Jesus Would Wear a Mask - CRCNA Network

 "Jesus loved God and loved his neighbors. If Caesar said not to wear a mask but experts said it would protect the vulnerable anyway, Jesus would still have worn a mask."

The full article is available here

Benediction: Faith Leaves Room For Mystery (based on Romans 8:26)

Faith does not require certainty.  Rather, it is a hopeful trust that God is inherent in all things, is accessible to us in our seeking, and is in the business of renewing and restoring the universe back to its Original Goodness.

May we be willing to dwell within the tension of our questions and the unknown so that we can partner with God in the work of bringing out the best in everyone and everything.

Meditative Prayer - Thomas Merton

 

The Crucifixion Is A Victory - Brian Zahnd

 

God Is Love = No Discrimination - Progressive Christianity

 

The Gospel Means Everything Matters - Rachel Held Evans

 

Eurotheism vs Christianity - Dr. Cheryl Coleman

Eurotheism is "a pervasive and influential alternative view of Christianity that reveals itself through many factors." In contrast to Christianity - it holds to notions of:

(A) faith belief and practice based on traditional European thought and experience (while Christianity supports the adherence to and practice of Biblical thought and teachings, which are meant to transcend cultural or socially constructed thoughts and teachings)

(B) racial/ethnic stratification and ethnocentrism, which lends to a perception that Non Whites hold second class citizenship to Whites in society and in the Christian church (while Christianity reveals that God is no respecter of persons, God has no favorites, and everyone is regarded equally)

(C) forceful stances in market capitalism, individualism, competition, self-preservation and self-indulgence (while Christianity overwhelmingly embodies care for others, self-sacrifice, justice, and charity)

(D) alterations to Christianity based on changing social or social political factors that support a worldview through a European-American lens that may also include typically conservative political or non- religious ideology (while Christianity supports consistency in ideas and attitudes based solely on Biblical thought about God's character)

(E) nationalism and patriotism that regards European Americanism as Christianity by default (while biblically, one’s nationality or place of citizenship, cannot be found nor named as a way to know and experience God)

(F) cultural pride and identity (versus identity in Christ)

 

Dr. Cheryl Coleman (2017)

Evangelical NIH Head: Churches Shouldn't Return To In-Person Worship Yet - NPR

Evangelical Francis Collins - head of the National Institutes of Health and himself a church-goer - says that because of how the COVID pandemic is going currently, churches shouldn't return to in-person worship yet:

"Churches gathering in person is a source of considerable concern and has certainly been an instance where super-spreading has happened and could happen again. So I think most churches really ought to be advised, if they're not already doing so, to go to remote, virtual kinds of services."

The full article is available here

The Song ‘Mary Did You Know’ Cloyingly Misses The Point

“Mary’s Magnificat is subversive. We may want songs with sentimentality, but Mary knows - seemingly better than we do - that the messiah that is coming is going to turn our world upside down."  - Pulpit Shenanigans 

Following Jesus Is Relational, Involves Social Justice - Kat Armas

 

Stay home, evangelical medical organization tells churches as COVID spreads - Religion News

 

The full article is available here

The Gospel Should Be Our Metanarrative - Brian Zahnd

 

Andy Stanley: Trump Evangelicals Hurt Church's Ability To Reach People - The Atlantic

Stanley and his allies are now saddled with an image of evangelicalism they don’t want and didn’t create.

As a young man, Andy Stanley yearned to reach people beyond the conservative Christian world, to make the story of the resurrection irresistible to the unchurched. So he rejected his culture-war inheritance and struck out on his own.

Stanley declined to join his friends in ministry on the Trump train, waving them off when they texted selfies from Trump Tower. But neither has he joined the evangelical resistance.

But while Stanley and similar giants inside the evangelical world have largely stayed out of politics during the Trump years, other evangelicals have been busy telling the outside world that their faith is completely aligned with Trumpism.

This has created a dilemma: Stanley and his allies are now saddled with an image of evangelicalism they don’t want and didn’t create. Before they can reach anyone with a message of faith over politics, they’ll have to contend with the political baggage their fellow Christian leaders created.

The full article is available here

Stop Taking 2 Chronicles 7:14 Out of Context - Apologetic Junkie

We can’t take an Abrahamic Covenant promise out of its context, claim it for ourselves when it was never given to us, and assume that if we do these things then God is somehow obligated to renew the U.S. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 is not a magic formula for spiritual revival.

It is entirely presumptuous for Christians in the U.S. to quote a verse such as this and claim the promise for themselves.

The U.S. is not God's chosen nation or land. U.S. Citizens are not God's chosen people.

The U.S. is nowhere to be found in this passage nor is any other nation other than the Ancient Near Eastern kingdom of Israel at the time of Solomon.

What is the broader context of this passage? This is always an important question to start with whenever we are seeking to correctly interpret and apply a scripture.

Very briefly, as we read the beginning chapters of 2 Chronicles we discover that Solomon is preparing to build a temple in Jerusalem (chapters 2-5). He completes the temple and dedicates it with a prayer before all the assembly of Israel (chapter 6). Then Yahweh appears to Solomon with both a promise and a warning starting in verse 19, which is important context not include by those who remove verse 14 from its setting.

We can’t take an Abrahamic Covenant promise out of its context, claim it for ourselves when it was never given to us, and assume that if we do these things then God is somehow obligated to renew the U.S.

2 Chronicles 7:14 is not a magic formula for spiritual revival.

The full article is available here

The Subverse Witness Of The Beatitudes - St. Oscar Romero

 

Congruent Community - K. Killian Noe

 

Dear Church, Refuse To Be In Denial About Racism - Melissa Stek in CRC Network

Until we can admit that we are people in need of recovery from systemic racism and white supremacy, we will never make progress in racial reconciliation.

I am a recovering racist, working to overcome the lies ingrained in me by white supremacy and a racialized society. The cultural messages I received were products of a racialized society, communicating to me the supposed meaning and value of whiteness versus colored-ness

I have always been a beneficiary of white privilege as a person that fits our culture’s physical appearance standards of “white.”

Until we can admit that we are people in need of recovery from systemic racism and white supremacy, we will never make progress in racial reconciliation; we will never heal the wounds and cancer of white supremacy.

The first step is to step out of our denial. It’s not enough for me to say, “I’m not individually racist,” and think that my work is done. 

We must be open to uncomfortable surrender to truth and reality in order to shake ourselves free from the lies we have absorbed about race and whiteness.

The full article is available here

God Requires That We Not Stop Trying - Bayard Rustin

 

A Christian Statement on Science for Pandemic Times - Biologos Foundation

 

You can sign the statement here

Our Truly Essential Human Task - Cynthia Bourgeault in The Wisdom of Jesus

 

Penal Substitutionary Atonement: Why Trump Is Direct, Logical Result of Flawed Conservative Evangelical Theology - New Humanity Institute

The Calvinist Puritans incorrectly saw a retributive justice in the Mosaic Law and thought it should be applied to the colonies. The Religious Right believes the same today.  Consequently, Conservative Evangelicalism's inability to apply the ethics of Jesus to public policy leaves rank and file churchgoers vulnerable to those - like Trump - who can exploit their tribal fear of others and irrational persecution complex, which makes them want to lash out in punishment.

Conservative Evangelicalism in the U.S. has a long tradition of being racist, even if individuals may not be personally racist.  It has been unable to pastorally and structurally deal with racism.

This is at least in part a result of its flawed understanding of Old Testament being about retributive justice, rather than restorative justice. 

In the 3rd Great Awakening, U.S. Evangelicals divorced evangelicalism from love of neighbor and from any serious reflections on the use of economic or political power.  Dwight Moody and others divorced evangelism from discipleship.

Penal Substitutionary Atonement, a flawed theology that is a staple of  Conservative Evangelicalism, reinforces individualism emotionally.  It defines salvation in terms of escaping retributive justice and the wrath of God - instead of in the classical/Nicene sense of healing from the corruption of sin within ourselves.

This has the psychological and social consequence of reducing people down to souls and not also bodies, giving Conservative Evangelicalism a strongly gnostic flavor that fits with a lack of care for the bodies of others necessary for compassion and social justice.

As a result, Conservative Evangelicals promote ideas like the tough father at home, meritocracy, a workplace without unions or regulations, and a society without social safety nets.  It is a paganized sect of Christianity that believes an angry God needs to be appeased through the sacrifice.

Conservative Evangelicalism's inability to apply the ethics of Jesus to public policy leaves rank and file churchgoers vulnerable to those - like Trump - who can exploit their fear of others and irrational persecution complex.

Given Conservative Evangelicalism's strong support for an ethic of retribution in public and economic life, a narcissistic bully like Trump may have been inevitable.  The Calvinist Puritans incorrectly saw a retributive justice in the Mosaic Law and thought it should be applied to the colonies. The Religious Right believes the same today.

The full article is available here

We Must Not Go Back to Normal - The Network, Christian Reformed Church in North America

At some point we all would like to get back to some kind of normal. But we should not go back to a dysfunctional normal (of white privilege and systemic racism).

"Normal" has not been good for everyone. It is time for a normal that restores an identity in Christ in us and all of our neighbors, especially our Black neighbors.

My normal as a white person does not require me to think about who might be watching me or how my actions might look to someone else merely due to the color of my skin. I can pass by neighbors, most of whom are strangers, without people perceiving me as a threat or wonder what I’m doing.

Black people in the U.S. live a different reality on a daily basis than I do as a white person.  Their reality is one that they can't step away from because they're perpetually being judged by their skin color.

The reality of systemic racism requires our Black brothers and sisters to be wary, on guard, careful about their surroundings and the people near them 24/7 - whether going for a run, a drive in the car, shopping, or bird-watching.

That’s their normal, and we should not go back to that normal.

Black leaders are speaking and creating a new path forward. It is time for a normal that listens and seeks to understand.

If we wish to be faithful to God in doing to others as we would have them do to us, we must do something. The racism baked into the systems of our society will not change unless we continually take action.

The full article is available here

I Have Prejudices and I'm Part Of Systemic Racism - Rev Jennifer Holmes Curran in The Banner

Racism degrades bearers of God’s image, even while it distorts our own humanity. It is abhorrent in God’s eyes. And I am complicit in systemic racism as a white person to the extent that I benefit from it and to the extent to that I fail to fight against it.

As a white person, racism has been trained into me through a lifetime of stereotypes in movies, TV shows, and the news. It is part of my felt experience, living “across the tracks” from the more dangerous and diverse neighborhoods.

There are lots of different definitions of racism, but any worthwhile definition has to include prejudice against someone of another skin color or ethnicity.

While I have prejudice, my racism is much bigger than it. That's why it is so important to note that prejudice is much more destructive when it is perpetrated by a dominant culture.

I didn’t make all of these structurally racist problems happen, but in the end, just by virtue of being identified as white, I stand on one side of this conversation. Because I am white, I can have the luxury of not thinking about these problem and the luxury of not working to fix them. I am complicit to the extent that I benefit from them and to the extent to which I fail to fight them.

My racism degrades bearers of God’s image, even while it distorts my own humanity. It is abhorrent in God’s eyes. And I am guilty of it.

Confession returns me to the humility I need to be able to listen to my brothers and sisters of color. Knowing I am a part of the problem makes me want to press in and keep learning. Knowing the bottomless grace and love of God gives me a sense of steadiness when I feel defensive. It allows me to slow my knee-jerk reactions so I that can try to understand.

The full article is available here

Francis Collins on Christians and COVID Conspiracies - Religion News Service

Collins particularly urged his fellow Christians, whose orthodoxy believes in God’s truth in all things, to be sure that they are vetting whatever they are seeing.

National Institute of Health chief Francis Collins expressed concern over the number of Christians who have fallen prey to conspiracy theories surrounding the spread of the coronavirus.

“It is troubling that in our nation that prides itself on being technologically advanced, the current circumstances — particularly on social media — make it so easy for things to spread that are simply not based on facts at all,” he said.

“I would particularly urge my fellow Christians, who believe in God’s truth in all things, to be sure that they are vetting whatever they are seeing.”

The full article is available here

National Institute Of Health Francis Collins on Churches Reopening - Religion News Service

Collins said that it will remain unsafe to gather in churches until there is “a lot more testing capability” to ensure the virus is no longer present in a congregation.

Francis Collins, world-renowned geneticist and director of the National Institutes of Health, is the 2020 recipient of the Templeton Prize.

Collins is perhaps best known for leading the Human Genome Project and for advocating for the holistic integration of Christian faith and science.

When asked about churches reopening, Collins responded that he deeply values in-person worship. “At the same time,” he said, “I think as Christians we have to have as our No. 1 priority that we are going to care for the sick and the vulnerable. I cannot see, therefore, that it’s justifiable to bring large numbers of people together even in the name of worship, because of the risk it carries.”

Collins said every church gathering should be concerned about transmitting the virus, and that it will remain unsafe to gather in churches until there is “a lot more testing capability” to ensure the virus is no longer present in a congregation.

The full article is available here