Re: Lessons of the old mainline for the new mainline
I’m not ready to concede the seat of relevance to society (after reading guest column . Still, from what I am seeing, while evangelicals are more powerful, I’m not sure they are more releveant. As an evangelical (well, whatever that might be, but now, I’m an evangelical like I’m a Pennsylvanian — that’s where I was born, and I actually know the state motto and I like shoofly pie…I have papers that prove that I am a Pennsylvania, but I live in a world where no one asks me for that passport)…I find that my evangelical methods are not effective, and in fact, some are questionable. Yes, I can get far with fear and intimidation, with threats of withdrawal of love and community. However, I find these methods are corrosive and crippling to my soul. I aspire to be more like people I have seen in liberal communities who are slow to judge and quick to demonstrate a radical love and hospitality. While they might be dying, liberals still have more interesting parties and I find they forgive at a faster rate than evangelicals. I find that I can make more mistakes with liberals and not find myself on the streets in the morning. And if I find myself on the street, one of them will take me to a soup kitchen.
While my religious community seems to be rising to power, I find that I am not as tempted to chase behind them as I thought. I find that the small crowd left behind behind the parade may hold various beliefs that I don’t agree with, but there is an ethic of love and an awareness of compassionate non-perfection that keeps me staying with the now proclaimed winners.
Were you ever the one left on the bench after all of the team players were chosen? Perhaps the winners did not realize, but there is a world that is actually quite comfortable and homey among losers. Now, the game is over, we lost, but we can now breathe deeply and enjoy the scenery. I remember on day in high school on the bench. While the game progressed, I sat with my friend, an art student, and we talked about trees and fractals, tiel blue and aqua green. We watched the clouds. For us, high school was ending, and for the nth time, we, as the least popular people in the class, were once again on the bench. But the scenery was magnificent. The wind blew gently on that fall day, and the trees were just beginning to turn. We sat with awe of a creator God who we did not really believe in because most of his followers in the Christian school we attended were, well jerks — or, the people you now call the winners and leaders of the nation. But on that day, in the beauty of that moment, God spoke to us, and told us that we were part of this beautiful creation. There were trees in this creation and the benches were not for losers, but for worshippers. We never watched the game, we were too busy looking at the universe.
I find that I rather sit on the bench with the losers. The universe is still a place of awe and wonder, often obscured by power and authority. I think Billy Joel said it best years ago in his song, “Only the Good Die Young, “I rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” I have the rest of eternity to negotiate sainthood. Right now, give me laughter with those the winners have declared sinners. Let me be the thief on the cross asking Jesus into paradise after a life of trial and error rather than the person who spent a life defending righteousness by hanging people from trees.