A Divided Christianity Limits Its Witness

Collage of Christian culture, from:
https://tinyurl.com/uzzy7nl

In my work, I try to build relationship between Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians. I often encounter resistance from all sides.

One complaint I hear is: Why bother? There are are so many other issues of division in the world today that seem much more serious. Lives are hanging in the balance. Few people today, especially in the first world, are losing their lives over Catholic and evangelical tensions.

That certainly is a fair point. Tensions between Christian denominations have definitely subsided from where they once were. After all, the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation helped lead to the 30 Year War, one of Europe's bloodiest. Prejudice still exists, but it doesn't manifest into that scale of bloodshed anymore. We've come a long way.

But in the western world, Christianity has been the dominant religion. In a sense, it has been the one constant of the western world. Christianity has provided the moral framework in no small way for the west--beginning with the Roman Empire, through the Dark Ages and Medieval world, to the Renaissance, Enlightenment, "discovery" of the New World and its impacts in terms of colonialism, world wars and a rapid increase in technology.

All of these are complex topics, of course, but the point I want to make here is:  The western world did all of these things operating out of--and challenged by--the moral and ethical framework of western Christianity.  

How successful Christianity has been at intercepting sin in the midst of this could have a lot to do with how united Christianity has been.

Christianity and the Western World

We all need a solid moral, ethical and spiritual grounding in order to resist the pervasive temptations and sins that are endemic to the human condition. Greed and its twin brother selfishness run rampant so easily. Pride easily divides and pits one group as "better" than another. In day to day life, it certainly can feel like times marches slowly, but stepping back it becomes apparent that we are in the middle of a sharp exponential growth curve in technology, population, pollution, wars, etc. Older cultures had thousands of years to adapt to changes. We have just a short time. The western world has presided over so much rapid change in so short of a time.

My grandfather still worked with horses and was the first to use mechanized tractors on the farm. In 100 years time, we went from horses to cars, airplanes and spaceships, from the telephone to smart phones and from typewriters to word processors.

But while the western world has been overwhelmingly Christian, the lived reality tells a different story: You have your church and I have mine. I have my beliefs and you have yours. I don't have to talk to you. I don't even have to acknowledge you.

We're not just divided--we're isolated from one another. We can't expect uniformity in our beliefs as an axis for unity. After all, if you were to talk to 10 people you will get 12 theological opinions. But the problem is that we haven't found a way to maintain some semblance of unity in light of all this.

We've not just divided in terms of doctrine and beliefs--we are also just as much divided in terms of race and national origin. As MLK so famously said, Sunday at 11 am "is the most segregated hour in the nation." Blacks, whites and little enclaves of tight-knit immigrant community churches dot the landscape.

It's a strange message of: Leave me alone, I'm going to practice my faith which draws all people and even the entire cosmos to Christ. It's somewhat understandable as in this finite world we often don't know how to transcend so many divisions. I sympathize with people who simply give up and keep to themselves. But we should at least recognize the need to try and admit that division is not what we are called to.

A Divided Christianity Limits its Witness

Look at how this plays out in terms of national allegiance: Do we really consider Christians in Mexico to be our brothers and sisters in the faith?  Or are they just "those people over there"? Are we suspicious of them trying to sneak in and steal from us? The vast majority of Mexicans would identify as Catholic, Pentecostal or evangelical. Since we are not united in the faith, forces that want to suppress immigration get us to hate each other. Those forces would have little sway over us if we knew each other and respected each other as members of the same Body of Christ. We would know and trust each other as members of the same Church.

This wouldn't immediately solve all immigration issues, but it would make us less likely to fall victim to dehumanizing propaganda. But because it's considered "okay" to be divided then it becomes so easy to further divide the church into ethnic and national and class-based groups--and most importantly, it becomes easier to divide the church up politically. Division itself is considered acceptable which sets the stage for further divisions of all kinds.

A study was done recently on the terrifying practice trying and killing accused witches over the past several hundred years.  Researches noted that it was perhaps Christian disunity and competition between Protestants and Catholics which fueled some of the harshest and most regrettable periods of witch persecution in Europe and America. It begs the question:  How is Christian disunity today being used to divide and conquer?  How is this disunity manipulated to pursue political goals? Conversely, how is politics manipulated to pursue religious goals?

The Power of the Church

I got into this work because I believe the faith community can be a necessary tonic to the evils of the world.  I still believe that. Churches have stood up to the evils of the world i many ways, from the way churches helped the Civil Rights movement to the movement for justice in Latin America in recent decades and so many more examples.

I don't what to join with you, fellow follower of Jesus, just because you share the same liberal or conservative views. but I do want to join with you because we are rooted in the vision of the Kingdom and we make decisions about what is right or wrong from that place. Our home is in the Kingdom that Jesus calls us to recognize. It's not because we are liberal or conservative and then go to church based on those allegiances, it is because we carry the church in our hearts and make decisions about the world from that place.

Even with all of our theological and denominational divisions, Christianity provides a unifying framework. Even if we disagree on the application of certain issues, Christianity still gives us common language to confront sin. It gives us readings and practices. It gives us a unifying vision for membership in Christ's body and of the Kingdom of God. It gives us something in common with which to engage the rest of the culture. Even with that, it still takes everything we've got to resist the temptations of sin. But our denominational divisions prevent us from speaking that voice clearly.

With Christianity divided, the secular world eats us alive. The world of power and money can pick Christianity apart, co-opt certain groups for this or that benefit. They use Christians for their gains. Nowadays, it's no secret that there are denominations and sects of Christianity aligned with the political right and with the political left. Christians think they have chosen their allegiances but the more sinister truth is that perhaps those interests have chosen Christians to bolster them. They have coaxed Christians to ignore certain thing or to soften some edges and dampen their message in the name of compromise and collaboration.

Could a more united Christianity do a better job of maintained its center and not be so easily swayed by political, financial or military interests in the larger culture?

Maybe there are far too many folks who like Christianity so fractured because it is just easier to manipulate?  And then to pit one side against the other?

A more united Christianity may not stave off all the world's problems. After all, the relatively united church of the Middle Ages did help in some of this but it was still all too often a pawn for political powers. It's complex. Nevertheless, I will argue here that a divided Christianity limits its witness to the world. People don't have to take it seriously because Christians can't even agree on what it's about.  Disunity limits its witness to justice and peace. It limits the ability of the Christian message to be a healing and prophetic tonic for a very fractured world. Indeed: the fractures of Christianity resemble more this world than the Kingdom we are called to.

Fasting From Division, Feasting on Inclusion

Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens,

To let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

That you bring the poor and homeless into your house;

When you see the naked, that you cover them,

And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

 -- Isaiah 58:6-7

Super challenging passage from Isaiah. 

Can we fast from injustices?

Can we fast from the pleasures that come at someone else's expense? Some of those things may be enjoyable or simply things we think we need to do for our own protection.

Such as:

Our pride which maintains divisions, hatred...? "My church is better than your church."

Our hurt and anger left unaddressed which lead to walls between people and ultimately to wars? "I only take care of those inside my walls."

Our consumerism and greed which scorches the earth...? Our consumer engine which produces abundance but yet leaves far too many with nothing.

Our fears which compel us to justify anything and everything, no matter how sinister, in the name of revenge or self-preservation....? After all, so much evil (if not all of it) is done by people thinking they are defending themselves. Someone else is considered a threat that must be controlled or neutralized, so we tell ourselves that gives us license to jettison all our ethics and morals in order to neutralize this perceived threat. "Be not afraid."

So let's fast from pride, from hurt, from greed, from fear.... let's stop constantly gorging ourselves on the buffet of these negative conditions, emotions, thoughts and orientations... THIS is the fast that God calls for here in this beautiful passage! Let's fast from these things which are not of God so that we can feast on the goodness, mercy, and love that IS of God! It takes true bravery to do that after being cloaked in fear, anger and all the trappings of this world all our lives.

Let's fast from lust which distorts true beauty and desire. It obscures our ability to see the full dignity of each other by reducing people to objects to be consumed.

Let's fast from apathy, sloth and sadness... justifiable feelings, no doubt, but they can be a trap leading us into inaction.

Let's fast from the gluttony which compels our rabid consumption, always seeking a high and never being satisfied.

Ultimately let's seek out, heal and fast from whatever is behind all of these feelings... whatever pain, trauma, fear, self-doubt is driving all of these unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Saying we ought to fast from these things is one of the most profound passages in Scripture. It is clearly articulating that we are tied in to systems of power, privilege and injustice. We are tied into these systems every day and bear responsibility even when we are not directly or consciously perpetuating injustice. It is part of the fallen condition of the world that we are stewing in this sin.

It also means by consequence we are inherently connected to everyone and everything--we are all part of the same human family, the same biological family of plants and animals, and the same cosmos. It is our "same flesh" after all, as the passage states. There is a oneness to all. That's why the things which promote division are sinful--division is not of God. It is imaginary but consequential. It causes us to miss seeing the Kingdom of justice, mercy and wholeness which is right here, right now... to miss seeing God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, who are always right with us, permeating everyone and everything.

I've heard of churches talk about the "sacrifice of praise" or the "sacrifice of worship." I'm not suggesting those are in any way bad. Others fast from food or various vices from time to time. But at least in this passage, God is clearly saying that's not the sacrifice wanted by God. The message is pretty clear and doesn't give us much wiggle room to try to make it say something else.

This passage urges us to increase our inner circle to include more. Destroy that which separate and limits and increase that which welcomes and invites. Let's challenge ourselves to consider whatever limits or separates us from others and reflect on that in light of this passage.

***

This is the first part in a series on the seven deadly sins.

Multi-Generational Trauma and Christian Disunity

One of the deadliest days Catholic-Protestant tension: Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by Francois Dubois. Wikipedia Commons.

I often encounter so much resistance from Christians to the cause of Christian unity.

I am often left baffled.

In my humble opinion, there doesn't seem to be enough theological justification for this resistance. There aren't enough cultural reasons, either.

That's certainly debatable, of course. Many would challenge me on this.

But I still get a sense that there is something else going on—some people have an almost visceral reaction toward other Christian groups that is hard to explain through merely doctrinal differences alone.

So what is driving this?

It's like there's an invisible force. Or a ghost, perhaps.

Well, in a sense, I think this is true.

In this blog we often explore the symptoms of a fractured people—in particular, divisions in Christianity. Those fall along doctrinal lines, national origin lines, racial lines and class lines. But they also fall along historical lines.

I'm amazed by how many Christians want to be isolated from other Christians. For example, there are many evangelical Christians in the rural U.S. South who just want to be left alone. They don't want any relationship with any other church, even within their own denomination. Is this just personal preference or is there a back story? Is this what Jesus asks for those who follow in his way?

Perhaps we today don't have a living memory of persecution. Perhaps we don't remember being abandoned or being rejected or having to uproot our family and travel westward to a new country just to get away from all the strife back in Europe. We didn't personally experience the nasty and cruel ways various Christian groups treated each other—up to and including wars and death.

But somewhere deep down in our bones we feel the result of this wound. The memory may be gone but the trauma—and the coping mechanisms—remain. We are only at the beginning stages of understanding how experiences of trauma can be passed down to subsequent generations. But we know it experientially:  Once you start attempting to heal any of these divisions it becomes abundantly clear right away that past is prologue.

Coco

The Disney Pixar movie Coco does a fantastic job of showing how this multi-generational trauma works. This family in Mexico that just seemed to hate music. They did everything they could to avoid music and punish harshly any family member who attempted to play music. Nobody remembered  why and nobody really bothered to ask. It's just the way it was. They just hated music and wanted to be left alone.

[spoiler alert follows!]

As the movie progresses, we discover that the reason this family hates music is that a great-great-grandfather was presumed to abandon his family to pursue a life on the road as a musician. He left a wife and young daughter to fend for themselves, never to see them again. Through great difficulty and innovation, his wife built a new life—but utter contempt for music and anything related to it was painfully stitched into every moment of their lives going forward. I imagine every sound of music brought with it painful memories and grumblings which her daughter and grandchildren picked up on. I imagine they didn't want to see her in pain so they also did everything to shield her from music. Music brought her pain, and it was painful for her daughter and grandchildren to witness this, so music ended up bringing them pain, too—they appropriated her pain. Hating music just became part of the family ethos.

We eventually find out the truth is still more complex—the father intended to leave the road and come home but was murdered by a jealous music partner who wanted his songs to himself. Tragic misunderstandings often play a huge role.

Christian Prologue 

How much do the historical treatments of Christians to one another matter today?

They matter a lot—it is the pain on which so many of our patterns and attitudes have been built. The pain and coping patterns remain long after the original incidents are forgotten.

I can prove it. What happens when you read the word "Viking"? Do you imagine an adventurous seafaring people from Northern Europe? You probably imagine brutal terrorists. Their descendants today are the quite peaceful Scandanvian people. But yet to this day the word "viking" conjures up foreboding. That's because for a period of time the Vikings terrorized much of mainland Europe. Their time attacking coastal Europe was a long, long time ago. Yet this period was sufficiently brutal and psychologically traumatizing enough to carry their reputation forward to the present day.

The church of the western Roman Empire (now called the Catholic Church) actually attacked and sacked Constantinople, the seat of the eastern church (now called the Orthodox Church). Certainly wars between Christians have been common throughout the years, but this was more explicitly tied to religious divisions itself, at least on the surface. It was a thousand years ago but if you unpack the layers of frosty relationship between Catholics and Orthodox, you will quickly notice the impact of this and other similar events.

Catholics murdered Protestants. Catholic and Protestants murdered Anabaptists. And many Christians persecuted pagans, Jewish people and Gypsies.

A colleague explained to me how the Civil War, for example, split denominations in many ways. The different experiences in the North and the South—the suffering, the years of hunger, the humiliation of loss, the feeling of abandonment by their brothers and sister in the faith on the other side of the Mason Dixon line—have left lasting scars that remain to this day. Many today on one side don't even know why they have such feelings toward those on the other side, but they know they do.

Think of how much fear and misunderstanding Christians have for Muslims. Some of this is just stirred up by political forces today. But this negative view of Islam has its root in history. Europe experienced serious defeats during the Crusades. Empires of Muslim people made inroads into Europe in Span, Turkey and Southeast Europe. This menacing, looming shadow was just beyond the sea, ready to strike at any moment. Perhaps they see Christians the same way—it's all perspective.

Actually, Muslim people are as normal and peaceful as people in any nation. But we've been kept apart for so long where fears turn people into caricatures. Just like walking through a dark forest on Halloween, where every noise makes you worry there's a giant or monster right around the corner. This is what fear does. This is why it's so important to get to know people in the present day to dispel those fears and to make sure political forces aren't using those fears to manipulate us.

Going Forward

Even when memory of an event is long gong, the reaction to that pain is often still with us. It may still be in the drivers seat, whether we know it or not. It's actually harder when we are unaware of it—because we are triggered and reacting and there doesn't seem to be a logical reason for it, but logic is not enough to build the bridge. We have to find out what's driving out reactions to one another.

When you start reconciling with people from another group, you may start crying over pain from centuries ago—pain you never even dreamed was relevant to you at all. That's how multi-generational trauma works.

That is why we can't enter a dialogue as isolated individuals. We all come with a history and out of a context, and we all need to respect that. Unity requires lots of reconciliation with the past. It requires lots of apologies and amends and at the very least an awareness of its impact on us today. Even a thousand years later, the pain doesn't simply just go away on its own until it is lovingly healed.

***

This is part 3 in a series around remembering the voices from the past: All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Day of the Dead in Hispanic cultures. Reformation Sunday in Protestant churches. How do narratives we have inherited from the past—accurate or not—affect who we are today?

Part 1: A Tale of Two Americas
Part 2: Family Separation: My Personal Story