by injustice has motivated me to spend a lifetime working for social change on behalf of widows, prisoners, the poor, and anyone who struggles,” writes Perkins, a prolific civil rights veteran. So how did someone who has experienced the anguish of poverty, racism, and oppression end up wanting to write a book about love as his climactic message? Good question… I’ve come to understand that true justice is wrapped up in love. God loves justice and wants His people to seek justice (Psalms 11 and Micah 6:8) But I’ve come to understand that true justice is wrapped up in love. The old-time preacher and prophet A.W. Tozer had a way of making the most profound truths simple and palatable. He once said, ‘God is love, and just as God is love, God is justice.’ That’s it! God’s love and justice come together in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and we can’t be about one and not the other. They’re inextricably connected.”
Perkins takes a strong look at motivation. By keeping in mind questions about his own choices, he tempers his assessment with a great deal of grace and mercy. On the one hand, he condemns the undermining of integration when white parents send their children to private schools. On the other, he empathizes with parents wanting a good education for their kids. Perkins asks people to be aware of the effect our choices have on black children in public schools. Moreover, he asserts that integrating our churches is at the very heart of the gospel, the very heart of 2 Corinthians 5:19.
If we want to work toward racial reconciliation in a country that desperately needs it, if we desire to share the love of Christ with all nations, we must take steps to build empathy for our brothers and sisters. The books on this list are testimonies, a mere peak behind the curtain, but they may also serve as first steps. We encourage you to take some time to check these out and prayerfully consider how we might work together to build better unity within the church.
Ultimately, God alone through Jesus Christ can accomplish this. Racism, comparison, pride, arrogance, greed all root deep down in the hearts of man. But thanks be to God that he does not leave us in this sad state!
Courtney Lott was the editorial assistant at Good News when this was published. Photo of John Perkins courtesy of the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation https://jvmpf.org/.
by Steve | Dec 8, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
By Steve Beard
Unbeknownst to him, Professor Thomas C. Oden was the prime agitator to the agony and ecstasy of my seminary experience. It was wading through 1,400 pages of his three volume systematic text books that introduced me to his dear friends Athanasius, Basil, John Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, as well as Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine –– that’s just to name a few.
To be honest, sometimes it felt like fraternity hazing and at other times it read devotionally, healing the wounds of my worn-out and stretched mind.
Looking back on it, I would not have had it any other way.
It was with deep sorrow and great gratitude, mixed with a redemptive joy, that I heard about the death of Dr. Oden (1931-2016), my dear friend who taught me so much about the faith once delivered to the saints.
There will be many glowing testimonials to Tom – and none of them will be exaggerations. The praise will be deserved. He was a one of a kind theological mind with a deep spiritual yearning to be faithful to the deep roots of Christianity. Over our 25 years of friendship, there are a few notable reasons I have always trusted Oden.
First, he was steadfastly committed to the historic teachings of Jesus. He made a professional vow to be theologically “unoriginal,” a counterintuitive move for a brilliant intellect within a culture where newer is always considered better and theologians huff and puff to “keep pace with each new ripple of the ideological river.” Oden was sold out to the witness of the martyrs, saints, and prophets –– the faith that has been “everywhere and always and by everyone believed” to be the truth of Christianity.
Second, he had a checkered past. For some reason, I trust those whose skeletons have already been laid bare. He wasn’t always a bleeding heart for orthodoxy. As a “movement theologian,” he dabbled in theoretical Marxism, existentialism, demythologization, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt therapy, humanistic psychology, and parapsychology. Oden liked the bandwagons and everyone winked and nodded. Everyone, that is, except the late Jewish scholar Will Herberg, a brilliant colleague at Drew University who hounded Oden to rediscover his Christian roots.
“The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I still felt depressed even in acquiescence,” G.K. Chesterton wrote many years ago in Orthodoxy. “But I had heard that I was in the wrong place, and my soul sang for joy like a bird in spring.”
Taking Herberg’s admonition seriously, Oden incrementally turned his back on the countless trendy movements and “the fantasies of Bultmannianism” he had embraced and ended up being United Methodism’s preeminent and most prolific theologian.
Third, Oden smiled. Sounds insignificant, but it was not. He was pastoral and deeply concerned about the care of the soul. He was a lover of ideas, an engaged student and teacher. Oden was not bitter –– mildly amused, but not bitter. He was actually grateful for his colleagues –– feminist, form critical, deconstructionist, and even heretical –– who challenged him to be more clear in his espousal of orthodoxy. He only asked for a fair hearing.
One would need a billboard to list all his books. Oden spent 17 years editing the 29-volume Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. My last lengthy interview with Oden dealt with his four-volume collection of John Wesley’s Teachings. He showed that Wesley’s instructional homilies addressed the “whole compass of divinity” through his deep grounding in ancient ecumenical teaching.
The same could be said of Professor Thomas C. Oden. Rest in peace, my treasured friend and teacher. I know that you are relieved to no longer see through the glass dimly, but finally you are granted the joy to see your Savior face to face.
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News.
by Steve | Oct 1, 2016 | Uncategorized
Clarification: In this space, Good News republished a widely-distributed email critique of the Wesleyan Covenant Association gathering in Chicago from a well-known denominational official in the North Central Jurisdiction.
“It’s ok to forward this email to friends and delegates of your choice,” read the email. In anticipation of its release, the official wrote: “I’d prefer to not get reactionary and hostile emails in response, if you can protect me from that.”
The email was sent to progressive activists around the denomination and was strategically forwarded to church members of a congregation associated with the WCA. Good News also received the forwarded email, and we assume other United Methodist news and opinion outlets did as well.
Among the observations (some peculiar) in the email:
• “No one looked poor. Khakis and button shirts mostly. Some suits, fewer polos.”
• “Submission to authority, whether Biblical or Spiritual, was a prominent theme. Songs included ‘On Christ the solid rock I stand’ and one with the lyric, ‘my one defense, my righteousness’”
• “The WCA rebrands the right-wing caucus group agenda as a centrist church…. they portrayed the left as a threat.”
• “If you don’t decode the language, little in the presentations is objectionable.”
• “Very disciplined message management was deployed. Presenters were using the same terms and were demonstrating a common approach to the intent of the meeting. No one drifted from the common message.”
• “They view themselves as martyrs for their beliefs. Their martyrdom indicates the depth of their faith.”
The writer of the email contacted our office to lodge a complaint about the posting of the text of the forwarded email on the Good News website. Although the email explicitly stated: “It’s ok to forward this email to friends and delegates of your choice,” the writer asked Good News to remove it from our website.
As a courtesy, Good News honored the request and removed the text of the controversial email for the past several months. We have posted this brief explanation in response to on-going questions about the forwarded email and our exchange.
For those curious about the various critiques of the WCA event in Chicago, please see the Rev. Walter Fenton’s tongue-in-cheek response HERE.
by Steve | Jul 20, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
Rev. Jeff Greenway
As a pastor in The United Methodist Church, I write to share some happenings in our connectional family that merit a word. One of the great gifts of my life is being the Lead Pastor at Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church. I love our congregation, and it is out of love that I write today. Whether you agree or disagree with what follows, I love you and I hope we can remain friends.
Every four years, regional bodies of representative elected clergy and laity from gather in what is called Jurisdictional Conferences. The primary purpose of the Jurisdictional Conference is for the election and assignment of Bishops in that region. We are a part of the West Ohio Conference which is a part of the North Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. I just returned from Peoria, Illinois, and the holy task of electing and consecrating four new Bishops for our region. Similar conferences were held at the same time in the North East, South East, South Central and Western U.S. A total of 15 new Bishops have been elected and consecrated this week.
The Western Jurisdiction — which has been increasingly strident in its rebellion against our United Methodist Book of Discipline in matters related to human sexuality — elected and consecrated the Rev. Karen Oliveto as a Bishop of the United Methodist Church. This election was made with intent and forethought, and was done in defiance of our Book of Discipline. She is an openly gay woman who is married to her partner which by church law should disqualify her from serving as a pastor in The United Methodist Church. By her own admission, she has performed more than 50 ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions — once again a violation of our Book of Discipline. She did not make a secret of this when she stood for election, and was elected by a regional body as an act of defiance against our polity.
United Methodists believe sexual relations are a gift from God — and our sexuality is best expressed in the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage. Any other expression — sex before marriage, adultery, polygamy, etc. — is less than God’s best and created design. The teaching of the church has not changed — even though it may be seen as some to be countercultural in 21st Century America — like it was in 1st Century Corinth. It remains biblically and theologically rooted. Our pastors are not permitted to conduct and our buildings are not permitted to be used for same-sex weddings.
Some might welcome this act of defiance. They see this as a justice issue that once “solved” will help make the church more “relevant” for our day and time. I do not. I wept this morning as my phone blew up with messages from across the United Methodist Church. I was surprised by my tears. The election did not come as a surprise to me, but my heart-brokenness did. I wept for what I see as a blatant disregard for the authority of Scripture and the law of the church. I wept for the pain this act will cause. I wept for the spiritual harm that is being done. I wept for the loss of what once was — the church that I was born and raised in appears to be headed for schism — a divorce over irreconcilable differences. I wept for the persons with sexual brokenness in our congregation who might be further delayed in finding wholeness in Jesus because of the confusion this might cause. I wept.
This decision is about so much more than human sexuality. It is about the nature of salvation — what we are saved from and what we are saved to. It is about the relevance of Jesus in every generation. It is about the role, nature and authority of Scripture. It is about the promises we make and keep when we are ordained, and whether there comes a time when they are to be set aside for another calling. It is about the core of the Gospel message in our Wesleyan, Evangelical, orthodox tradition. It is about balancing grace and truth.
The Rev. Oliveto’s election has been appealed to The United Methodist Church’s Judicial Council (our Supreme Court) who will decide whether it is legal according to our church law, but in the meantime, the whole of the church must wait. I am not a prophet — nor am I the son of a prophet — and I still hope against hope that we might find a faithful way to be united — but the action of the Western Jurisdiction is the latest sign that we are either in or inevitably headed for schism. Which means the church I was baptized, confirmed and ordained in will look dramatically different in the future.
We must pray for what the next right steps are. Our Church Board has been discussing these types of possibilities for the last year or more. I am so impressed by their deep faith and servant leadership. We will continue our conversation and exploration of next right steps for us — as we strive to be faithful Jesus and our congregation while leading though this time. They have given me permission to serve on the design team for the Wesleyan Covenant Association as we explore what the future holds for all of us (www.wesleyancovenant.org).
Now is not the time for rash action. This is not the time to stop attending, stop giving or withdrawn your membership from Reynoldsburg UMC. We are still the same congregation we were yesterday. Our Mission and Vision are still the same. We will hold to our high view of the Bible and to our commitment to introduce people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We will still welcome all kinds of folks, and diligently try to show and share Jesus while teaching what it looks like to live God’s best in our lives and community. We will do everything we can do to not become an issue centered congregation while sharing the fullness of the Gospel’s power to forgive sin and transform lives to anyone and everyone who is a part of our community.
I am honored to be your pastor and friend,
Pastor Jeff Greenway
by Steve | Jul 15, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
The Rev. Karen Oliveto accepts her election by the Western Jurisdiction as a UM bishop. Her wife, the Rev. Robin Ridenour, stands behind her. UMNS photo.
The Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, senior minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, has been elected as a bishop by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. She is the first openly married lesbian to be elected bishop within the denomination. After two other candidates withdrew concluding the 16th ballot, Oliveto’s name was the lone candidate choice on the screen before the delegates.
She was one of three openly gay candidates running for bishop within The United Methodist Church. Gathering in Phoenix, the Western Jurisdiction delegates sent a provocative message to the worldwide 12-million member United Methodist Church – a denomination with over 5 million members in Africa and the Philippines.
Oliveto was a prominent signer of an open letter written by 111 “local pastors, deacons, elders, and candidates for ministry” with the intent to publicly come out to General Conference delegates on the day before the policy-making event took place in Portland. She has been the chair of the board of Reconciling Ministries Network and recently served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Pacific School of Religion where she continues as adjunct professor of United Methodist Studies.
“There is a lot of dissatisfaction on all sides of the theology divide about the state of the church,” Oliveto told CBS News in San Francisco in May. “While the ‘issue’ is human sexuality, it goes much deeper theologically into how we interpret scripture. It is time the UMC finally has an honest conversation about this.”
The Council of Bishops was charged by the 2016 General Conference to create a special commission to explore the possibility of how the denomination can move forward with seemingly irreconciable theological differences over interpretation of scripture, marriage, and sexuality. Half a dozen annual conferences in the United States preemptively voted to pass variations on a resolution of non-conformity to the provisions of the Book of Discipline on issues of human sexuality.
The election of an openly gay bishop is not the kind of conversation that moderate and conservative lay and clergy leaders had in mind as the bishops prepare, later this year, to appoint the commission to study the church’s sexual ethics and preserve denominational unity.
“It is deplorable that the Western Jurisdiction, along with many annual conferences, has ignored the Council of Bishop’s proposal, ratified by the General Conference, for a ‘pause for prayer – to step back from attempts at legislative solutions and to intentionally seek God’s will for the future,’” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News, in response to the Western Jurisdiction election.
“Instead, these conferences have moved ahead with legislative enactments pledging non-conformity with the Book of Discipline, culminating in the election of a practicing homosexual as bishop,” said Renfroe. “If the Western Jurisdiction wanted to push the church to the brink of schism, they could not have found a more certain way of doing so.”
In celebrating the candidacies of openly gay individuals, Matt Berryman, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, said, “It’s time for The United Methodist Church to move boldly forward into the future and elect its first openly gay bishops to the glory of God and for the unfolding of a new future together.”
According to a 2012 New York Times article, Oliveto has performed more than 50 “holy unions” for same-sex couples. “My bishop has been very supportive of me and my wife,” Oliveto told CBS.
The Northeastern Jurisdiction passed a resolution of non-conformity regarding the church’s prohibitions against same-sex weddings and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The jurisdiction also called on annual conference financial officers to state that there are no funds available to investigate complaints or conduct trials for clergy who violate the church’s teachings.
“In light of the Western and Northeastern Jurisdiction’s actions effectively renouncing their connection to the rest of global United Methodism, evangelicals and traditionalists within the church will be conferring in the next few days to agree upon responses that will acknowledge this grave breach of unity,” said the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, vice president of Good News. “If our covenant is no longer in force, we will be forced to live into a new reality in our denomination.”
– Good News Media
by Steve | Jul 8, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
As we mourn this week’s tragic events in Louisiana, Minnesota, and now Dallas, it is evident that we need God now more than ever. My prayer on this day of shock and heartbreak:
God, our heavenly Father, our minds go back to the day when Jesus knelt beside his beloved city and wept, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).
We sense so deeply the same reality. We weep for our cities even as we bury our dead. The sound of gunfire is the grim sound of what has already shattered our relationships. We are witnesses of distrust, revenge, and anger. We see no one to lead us and guide us. To whom shall we go?
Our differences seem to lead us even farther apart. Oh, Lord of miracles, do what only you can do to save us from ourselves. Give us men and women who will lead us to reconciliation. Give us leaders who will bind us up to heal our wounds, not those who will only incite more hate.
Give us voices that will bring hope and not despair. Please comfort the bereaved and give humility to the ones who are resistant to your ways. Give us pause so that we might sit back for just a few moments to look to you before we look at our impulsive solutions.
We shed another’s blood when we are without answers. You shed your own blood as our only answer. We kill, buried in despair. You rise, giving us hope.
You told Peter to put back his sword and you restored the one wounded. That’s what we long for. A reprimand to the one who would injure and a healing within the one injured. God of miracles, please do it again. We need you. Our nation needs you. Our leaders need you. Many a home today will not have a loved one returning. Without you we have no hope. With you all things are possible—even for beauty to come out of ashes. We pray for the day of unarmed truth and unconditional love. Please answer our prayer.
In the name of Jesus your Son, our only Savior, we ask this.
Amen.
Ravi Zacharias is a Christian apologist, speaker, and author. You can read this prayer on his website HERE.
