Please, Be Quiet

Evangelical Christianity in America has a major problem right now—its loudest speakers profess a message of hate, exclusion, and bigotry. Increasingly, those who name themselves the spokespersons for Christianity alternate between denouncing the LGBT community, Muslims, and anyone who strays from a Tea Party version of the GOP. These proclamations are not issued with a modicum of grace, but rather are stunning in their vitriol. It is a vicious moralism that borders on fascism in religious garb. 

Nowhere in the New Testament will one find any basis for such a stance, and certainly nowhere in the Gospels. There is a certainty of God’s eventual judgment, and even a judgment that is brutal--in Matthew, for example--but that gospel never calls on the community of Jesus to lead the pogrom. Rather, all is left in the hands of God to enact it as God sees fit. Moreover, the impending judgment is most sharply aimed at the community of Jesus itself! Judgment (the separation of the sheep and goats) will reflect the action of community in its embodiment of Christ's own radical servanthood. St. Paul certainly had his prejudices and rants, but, again, he leaves it to God to decide how and when and on whom to act, and, again, that judgment will effect the community of Jesus first and foremost. In fact, a strong case can be made that what truly enraged Paul was a gospel that was exclusionary. Galatians stands as the great manifesto of inclusion; and his critique of the Corinthians was their inability to form a communion that embraced their diversity, welcoming all to the table.  St. John the Divine certainly had an extraordinary vision in his cave on Patmos, but what is truly telling is that it is completely a glimpse into what God will do, while the community of Jesus stands aside as witness. Here, too, judgment is most sharply reserved for the community of Jesus (cf. the addresses to the angels of each of the seven churches). The point is to hold fast to the testament of Jesus, living as Jesus lived, embodying his message of reclamation, repentance, and reconciliation. 

The loudmouths have gone astray.

They always do. Scripture is certain of that eventuality, as well, from Genesis to Revelation. 

So, the better response, the more excellent way, is to counter the loudmouths by living in stark contrast to their vitriol. We are to proclaim grace by being gracious. We are to proclaim God’s acceptance by being accepting. We are to proclaim God’s welcome by being radically hospitable. We are to proclaim compassion by being compassionate. Less words, more doing—that is the core of the Gospel. 

So get to know someone before saying anything about them.

We can no longer stand by as followers of Jesus as our message gets hijacked by people who seem far more interested in their own power than the power of God to redeem all the earth, a vision that sees everyone at table together in full engagement in the truest expression of communion.