Exploring Ecumenism: Exegesis

Exegesis

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Pursue Peace with Everyone

This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.

Hebrews 12: 14 - 15

I'm not sure what is meant by 'see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God'. Let us remember though, the idea that unity is the glory of God. Perhaps this is a specific steer towards ensuring God's grace is present in our relationships.

So, let's think for a moment about baptism. This passage is about the Christian community; it is not about how Christians relate to non-Christians.

We are all baptised (this is not 100% true but near enough for the purpose of this argument). Whilst baptism remains controversial in some respects, there is a significant degree of recognition of one another's baptisms. Baptism is once and for all in most traditions and most recognise each other's baptisms. There are exceptions but we need to and can accept a Christian is baptised whatever route they took to get there. Broadly, this is where the mainstream traditions are at.

We are according to this passage, to make the effort to ensure all the baptised receive the grace of God. That is our task and our success at that task is marked by our experience of the glory of God.

We cannot experience God's glory until we are able to welcome one another, despite our differences. It may be true that for example fundamentalists and liberals can't get on; our task is to see to it that we do, that there is no root of bitterness between us.

Failure to do this means many will become defiled.

We don't have to agree with one another but we must love one another.

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Saturday, 16 April 2011

Never Put a Hindrance in the Way of Another

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Romans 14: 13 - 18

It is worth reading the whole of Romans chapter 14. It seems to me this passage is far more significant for ecumenists than John 17, for example. Paul hits the nail on the head and drives it home.

The context is food sacrificed to idols. Some Christians will not touch it because it has been sacrificed to false gods; others argue that as these gods do not exist, there's no harm in eating the meat.

First, the use of the terms 'strong' and 'weak' to describes these two positions is counter-intuitive. It is the ones who eat meat who are strong and those who do not who are weak. Paul counts himself amongst the strong.

But then he drops his bombshell. The strong are not to despise the weak, nor are the weak to condemn the strong. Apparently the weak thought the strong would go to hell for eating meat, and the strong thought the weak stupid.

Amongst our most intractable present day divisions, is that between fundamentalists and non-fundamentalists. This is Paul's advice. It is incredibly difficult advice to follow! So, I shall restrain myself from elaborating on why fundamentalists are weak in honour of Paul's insight.

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Friday, 15 April 2011

Love One Another

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Romans 13: 8

Debt is one of the most destructive to human society. We have in recent years entered a recession, caused in part by billions of pounds of personal debt.

My father's advice to me as I set off for university was to avoid debt. Interest, he said, is of no use to you, you are simply giving money away to other people. I have found this to be good advice and apart from a few years with a mortgage, I have always lived within my means.

But how many people manage this, today? Debt was a source of great fear for Jesus' and Paul's contemporaries (and indeed control of debt a major concern of the Torah). If you owe money, you are in effect enslaved to your creditor. It messes up relationships; where money is owed it gets in the way of relationships.

This is, therefore, advice from Paul for Christians. Don't get into debt with one another, all you need is love.

It is interesting the churches can get into debt with one another through ecumenism. For example, where premises are shared and one tradition contributes to the development of another's property. A few years later, the ecumenical partnership ends and the property owner, under the Sharing Agreement, owes the other church for their contribution.

Should churches enter into this type of relationship? It is not an easy question to answer.

Posted at 06:00 PM in Current Affairs, Economics, Exegesis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Be United in the Same Mind and Same Purpose

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1 Corinthians 1: 10 - 13

So, what can we do, where we find entrenched differences between traditions?

We need to work out how to be united despite our differences. We could say we'll be united in our mission and not dwell on the niceties of the differences church leaders argue about. That's certainly one way of setting about it. We all believe in the one Christ, of course.

But this is the point. Paul includes the claim 'I belong to Christ' amongst all the others. It's invidious, the way in which, during some argument, someone will claim they are for Christ. Indeed where churches claim superiority, it is often on the grounds that they are for Christ.

We need to face up to reality. We will always be divided and claims to unique revelations from Christ is one of the many things dividing us. The reality is, none of us is for Christ. We all fall short and are on a journey together. It is only through the narrow path of humility, we are likely to find the truth of Christ, let alone unity.

Posted at 06:00 PM in Ecclesiology, Exegesis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

First be Reconciled to Your Brother or Sister

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Matthew 5: 21 - 24

This reading falls foul of a difficulty I have remarked upon several times during this series of posts. These passages are addressed to individuals, quite rightly. However, our divisions are institutional rather than individual.

Of course, individuals identify with institutions and so may be divided at a personal level from those who believe differently. Nevertheless, there is little we can do to change our institutions.

So, if I take my offering to the altar and then remember my neighbour has the fact that I'm a Methodist against me, what then? I might have tried many times to be reconciled. I might have considered changing my tradition. The problem is, of course, when do you stop? Do I change my tradition every time I meet someone who is convinced theirs is the only one that's valid?

But to treat the traditions as a series of lifestyle choices means, I will never identify with one tradition for long enough to be formed by it.

So, the problem is the remedy in this passage is not really a solution to the problems we face. By all means if I've fallen out with someone, I need to do something about it. But what more can I do about our institutional differences? It's frustrating because we're supposed to be free of the powers and principalities but are still held tight by our institutions.

Still, the least we can do is watch we don't allow our institutional differences to sour personal relationships.

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Tuesday, 12 April 2011

Consider Others Better Than Yourselves

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Philippians 2: 5 - 11

This is the final passage in a section entitled 'Living in unity'. In considering this section, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the role of institutions. Whilst we read of the requirement to love one another, we tend to personalise it and so fail to acknowledge our divisions are largely institutional, rather than personal.

In my last post, I wrote about the passing away of all things except faith, hope and love. Lest we should think our calling is to wait for the inevitable dissolution of our institutions, this passage suggests we need to abandon them voluntarily.

Jesus 'though he was in the form of God', left all that behind. The invitation is to all of us, who believe our tradition is sufficient, to voluntarily live in relationship with others. This call is not to structural unity; it is to a unity that sees shared love of Jesus Christ as primary.

Like Jesus we are all called to let go and enter into new relationships, whatever the cost. As a Christian I am formed as a Methodist, but must find ways to relate to Christians of other traditions. Indeed, the call goes beyond that because all Christians are called into the fallen world.

Posted at 06:00 PM in Diversity, Ecclesiology, Exegesis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, 11 April 2011

The Greatest of These is Love

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1 Corinthians 12: 31; 13: 1 - 13

What is there to say about this passage? The main point is lesser gifts such as prophecy, tongues, understanding will pass away. Only faith, hope and love will remain.

We can conclude, amongst the things which will pass away, are our various traditions. I think of traditions as stepping stones. They are something we use to move us towards a final destination. You don't stop on one stone forever. If you did, you would block the progress of people behind you.

Note this in no way denies the necessity for stepping stones. But their purpose is temporary . They are a means of communication between two sides of a river. Our churches are a means of communication between this life and a life of faith, hope and love.

The challenge then is to use them properly, so others are helped, not hindered, by our activities. We do not need more than one set of stones to cross over and any set will do.

The analogy breaks down when we consider sharing between traditions but at least we can see users of other stones as travellers on the same journey. Travellers who can share notes, tips and tricks.

Posted at 06:00 PM in Conversations, Ecclesiology, Exegesis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, 10 April 2011

Let Us Love One Another

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1 John 4: 7 - 11

I'm a little surprised to find this passage amongst the ecumenical texts. On a superficial reading it is a 'no brainer'. Of course we're supposed to love one another. We've already seen that the unity of Christians is the glory of God.

The problem is, to state we should all love one another is to beg the question, why the lack of unity in the first place? Ecumenism is difficult because it is about the unity of people who belong to separate institutions.

Institutions have a positive role. They are the means by which the faith is passed on. To be formed as a Christian, it is beneficial if you are part of a community, under a similar discipline. So, institutions are inevitable and can be beneficial.

That is, to a degree. The problem is, when people belong to institutions they start to identify with them. Sometimes this can become irrational. From claims that women cannot be priests to the belief that my tradition is the only true church, the institution becomes an idol.

Where this happens the institution becomes demonic. But a demon is simply a sick angel and where we use our institutions wisely, share and learn to love one another's institutions, we find they become angelic.

The message is we need our institutional differences and we need to learn to love them, just as we know we must love other Christians.

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Saturday, 09 April 2011

We Love Because He First Loved Us

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1 John 4: 19 - 21

The message here is clear. We can't love God and fail to love our brothers and sisters. Our ability to love one another across Christian traditions is the glory of God.

Defense of our own particular take on the Christian faith is not a priority. Our priority is to love one another and to do that we must learn to love Christians traditions other than our own.

Failure to do so locks us into little redoubts, from which we issue defensive proclamations. We must not use our peculiar take on the Christian faith as a bludgeon. To say, 'believe as I do or else you are damned' is a blasphemy. It is a misrepresentation of God. If there is a single true version of the faith, we don't know whose it is. More likely, our differences are a challenge from God.

Some argue our differences are a gift to each other. This is perhaps not quite right. I don't need a Pope any more than Roman Catholics need a Conference. The gift is in the dialogue and exchanges between traditions, which might lead us together into discovering something entirely new.

Posted at 06:00 PM in Exegesis, Soft Systems | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Friday, 08 April 2011

Keep On Loving with All Your Heart

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1 Peter 1:22

I will focus on 5 words in four paragraphs.

'Obedience to the truth' raises a number of issues for the modern reader. I have previously explored the meaning of the word 'obedience'. It means to listen and the opposite of obedience is not disobedience but 'acting inappropriately'. So, we must not understand it as following orders; it may be obedient to refuse to follow orders.

So understood, obedience helps us understand the meaning of truth. We see obedience to the truth as discerning the truth and then acting appropriately.

The fifth word is 'heart'. An atheist friend told me the other day, the heart is only a pump. Some argue it is the seat of emotion. Maybe it is but I don't find this particularly helpful. If we can use heart and emotions interchangeably, we are just using heart to obscure what we mean.

I prefer to think of heart as a way to stay focused on love. Our thoughts too often get in the way. When we need to act, the state of our heart determines how we act. Through prayer we can change the disposition of our hearts towards love or away from it. To be sanctified is to have a heart full of God's love all the time. Is this possible? There's only one way to find out.