Peace where there is no peace

When your Religion Cancels You.

That was the topic selected for our second podcast episode over at The Convocation: Unscripted. Little did my fellow podcasters know, that’s a sensitive topic for me this week. As I write, my denomination is dictating the terms that will require my home church and many others to leave the denomination over a new interpretation of what is now deemed “confessional,” one that requires condemnation of same-sex relationships.

In terms of getting “cancelled,” my case isn’t like many others’ in that I’m staying with my congregation. We’re all leaving together, along with many other congregations in the US and Canada. Still, it’s a lot to process.

I shared just a bit here, and you can hear Robby, Jemar, and Diana talk about their own experiences leaving the faith communities they once called home. I’m guessing that many of you may find points of connection.

We’re still building things out, but we’ll soon have audio available on streaming platforms. (For now, you can have episodes delivered to your inbox by signing up here.)

In light of what’s going on this week in my denomination, I also wanted to share a few more words from my pastor, Len Vander Zee. Last month, I shared part of one of his sermons in my post “Preparing for a Long Defeat.” Today, it’s another somber yet heartening message on “True Peace in Christ.”

The part of the sermon text I share below speaks to all who consider themselves Christians (and perhaps some who don’t.) The second part of the sermon, which you’ll have to listen for here, addresses the CRC in particular. It’s very much worth your time.

Here’s Len:

We are going through a time of great turmoil in our nation and in the church today. The question is, are we recognizing the real issues at stake here, or are we saying “peace, peace, when there is no peace?  

…in these fraught times we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. We need to make sure we are following him.  

The church has, for a long, long time, had a problem with power. It was a problem Jeremiah was up against with the monarchy and priesthood. And it’s at the heart of the problems we are facing today in the church and in society.  

There’s a tremendous attraction to having power, and there’s a tremendous danger in exercising it. So, what does the Jesus say about that?  

Remember that at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry he went into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. This was calisthenics for the cross.  

All those temptations had to do with power. But the last one was the most penetrating. The devil said, “Bow before me and I will give you all the nations of the earth.” Ultimate Power. 

But, of course, Jesus refused. Why?  Because he already had it? Yes. But also because Almighty God has chosen an entirely different way of healing his creation.  

The central event of Scripture reveals God’s way. In sending Jesus Christ, God divested himself of power over people. What? Really?  

Paul sings it with his hymn to Jesus Christ in Philippians 2.  

“Have this mind among yourselves which you have in Christ Jesus,  

who, though he existed in the form of God, 

    did not regard equality with God 

    as something to be grasped, 

7 but emptied himself, (divested) 

    taking the form of a slave, 

    assuming human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a human, 

8     he humbled himself 

    and became obedient to the point of death— 

    even death on a cross. 

The very Son of the Almighty God was finally splayed naked and helpless as a criminal on the cross for the world to see. There is your God. That is God’s great divestment of power.  

That’s really hard to grasp. So, we say, God raised him from the dead and exalted him to his right had in glory. Jesus is Powerful again.  

Here’s exactly where the church falls into a deep misunderstanding of the gospel. It tends to say that the cross was mainly about how God saved us.       

But now, the salvation job is done. So now the power gets turned back on. And now we can be strong and powerful in the world again.  

Remember, how Paul prefaced his great hymn of divestment. “Have this mind among yourselves which you have in Christ Jesus.”  

Jesus didn’t say to his people, “I won the battle so now you can be powerful again.”  He said, take up your cross and follow me. I divested myself on the cross, now you divest yourself of power in the world.  

The church did receive power from on high, the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t assist us to have power over people. The Spirit helps us follow Jesus into self-sacrificing love. And that produces certain kinds of fruit. joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, etc,   

The church is never called to exercise power over people in order to get its way in the world. Our gospel is simply the unconditional grace of God.   

But within a few centuries, the church fell again and again for Satan’s temptation to power, and success, and control.  

And it spread like a cancer throughout history. From the power of the church, exemplified in the papacy in the middle ages, to the claims of power and authority in the religious wars following the Reformation.  

Or think about the spread colonialism, with the church’s blessing and cooperation. The church recognized this powerful opportunity to save benighted souls, and by the way, exploit their land and resources.  

And then came the thought control police, as the church sought, sometimes violently, to enforce its particular doctrinal and ethical regimes on people. And this precipitated ongoing massive divisions in the body of Christ.  

And even today there are a large number of Christians claiming the mantle of Christ by vying for power and influence. They claim America as a Christian nation.  

And, by the way, don’t bring up all those old sins and injustices.  We just need to claim the rightful place God has given to us as his chosen people. We need to make America Christian again…. whatever it takes.  

What is the fruit of this cult of Christian power and domination? It doesn’t look much like the fruit of the Spirit. It seems to breed ugly, divisive, and authoritarian rhetoric and action--all in the name of Christ.  

So, let’s no longer say, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” There’s something deeply wrong with the church today. And it’s profoundly connected with the use of power and authority, the very things that Jesus called us away from.