Photo Courtesy of Christy Thomas
Paint Pots
I finally figured it out: Nashville Statement signers do not follow Jesus. They follow Paul, a troubled man who ran the message of grace through his own Pharisaic, black and white, male-centric, mean, clean grid trying to make sense of it all. Paul makes sense to them; Jesus does not.
Well, in the midst of giant national tragedy on the Gulf Coast, the theologians who are sure they know everything about God and sexuality have issued their statement pronouncing that anyone who is not purely heterosexual and those who might support those who are not fully heterosexual to eternal condemnation.
Oh, they also said that marriages that don’t procreate are not part of the will of God. Perhaps I should have just shacked up with the love of my life because we are beyond child-bearing years.
Woman, fix my dinner and keep your mouth shut
I know, either in person or because I have read their work, many of the signers of this declaration. I also know that they firmly believe that God is male and that all spiritual/church leadership must be male. The female is eternally subordinate to the male. Welcome to heaven, woman. Now, go fix my dinner and keep your mouth shut while you do it.
That is who they are. It makes for a neat, orderly world, with men (generally white) in ultimate charge because they are sure God looks just like them. In other words, they have violated a basic tenet of our faith: do not worship idols. I grieve for them, and I grieve for the many who follow them blindly. My grief grows with my own history: I used to be one of those who did follow blindly, who was sure they had the words of life for me.
Such ones do not follow Jesus who crossed so many lines that his primary accusers used “He ate with sinners” as a condemnatory statement. They follow Paul, a troubled man who ran the message of grace through his own Pharisaic, male-centric, stay pure at all costs, grid trying to sort this out. Paul makes sense to them; Jesus does not.
And so, I give you a question that was written to me after another one of those authoritative (white) men insisted that a literal creation date (and rigid sexual binary) is necessary for anyone to have a real purpose in life.
Can a non-literalist find purpose in life?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: In last week’s column in the Denton Record Chronicle, where your column often runs, Dr. Mann said that “Without a design (by God), there is no purpose” and “as humans, our acceptance of this truth either leads us to purpose or hopelessness.” He went on to say. “If we erase “in the beginning, God” from the debate, there is no moral, purposeful foundation. . .” In essence, if the Genesis stories aren’t literal history, then we have no purpose in being here and that knowledge will lead us to shuffle through life morally rudderless spiraling downward into despair. I know plenty of Christians who read the Bible figuratively and the first 11 chapters of Genesis in particular as Jewish myths, and they seem neither morally bankrupt nor wallowing in hopelessness.
Do you agree with Dr. Mann that if we don’t believe God created everything, including our purpose for existing, there isn’t a foundation for moral beliefs, such as those proposed by the ancient Greek philosophers?
Dr. Mann appears to postulate an absolute duality: agree with him and his interpretation of Genesis (i.e., young earth, no evolutionary processes but an immediate ex nihilo springing into life as we know it, literal first man and first woman) and have purpose in life. Or disagree with his interpretation, wander into the mysteries of the universe, explore the unknowingness of God in an absolute sense, and descend into the abyss of hopelessness.
I disagree with that duality. Yes, life is more complicated when we emerge from black and white, “the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it for me” thinking. Suddenly instead of everything lining up as “This is absolute truth, and that is absolute lie,” many nuances emerge.
The world is not a watch
The world is not a watch, mechanistically ticking away, and repairable by inserting new parts when one wears out. It is a living, complex, not easily understood organism which sometimes produces killer hurricanes and dumps 50 inches of water in one place while leaving other places in drought-induced desolation.
It is “purposeful” in that God set these events in place? Does part of God’s purpose then include torturing living creatures? With a black and white view of a rigid creation scenario, that becomes the primary option. Of course, defenders of “God is in charge” whitewash that option with phrases like “all things work together for good” and “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Right.
At this moment, thousands of purposeful humans labor unceasingly to bring order out of the chaos along the Texas and Lousiana Gulf coasts. In so doing, their work echoes God’s work as seen in the Genesis story. Those rescuers carry the image of God.
Are they all biblical literalists who find their purpose in a specific creation event? I doubt it. They do what they do because this is how decent people act: they work to push back the chaos and respect the sacredness of life. But because we are dealing with a physical reality that is not static but chaotic, always in motion, constantly changing, and too often unpredictable, it is always hard work.
That sense of the purposeful living can be found in texts from many religious traditions and, as you have noted, in philosophical writings. In claiming that only the Bible, and only as interpreted by them, offers the way to God, to purpose, and to hope, proponents must at best disregard and at worst hold in contempt other wisdom literature with much to teach us.
Connecting these various dots demands hard intellectual and spiritual work. Many prefer a simple duality with strong authoritarian figures who can and will pronounce, “I and only I and those who agree with me have access to the words of truth. Anyone else is a liar.”
From black and white to chaotic color
Years ago, I watched “Pleasantville,” an intriguingly profound film. The safe, watchmaking-ordered, black and white world of Pleasantville, with its blank books, bland, unthreatening artwork, and orderly weather suddenly faces color, disorder, questions without clear answers, and complex issues of love, romance, storms, and sexuality.
Their “no disturbing questions permitted” power structure brought all its forces against the world of color, seeking to silence it forever.
But love wins in the end. And that’s the real message of the story of our beginnings. Those words are not about a creation date, two distinct genders, and a fixed order and unwavering purpose in the universe. They are about displaying such immense power of love that it spills over into creative freedom with all the messy complexities that come from freedom.
Unfortunately, that messiness can leave the most ardent believer in a literal creation hopeless and without purpose. Then they may seek to silence alternative voices to push back their despair.
However, the embrace of messiness can also lead philosophers, followers of different religious traditions and people who choose to reject all forms of supernaturalism to find solid moral centers, be healers of the earth, and fight to defend the hurt and oppressed with unwavering purpose and hope.
Such ones live out the Genesis story in their lives and thoughts without needing to hold to a specific moment for creation.
Christy Thumb
The Rev. Christy Thomas
The Thoughtful Pastor, AKA Christy Thomas, welcomes all questions for the column and would especially like questions your children/grandchildren/students ask. Although the questioner will not be identified, I do need a name and verifiable contact information in case the newspaper editor has need of it. You may use this link to email questions. This particular question is slated to run in the Friday, Sept 1, 2017, edition of the Denton Record Chronicle. This post is republished here with the author's permission.