What Happens When There is no Box?

I would like to try out an idea here which has been bouncing around my skull full of mush for awhile. For those who know me personally, you know I don’t talk much…yes, that is right…words rarely escape my mouth… my pen is another matter. One of the advantages for those of us of few words is the ability to just observe the world without worrying about responding to the world. So, here are some somewhat slippery thoughts I am trying to nail down.

In my world of classical music, something I am somewhat familiar with, I encounter comments telling me I am doing everything wrong; wrong tempo, horrible articulation, utterly missed such and such, really need to take some lessons… you get the idea. I vividly remember the comments on an Andras Schiff recording in which several people tore into his playing as if the critic was Bach himself. (For those who may not know, Schiff’s Bach playing is second to none (in my not very humble opinion) to just about anybody.) Since I am not Schiff, I knew this type of criticism would be surely coming my way.

I mention this simply to illustrate how humans are perfectly capable of getting completely locked into one way of thinking and can be completely blind to alternative ideas or even the notion they may be wrong. OK, that was the easy part, now, let’s take a look at some ways this plays out in everyday life. And fair warning, I will touch upon the two areas which we are always warned against: politics and religion!

I haven’t voted for a major party candidate in decades. While I lean politically right, no one should confuse me with what passes for Republicanism today. One of the benefits I have found being unwed to any party is the freedom to see each politician for what they are; (and since we are in polite company here)…challenged in the area of truth telling. This has also left me completely free to look at each issue on its own merit and reach conclusions based upon my understanding of the calling I have as a child of God. Besides, I think the last election cycle has pretty much proven that our political agency, which we have been led to believe exists…doesn’t exist at all.

OK, now that I have dipped into that cauldron, allow me to risk tipping it over. My life long vagabond journey around the Christian church world has given me a breadth of experience which I have found few share. My father started his ministry as a conservative pastor in the very liberal (old UP now PCUSA) church. We also lived in Detroit in the late 1960’s, and if you who are old enough to remember that tumultuous time, you will remember the demonstrations and riots which occurred in our major cities. My father, as a young pastor of an inner city church participated in those demonstrations for civil rights. His next posting was to a small town in northern Michigan church in a virtually all white community where I grew up with my recently adopted half African-American sister. So, you see, I come from stock which eschews easy pigeon holing.

While my father spent his entire pastoral life working within a single denominational band, I have been all over the map. I have worked in nearly all of old mainline denominations and my recording activity has certainly covered all of those I may have missed. This has allowed me at this point in my life to have experienced most of the breadth of the Christian Church. As I stand now, well outside of any box, allow me these observations on two fronts, the Bible facing and the societal facing.

First the Biblical face. I often joke that “God created man in His own image and ever since then man has been trying to return the favor.” The more I moved around, the more true I found this statement to be true. Some traditions have a very small god who reflects their own limitations and ideas of how things ought to be. One pastor would quip: “I find this a difficult passage.” which indicated something she was just going to skip over. Rather than adjusting her understanding to the reality of the text, it was far easier to just ignore anything which didn’t fit. Her Bible was quite short in the end. It is also quite easy to find those who view God as highly judgmental and harsh in his judgments. Mercy and compassion, and the hymn “There is a Wideness to God’s Mercy” find little room in their God. Sin (unless it is racially based) and judgment has little room in one camp and mercy and compassion (unless it is for people they know but not the young brown man who clears their table) has little room in the other. Yet, Scriptures give both a high position.

In today’s world you will find the denomination with a more “liberal” theology more likely to host or support a homeless shelter or food pantry. The Bible commands us repeatedly to have compassion and care for the poor in our communities even if they don’t belong to our community. While these folks may have a limited understanding of Scripture, they sure get this part right. But…they often do so at the sacrifice of any witness. One denomination I worked at was proud of the government grant they received for their charity work. The catch, they could not give any Christian witness. I don’t think that was a worthy trade off.

The other side admirably calls the world to repent of its sinfulness. But…view political enforcement of the desired changes as an acceptable tool. While I view abortion as on par with slavery in its moral reprehension, changing laws instead of hearts is not a Biblical approach to the problem, but it is expedient. Funny, I never read anything about expediency in the Bible.

The reality is we are small, insignificant, broken, and utterly bent by sin. But our God created the universe! Just spend a few moments poking around images from the Hubble or Webb telescopes to see the truth of Psalm 8:4 “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visit him?” Or consider the other side of the lens and read just a bit about the weird world of quantum physics such as entanglement and spins. I have had a number of major surgeries over my lifetime and if you ask your anesthesiologist about how the many drugs you will be given work, the truthful answer is: “we don’t know just that they do.” If we know and understand so little about the creation we live in, how can we judge our understanding of the creator as complete? Our God is big beyond our understanding!

So… this musing has left me with few answers, but a great deal of humility. While my approach to Scripture is largely informed by the Reformed tradition, I can see where it too may have missed the mark. Yet, I try to never limit God’s mercy or his judgment upon my sin. I also know the person beside me has had such a different experience from mine, I can gain much from listening…and not talking…

Since I haven’t offended you enough to stop reading, please help me understand where I am wrong or even right!