For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 11:29-30
A few weeks ago, as I spoke with a friend about gathering for General Conference in Tampa, this text came to mind. The theme of vitality for the church in the United States has been set before us as we gather in Tampa for the General Conference. Church vitality, congregational vitality, parameters for vitality, etc.
I believe this text has something important to contribute to our understanding of vitality. Like us, Christians in Corinth gathered and went through the motions (pun intended) of being church. Yet, there was something in their gatherings that was making them weak and sick. They were not "discerning the body."
Many sources have been identified for the lack of vitality of United Methodists in the United States. Many, if not most of the petitions in the Advanced Daily Christian Advocate (the publication that holds the legislation proposals before General Conference) are offered with that intention in heart—addressing the sources of our lack of vitality.
Some of the culprits named are familiar…
The General Agencies and Commissions, the Council of Bishops, the "security of appointment" system, re-tooling our leaders for the 21st century, doctrinal matters, matters of "order," and the list goes on…
Without taking away from the relevance of these matters, Paul's indictment of the church in Corinth calls us to look deeper and consider the possibility that our weakness, sickness and death may come from a failure to discern the body of Christ. Moreover, that our gatherings (including General Conference) may do more harm than good if they fail in this foundational task of discerning the Body.
Social divisions were at the core of the problem for the Corinthians. Wealthy Christians, presumably including the owner of the house church and her/his friends, would gather before the others arrived. They would have their fill of the banquet (Holy Communion at that time was still a full meal, can we get back to that?) and leave the crumbs for the ones who came later, most likely the laborers and the poor, the people in the margins.
By not understanding that the whole point of the gathering was to "be" the Body of Christ, and by making their worship celebration into a product to be consumed instead of the boundary-crossing transformational and often uncomfortable experience, some members of the church in Corinth had created a "virtual reality" where they could enjoy the blessings of the gospel without being transformed by its vision and power. Literally, they were having their cake and eating it at the same time.
And this make them weak and sick.
Sounds familiar?
Consider that…
When United Methodists in the United States gather for worship it is more often than not to have a "pleasant, nourishing spiritual experience", one that perhaps moves us, but certainly not disrupts us.
11 a.m. on Sundays continue to be the most segregated hour in the United States. The term"Anglo Church (or congregation)" reveals our sin when we think how we would not dare to use its parallels—anglo-theater, anglo-school, anglo-bathroom, anglo-water-fountain, anglo-department store.
For some time now, The United Methodist Church in the United States has spoken the language of diversity and inclusion. Great efforts have been made to diversify our episcopal leadership, board membership and other arenas. Yet, despite our sincere efforts, the portion of Euro-American members of The United Methodist Church living in the United States of America (2010 figures) is 90.23%, in a country where only 72.4% (2010 census) are Euro-American.
Even more troublesome, is the fact that most of our already puny "diversity" is lived out in a balkanized manner help in place by congregational ghettos. Like the Spanish saying goes: juntos-pero-no-revueltos (together, but unmixed)
A lot of what we call "diversity" is really juxtaposition. My own Annual (Regional) Conference of New York, for example, prides itself in being a "diverse" body because it is made of congregations of many racial-ethnic groupings (Anglo/euro-american, African American, Latino, Korean, Haitian, Ghanian, Chinese and many more). The truth is that we do not have many truly "diverse" congregations where people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, languages and understandings truly interact with one another, beyond worshiping in the same building (at different hours, "a la Corinth"), having a couple of joint services throughout the year and enjoying an occasional potluck.
I often think how it must pain our Creator that her children refuse to come to diner together. God's mercy is such that multiple meals are prepared for the children, but I cannot but imagine that they are prepared with tearful hopes for the day when a single rich, amazing kin-dom meal will be prepared and shared.
Another version of we call "diversity" is really tokenism. Congregations label themselves "multicultural" because they have a spattering of members from different ethnic backgrounds. These few members are usually from similar socio-economic and educational status as the majority of the congregation. Even more troubling, the particular gifts of these few members are often ignored or treated as "curiosities." Their songs, their food, their language, their ways of being are de facto considered "exotic," "special," and often engaged to prop the self-righteousness of the majority who can then claim to be "multicultural" or "inclusive."
I know this topic is not simple, particularly as it relates to ethnic-minority congregations and the role they play in providing places of empowerment in an often hostile environment. It seems to me, however, that we must not allow a blessed solution to keep us from confronting the problem at its source. To use a historical example from my own Methodist heritage, I affirm and celebrate the initiative and witness of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones in creating what eventually became the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but this affirmation and celebration cannot keep me from seeing the sin of St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in excluding, marginalizing and segregating their black members.
Our sin of exclusion, marginalization and segregation has dire consequences.
When we worship as a community, a special bond is created as we experience together that which words cannot describe. Praying together engages the totality of the human being as it connects all elements of the human experience. I worship, as in no other place, we experience our common humanity.
What would happen if the Wall Street suit worshipped next to the apron worn by the domestic worker who ironed its shirt.
What would happen if the plaid shirt worshiped right next to the hoodie?
What would happen if the Manolo Blahnik's worshiped next to the pierced noses?
What would happen if the white picket fence worshiped right next to same-sex couple, the
How would we treat each other outside of worship? What impact would this have in dismantling the mutual suspicion and distrust that is the source of so much pain and tragedy?
What would happen if we understood worship to be about crossing boundaries in order to be the Body of Christ.
When we gather do we discern the body? Are we painfully aware of who is missing at the table and deeply committed to bringing the margins in and serve them first?
1 Corinthians 11:29-30
A few weeks ago, as I spoke with a friend about gathering for General Conference in Tampa, this text came to mind. The theme of vitality for the church in the United States has been set before us as we gather in Tampa for the General Conference. Church vitality, congregational vitality, parameters for vitality, etc.
I believe this text has something important to contribute to our understanding of vitality. Like us, Christians in Corinth gathered and went through the motions (pun intended) of being church. Yet, there was something in their gatherings that was making them weak and sick. They were not "discerning the body."
Many sources have been identified for the lack of vitality of United Methodists in the United States. Many, if not most of the petitions in the Advanced Daily Christian Advocate (the publication that holds the legislation proposals before General Conference) are offered with that intention in heart—addressing the sources of our lack of vitality.
Some of the culprits named are familiar…
The General Agencies and Commissions, the Council of Bishops, the "security of appointment" system, re-tooling our leaders for the 21st century, doctrinal matters, matters of "order," and the list goes on…
Without taking away from the relevance of these matters, Paul's indictment of the church in Corinth calls us to look deeper and consider the possibility that our weakness, sickness and death may come from a failure to discern the body of Christ. Moreover, that our gatherings (including General Conference) may do more harm than good if they fail in this foundational task of discerning the Body.
Social divisions were at the core of the problem for the Corinthians. Wealthy Christians, presumably including the owner of the house church and her/his friends, would gather before the others arrived. They would have their fill of the banquet (Holy Communion at that time was still a full meal, can we get back to that?) and leave the crumbs for the ones who came later, most likely the laborers and the poor, the people in the margins.
By not understanding that the whole point of the gathering was to "be" the Body of Christ, and by making their worship celebration into a product to be consumed instead of the boundary-crossing transformational and often uncomfortable experience, some members of the church in Corinth had created a "virtual reality" where they could enjoy the blessings of the gospel without being transformed by its vision and power. Literally, they were having their cake and eating it at the same time.
And this make them weak and sick.
Sounds familiar?
Consider that…
When United Methodists in the United States gather for worship it is more often than not to have a "pleasant, nourishing spiritual experience", one that perhaps moves us, but certainly not disrupts us.
11 a.m. on Sundays continue to be the most segregated hour in the United States. The term"Anglo Church (or congregation)" reveals our sin when we think how we would not dare to use its parallels—anglo-theater, anglo-school, anglo-bathroom, anglo-water-fountain, anglo-department store.
For some time now, The United Methodist Church in the United States has spoken the language of diversity and inclusion. Great efforts have been made to diversify our episcopal leadership, board membership and other arenas. Yet, despite our sincere efforts, the portion of Euro-American members of The United Methodist Church living in the United States of America (2010 figures) is 90.23%, in a country where only 72.4% (2010 census) are Euro-American.
Even more troublesome, is the fact that most of our already puny "diversity" is lived out in a balkanized manner help in place by congregational ghettos. Like the Spanish saying goes: juntos-pero-no-revueltos (together, but unmixed)
A lot of what we call "diversity" is really juxtaposition. My own Annual (Regional) Conference of New York, for example, prides itself in being a "diverse" body because it is made of congregations of many racial-ethnic groupings (Anglo/euro-american, African American, Latino, Korean, Haitian, Ghanian, Chinese and many more). The truth is that we do not have many truly "diverse" congregations where people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, languages and understandings truly interact with one another, beyond worshiping in the same building (at different hours, "a la Corinth"), having a couple of joint services throughout the year and enjoying an occasional potluck.
I often think how it must pain our Creator that her children refuse to come to diner together. God's mercy is such that multiple meals are prepared for the children, but I cannot but imagine that they are prepared with tearful hopes for the day when a single rich, amazing kin-dom meal will be prepared and shared.
Another version of we call "diversity" is really tokenism. Congregations label themselves "multicultural" because they have a spattering of members from different ethnic backgrounds. These few members are usually from similar socio-economic and educational status as the majority of the congregation. Even more troubling, the particular gifts of these few members are often ignored or treated as "curiosities." Their songs, their food, their language, their ways of being are de facto considered "exotic," "special," and often engaged to prop the self-righteousness of the majority who can then claim to be "multicultural" or "inclusive."
I know this topic is not simple, particularly as it relates to ethnic-minority congregations and the role they play in providing places of empowerment in an often hostile environment. It seems to me, however, that we must not allow a blessed solution to keep us from confronting the problem at its source. To use a historical example from my own Methodist heritage, I affirm and celebrate the initiative and witness of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones in creating what eventually became the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but this affirmation and celebration cannot keep me from seeing the sin of St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in excluding, marginalizing and segregating their black members.
Our sin of exclusion, marginalization and segregation has dire consequences.
When we worship as a community, a special bond is created as we experience together that which words cannot describe. Praying together engages the totality of the human being as it connects all elements of the human experience. I worship, as in no other place, we experience our common humanity.
What would happen if the Wall Street suit worshipped next to the apron worn by the domestic worker who ironed its shirt.
What would happen if the plaid shirt worshiped right next to the hoodie?
What would happen if the Manolo Blahnik's worshiped next to the pierced noses?
What would happen if the white picket fence worshiped right next to same-sex couple, the
How would we treat each other outside of worship? What impact would this have in dismantling the mutual suspicion and distrust that is the source of so much pain and tragedy?
What would happen if we understood worship to be about crossing boundaries in order to be the Body of Christ.
When we gather do we discern the body? Are we painfully aware of who is missing at the table and deeply committed to bringing the margins in and serve them first?
We love to quote Isaiah's vision of peace: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them." But we are incapable of worshiping together with the same people we go to school with, sit next to in the movies and move in the same roads.
Well, there is much more to say, but the creation process for this entry has taken too long…
more to come (I pray).
Meanwhile, let us discern the Body.
