I WONDER AS I WONDER. . . "Everything Must Change!"
Several weeks ago I read a book by the title of this article. Written by Brian McLaren, one of the well-known leaders in the emergent church movement, the book’s subtitle is: “Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope.” The book was thought-provoking and challenging.
Then in the past several weeks, one news story after another told of change, whether wanted or unwanted. Hurricanes Fay and Gustav and Ike blew through the Caribbean islands and the Gulf Coast, bringing devastation to Haiti and Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean, to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, almost wiping out the island city of Galveston, TX.
News on the economic fronts followed, with oil refineries damaged and impacting our oil-dependent economy. Foreclosures on homes and bail-outs for some Wall Street firms and bankruptcy for others made headlines, as stock markets vacillated wildly, and lay-offs rocked our communities.
In the midst of global and national concerns with environmental and economic implications, we experienced the death of an active pastor in the Troy Conference, the Rev. Wayne Jones. Only 10 days before his death was the gravity of his situation known to him and his family. Only one week before his death Wayne preached his last sermon. Such a story causes many of us to reflect on the fragility of our lives.
Are the examples I have given what McLaren means by “Everything must change!”? Most of us would prefer to have things stay the same, to maintain the status quo, not to “rock the boat” too much. But there are times when the boat is rocking, and we have to decide how we respond to that rocking.
McLaren’s focus is not specifically on the crises I have listed above. Rather, he identifies four key areas where he observes the breakdowns in our global and national situations. He first cites the “prosperity crisis,” where our global economy provides great wealth for about one-third of the world’s population, and our use of natural resources and abuse of the environment threatens economic breakdown. Intertwined with that is the “equity crisis,” where the gap between the “ultra-rich and the extremely poor” brings fear in the rich and envy and resentment in the poor, leading to the third area. McLaren calls this the “security crisis.” From that resentment and fear of persons on both ends of the economic spectrum comes the increased danger of wars. McLaren suggests that the only way to avoid what he calls the interconnected “suicide machine” of those three areas is for the world’ religions to address the underlying “spiritual crisis.”
In contrast to these “ways of the world,” as Christians we are called to share our resources with others, not hoard them; to use only what we need, and to give to the poor; to live in peace and seeking reconciliation not war; to trust in God and not be afraid.
McLaren comes to this perspective not from the liberal left, but from an evangelical Protestant background. Because of what he’s seen, McLaren has reexamined some of the ways he has learned scripture, and some of his understandings of the role of the church. He concludes that the church needs to give people direction and hope in the midst of this, by helping people of faith to gain a fresh vision of the old stories of scripture, and through that scripture to see Jesus and the world in new ways.
"I believe that is what we are called to do as we form new conferences in the Upper New York and Harrisburg Areas, and as churches in Vermont relate with New England." We are not called simply to restructure and go on about our business in the same old ways. We are not called simply to maintain buildings and congregations for those who are currently within them. We are called to address the world with the hope that comes through Jesus Christ, the one who challenged the powers and systems of his day, who taught and practiced reconciliation and peace, who ate with outcasts and sinners, who fed the hungry and healed those tormented by illness and disease. Jesus shared his life with his followers; he endured suffering and gave his life as a witness that life and systems can be transformed.
I believe that our churches, and we as followers of Jesus, must learn to give away ourselves for the sake of others. The mission statement for the new conference in New York says just that: We dream and pray for a vibrant new conference of the United Methodist Church existing to embody the word and to give itself away in love and service to the world.
That will happen as we allow God’s Spirit to change us, transform us, forming us into community that is not just habit, but that is rooted in God’s transforming work in Jesus Christ. That transformation will inform how we pray, how we work and rest, how we purchase and invest, how we take public action. Such transformation cannot happen just by our own initiative. It will come through God’s Spirit and by God’s grace. It means we will need to be open and willing to change our minds and shift our ways of looking at some things. Without such openness to God’s transformation of us and of the church, we will not see the transformation in the world that we desire.
Mahatma Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world!” St. Paul wrote to the Romans:
So here’s what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what Godes for you is the best thing you can do for God. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. (Romans 12:1-2, The Message paraphrase)