Passing God’s test or commands of love?

As children, many of you probably sang the catchy tune, with fun hand motions, of the wise man building his house on the rock and the foolish man on the sand. The song conjured in my mind a house built on a beach—a dumb thing to do. When I have read the text in Matthew or Luke I bring that childhood image with me and, frankly, give little attention to the short parable. Recently, I saw it differently, but before I get to that, another song.

One evening my wife, Lynn, and I started singing songs from our youth-group past; one led to another. I found myself signing:

Do you ever search your heart 

as you watch the day depart 

Is there something way down deep 

you try to hide 

If this day should be end 

and eternity begin 

when the book is open wide 

would the Lord be satisfied? 

Is he satisfied, is he satisfied 

is he satisfied with me 

have I done my best 

have I stood the test 

Is he satisfied with me? 

Our daughter Julia, who was visiting, disbelieving, asks, “You sang that? What did that do to you?”

 It is a song about not falling short, measuring up. What is the character of this God? What is the purpose of commands given by this God?  Evaluative tool, a test. Julia was right, a bad song, toxic, but in another way not outlandish, normal. It displays a common view of the relationship between humans and God.

The parable of two housebuilders comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke. What happens if we combine the song from my childhood and the song from my youth and read the parable in light of those songs? The point of the parable becomes: don’t be dumb and ignore God’s commands. Watch out; you better measure up! 

When referring to the commands in Jesus' sermon, many people refer to the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God. True, Jesus’ commands contrast the ways of the world. But if we only look at the upside-downness of the content of the commands, we have not done enough. Let us also recognize the radical contrast between the God giving the commands and the typical religious ways of thinking about commands and God.

Joel Green, commenting on the commands of the sermon on the plain, describes them as “Practices determined by the gracious character of God”  (The Gospel of Luke, 280). A gracious God loves enemies, calls us to do the same; a gracious God is forgiving, calls us to do the same; a gracious God gives without expecting something in return, calls us to do the same.  

The commands are gracious in another way. Because God loves us and loves others, God gives these upside-down kingdom commands.  Jesus’ exhortations come out of love and longing for the flourishing of all.

Now let us turn to our parable of the two housebuilders in Luke 6. What is the key point? Jesus says, “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them” (6:47). The emphasis is on obeying, putting the words into practice. But perhaps the most important word in this verse is “me.” Who is calling for the actions? Jesus’ words come out of love and longing for the flourishing of all.

Now back to my childhood image, is this parable about a person doing a dumb thing, building on a beach? It helps a bit that Luke's version doesn't say "sand," but even more helpful is to bring the lens of loving upside-downness to the parable.

“That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house” (Luke 6:48-49).

One dug deeply to get to rock. The second person is not doing the ridiculous thing. He does the lazy thing. The ground looks ok, solid enough. He hopes it will work.

Listening and not obeying may appear to be ok. One might think, “Why obey these difficult, strange commands? I’ll be ok.” Jesus says, "no, don’t be fooled. You are better off obeying.”

The one telling the parable loves us. Jesus’ words come out of love and longing for the flourishing of all.

Based on the song of my youth, what would motivate me to obey? Fear of falling short and not satisfying God’s standards. How about based on gracious ethics? Obey because floods will come, better to be part of a loving, caring community.

To say they are loving commands does not mean they are easy. Like the hard work of digging deep in the dirt, they are challenging but worth it.

Out of love, Jesus calls us to obey the commands of Luke 6.

From the security of God’s love, we are called to love those hard to love, even enemies –who might that be for you?

God has given us so much; we are called to share from what we have received, to give, to lend without expecting a return.

As forgiven people, we are called to forgive. Who might God be calling you to forgive?

God receives us with a warm embrace, does not look down on us judgmentally. Jesus calls us to do the same in this sermon. What are judgmental thoughts he might call you to let go of?

Jesus’ words come out of love and longing for the flourishing of all.

Same Text, Different Lens: From Burdensome to Energizing

Tell the truth; don't steal; get rid of bitterness, rage, slander; be kind, etc. For much of my Christian life, I would have read Ephesians 4:25-5:2 as a list of infractions to avoid and positive things to do. In bounded churches we seize upon commands like these to draw lines to differentiate “good” Christian individuals from those who fall short. And the keyword is individuals. I most naturally read this text as a set of standards for individuals—a guide to individual morality. But what happens if I take off my individualistic bounded lenses and put on centered lenses? Recently, during a Bible study, someone in the group pointed out that the purpose of the commands is to ensure the thriving of the church community, not a means for individuals to achieve success on a moral checklist. I invite you to read over the passage and note how every command is explicitly or implicitly linked to the community's health or the thriving of others in the body of Christ. For example: "speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body;" "[they] must work . . . [so] that they may have something to share with those in need;” “be kind and compassionate to one another.” And even when the purpose is not stated, the single-word commands carry the same communal orientation. You cannot slander or brawl alone; others are involved and get hurt.

 So first, stepping away from a bounded reading and looking through a centered lens brings to light the communal nature of the text. It also deepens the interpretation of some of the commands. For instance, through a centered lens, the exhortation to speak truthfully calls for more than just avoiding lies. It includes lovingly confronting rather than keeping concerns about another Christian's actions to ourselves. Mostly, however, reading through a centered lens changes the character of the passage and points to the radically different character of a centered church. Rather than the verses weighing me down with additional boundary line demands, when read through a centered lens, they energize me! I hear the text saying, “Live like this for your thriving and the thriving of others.” The passage leaves me with a sense of the promise and possibility of a centered church community. It is a community that mirrors the very character of God. As the text says, as those loved and forgiven by God, let us share that love and forgiveness with others. How wonderful it is to be part of a group that treats each other in the ways described here.

Kicked Out of the Band: Good News or Bad?

Imagine you were in a rock band struggling to break through. The group finally signs a contract, but then you get kicked out of the band just days before the first recording session. Ouch! How would you feel at that moment? Now ask, how would it feel decades later if the band had then fallen apart and not made it? But how about if the band had become incredibly popular after you got kicked out? How would that feel? Let’s look at two people who had the latter experience.

 In 1983 a heavy-metal band, about to start recording their first album, gave guitarist Dave Mustaine a bus ticket home and told him he was no longer in the band. He sat on the bus stunned and perplexed. What had he done wrong? Soon, however, he became consumed with the idea of starting a new band and achieving success and stardom that would leave his old band envious and filled with regret for dumping him. His revenge-fueled anger drove a work ethic that did lead to success. Many consider him one of the best and most influential heavy-metal musicians. The band he formed, Megadeth, sold more than 25 million albums. It appears his plan worked. One significant problem. The band he got kicked out of was Metallica. It has sold more than 180 million albums. Mustaine has admitted he still considers himself a failure—the guy who got kicked out of Metallica and has not matched their success.

 In 1962 a four-person band in Liverpool, England was causing a stir. After two years of effort, John, Paul, George, and Pete had a contract. Just before starting to record, the others kicked Pete Best out of the band and invited Ringo Star to be their drummer. The Beatles quickly shot to global stardom; Pete Best failed in other musical projects, became depressed, and attempted suicide. Things did improve for Best; he got a civil service job, married, had children, and remained active in music. He never, however, had the sort of success that Mustaine did. Yet, his reflections on the past and what he missed because of his dismissal from the Beatles are much different than Mustaine’s. In 1994 Best said he is happier than he would have been if he had stayed with the Beatles. He stated that what he gained through his marriage, family, and a simple life are of much more value than all the attention, adulation, wealth (and all that came with it) that he would have had as a Beatle.

 The surprise twists in both stories call for reflection. Society considers Mustaine a great success. Surprise. He does not. Society considers Best unfortunate, surprise. He does not.

 Mustaine’s revenge-driven striving to prove himself better than others and thus adopting an extremely high standard of success seeped into all he did. It was toxic. His experience calls out a warning to us: are we seeking status and security through besting others? Do unrealistically high standards crush us?

 Best's experience, however, calls us to an even deeper reflection—not just about whether the standards are too high, but what values inform the standards? The default assumption for many in society is that Ringo was the fortunate one who got the lucky break. Pete Best thinks he was. In conversations in my jail Bible study, I regularly make the observation that it is not just many men in jail who have embraced a set of values and measures of status that hurt themselves and others. I say, "in office buildings just a couple of blocks from the jail many people have embraced a set of values and grasp for status in a way that hurts themselves and others." Society punishes one way of status seeking and affirms another,  but neither is the way of Jesus.

 What are ways that societal values and societal definitions of success may be infiltrating your being? Your faith-communities character? Are you grasping for status or goals that, in the end, will hurt you and others? Out of love God challenges us to repent and turn to the way of Jesus.

 What reorientation do these stories call you to?

(Thanks to Wade French for sharing the Pete Best story with me and point me to the book he read the two stories in, Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F___, pages 76-81.)

Enough for All

Guest blog post by Diane Clarke

 "22 We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. 23 And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free."

(Romans 8:22-23, Common English Bible)

 For the last two years I've been part of a group of fellow Christians working together on our relationship with money, and specifically our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors around our wealth. This group, which we named, "Enough for All," grew out of an experience I had ten years ago, when I heard theologian, activist, and author Ched Myers speak on "Sabbath Economics," a biblically-rooted vision of stewarding our resources so people and creation can thrive. Challenged, I tried to look more critically and biblically at self-serving ways I thought about and used my wealth. But I was doing this largely alone, and even after eight years, practical behavioral change was slow, small, and spotty. I really needed companions to witness and support the radical changes I was trying to make. As previous contributors of this blog have affirmed, profoundly countercultural work such as this is "against the current." We need to hold hands and do it together. I shared about Sabbath Economics with others in my faith community, and six of us decided to meet quarterly to work together on these issues. When we meet, we each share about our particular work, our stuck places, our longings, and our laments and concerns. I think this helps us renew our courage and commitment to this radical, transformative work.  

 In wealthy western countries like ours, we've deeply absorbed malformed, individualistic beliefs and behaviors around money that, collectively, have led to gigantic wealth gaps and scandalous, abject need in vast swaths of our country and world. In fact, we're so deeply immersed and implicated in this way of thinking that we think of our wealth as our own, as something we've earned. This is in stark contrast to the consistent biblical witness that everything we have is unearned, a part of God's generous provision for everyone, owned by none of us.

 I've been deeply shaped by this milieu. For me, a fundamentally important element of our meetings has been the permeating atmosphere of communal confession. It's a safe place to talk honestly about my struggles with idolatry around wealth (i.e., habitually turning to wealth to boost my sense of security and well-being -- a tragic quest, since this is something that wealth can never do). While each of us in the group has their own specific challenges under the status quo, I think we all share a common hunger to "figure out what God's will is -- what is good and pleasing and mature" (Romans 12:2). I've found that our work together helps unmask the empty promises of wealth our culture purveys, diminishing their deceptive power. I believe this communal, truthful setting is progressively liberating each of us to better hear and follow the gospel in our relationship to our wealth.

 It's a long haul. Ched compares the challenges of this work to 12-Step recovery work -- needed because we are in the grip of an addiction to "affluenza." I like the AA analogy, because AA identifies alcohol as "cunning, baffling, and powerful." The cunning part of affluenza for me is its ability to "fly under the radar" in my life. On the path of recovery, our group finds it necessary to saturate ourselves in scriptural views about jubilee justice and redistribution. This immersion in God's vision prophetically confronts our blind spots around our wealth so we can respond and change our attitudes and behaviors. Ched quotes Jesuit theologian John Haughey, who sums up our basic challenge, lamenting, "we read the Gospel as if we had no money, and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the Gospel." Our group came together for encouragement and support in this dilemma, so we could start working in practical, impactful ways toward God's vision of enough for all.

 Key Elements of Sabbath Economics

Ched's basic framework is laid out in his book, The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics. Specifically, he summarizes Sabbath Economics in three axioms:

 1) the world as created by God is abundant, with enough for everyone -- provided that human communities restrain their appetites and live within limits;

2) disparities in wealth and power are not 'natural' but the result of human sin, and must be mitigated within the community of faith through the regular practice of redistribution; and

3) the prophetic message calls people to the practice of such redistribution, and is thus characterized as 'good news' to the poor.

 Our Work Toward Recovery: Practicing the Household Sabbath Economics Covenant

In the spirit of addressing our "actual (as opposed to our professed or idealized) economic and spiritual values," Ched developed a practical guide, "Experimenting with a Household Sabbath Economics Covenant". Our group decided to use this guide to help us work "where the rubber meets the road." We're actually one of many groups throughout the country that have formed to "work" this Covenant, which focuses on our own specific household behaviors around surplus capital, negative capital (debt), giving, environmental and green living, consumption, solidarity, and work/sabbath. Different members of our group have worked on each aspect of the covenant at different times, as the Spirt has led.

Examples of Our Work So Far

I want to share a few examples of work our members have done, and some comments they've shared about the work so far. A number of us have felt strongly led to work on surplus capital. One couple has moved a percentage of their surplus capital into "community investment notes," managed by Calvert Impact Capital. Calvert puts this money to work with partners around the world who focus on affordable housing, microfinancing, environmental sustainability, community development, sustainable agriculture, and gender equity, among other needs. This couple said, "It is so good finally to be taking responsibility around our privilege, and to know that some of our surplus is being used to meet the needs of others, instead of just accruing interest in a CD. We plan to increase our community investments as we work toward simpler living."

 Another member finds himself focusing deeply on attitudes, saying, "I long for a life characterized by gratitude, generosity, and simplicity . . . . Simplicity can be complex, in Richard Foster's phrase, and I think gratitude and generosity toward God and others have to be my first priorities." He added, " It’s been good to be with others who are similarly committed and to hear their ideas and struggles, journeying together on this path. We are very different in our approaches and understandings, for which I am grateful, since the perspectives of others challenge me."

 What Time is It?

Because I've been meditating on Paul's letter to the Romans during most of the time our group has been together, I've often thought about what we're doing in light of Paul. Specifically, Paul rightly challenges us to be aware of "what time it is" -- i.e., to realize that we are gospel people living between the cross and the eschaton, the "now and not yet" of the Kingdom of God. What is our role as disciples in this "in-between" time? In Paul's framing (quoted above), in the current age we are to be willing to suffer "labor pains." But this is actually wonderful news, because these sufferings are literally the birth pangs of the Kingdom. As the Spirit of the resurrected Christ helps each of us do this transformative work around economic justice, we are participating in the blessed work of bringing in the "not yet" of God's heavenly kingdom. All of us in our group groan in some way under the status quo of gross injustices and the vast suffering of those who don't have enough. As each of us in the group faces their own complicity and specific challenges in the work, we're aware that this is a critical, costly part of our lifelong path of maturing together in Christ, of helping to bring in what we groan for -- the heavenly jubilee.

 Ched Myers and Elain Enns live and teach "radical discipleship" in their nonprofit ministry, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. Besides Sabbath Economics, they have done extensive work around environmental and indigenous justice and solidarity, all rooted in the gospel vision of shalom. To learn more about their work, visit https://www.bcm-net.org. Additional helpful resources can be found at the Faith and Money Network, https://faithandmoneynetwork.org.

 If you're interested in discussing Sabbath Economics work further, or want to explore organizing a support and accountability group of your own, feel free to contact me at dmclarke@omsoft.com, or Ched and Elaine at inquiries@bcm-net.org.

The Need to Hear the Good News Again, and Again

People often think of biblical commands and ethical direction in the Bible as a test and imagine God gave them as an evaluative tool. I begin my ethics course by stating that that ethical direction and commands in the Bible are a gift from God. In responses that students write to the class, they frequently share how radically the idea of ethics as gift contrasts with the view they had. Often they reflect on how this new perspective changes their view of God (or at least it points to the possibility of seeing God differently than an accusing figure ready to scold them). It is both a very fulfilling moment as a teacher, to observe the positive impact of the class material, and very sad to see how many need liberation from this mistaken image of God and Christian ethics.

A God of conditional love and bounded group religiosity are intertwined and mutually supportive. So, a couple weeks later in the course when I teach about bounded, fuzzy, and centered churches I once again have a fulfilling and sad moment. Many students respond to the class by sharing how they have struggled under the weight of trying to stay on the right side of the lines of a bounded church and the God associated with those lines. Some write of having been shamed and wounded by bounded churches. Again, as in the first week, talk of a centered approach and a God of unconditional love sparks hope for the possibility of an alternative.

This happens each time I teach the course. I expect it. Yet this semester it impacted me more than usual. I had follow-up conversations with a few students who seemed both especially eager to experience an alternative and unable to imagine how they might do so. They had been Christians for years. You might sit next to them at church, in a Bible study, or in a seminary class and not guess that under the surface, deep in their being, they do not feel unconditionally loved by God. You may be unaware that they strive to measure up to the expectations of God and their bounded churches.

I talked to one of the students by phone as I took a walk, listening, empathizing, asking questions, and then talking about Jesus. I encouraged her to read through a gospel looking at Jesus and continually reflecting on how Jesus differed from her view of God. I suggested she do this with a friend of hers who I knew had experienced significant healing in this area. After we ended the call I kept walking; I felt a deep conviction. There is such great need, we must proclaim the good news that God is love; we must invite people to relationship with Jesus and help them experience Jesus’ loving embrace.

A voice within me said, “those words sound familiar, like saying, ‘we must do evangelism.’” Yes, certainly, but what I felt in that moment was a need to re-evangelize, continue evangelizing—proclaiming to not just non-Christians but also Christians the good news that God is not the God of bounded group religion, but the God revealed by Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to do three things. First, take a moment and rest in the reality of God’s love for you. What parts of your being need to experience Jesus’ loving embrace today?

Second, in settings where you teach, preach, counsel, lead Bible studies look for opportunities to more frequently proclaim this good news. Odds are in those settings, as in my class, there are people desperate to hear it. (And with our natural religious tendencies, the truth is all of us need frequent reminders.)

Third, pray and listen. Are there people in your life who in the depth of their being do not believe God loves them unconditionally? How might you help them know and experience that God loves them?

The Radicalness of a List of Names

Rahab. Tamar. Ruth. Bathsheba. Mary. Their names shout out from the long list of male names in an otherwise standard-form-ancient-patriarchal genealogy in the first chapter of Matthew. Ancestry in that context was traced through the fathers. Matthew did not have to include women, would not be expected to. This is an intentional act. Just the inclusion of some women in the list makes a radical statement that prefigures the inclusive practice of the one at the end of the genealogy—Jesus. But Matthew did not include all the mothers, only these five. The intentionality goes beyond the inclusion of women, there is intentionality in which women are included. Why these women? There is something out-of-line or impure about all of them. In bounded-set terms we could say they are all on the wrong side of Israel’s purity code—either because of being a non-Jew or questionable sexual behavior, or both. (Although in the case of Bathsheba it is not so much her, she was a victim, rather her inclusion in the list as Uriah’s wife highlights the other-side-of-the-lineness of one of the most revered names in the list—David.)

None of the above was new to me. I have observed and talked about these things before. But as I read the list this week the radicalness of it, the power of it, moved me as it had not before. Perhaps because bounded and centered are so much on my mind these days (as I work on my book). Perhaps because there is so much judgmentalism, racism, and disdainful dismissal of others these days—by both the right and the left. Probably a combination. The very first words in the story of Jesus that God inspired Matthew to write are an intentional frontal assault on bounded group purity culture. And note, it is not just that marginalized people are quietly allowed in—given some seats off to the side. Their presence in the lineage of Jesus, God incarnate, is heralded. And remember, who is the one writing this—Matthew, one who has experienced the shameful exclusion of being on the wrong side of the line. He personally experienced radical inclusion through Jesus’ line-erasing actions.

Are there ways that you have recently felt “othered,” looked down upon? Take a moment imagine what Matthew might say to you? What would Jesus say to you?

What are ways you get pulled into the judgmentalism of the day? How might you reorient toward the way of Jesus?

Who are people in your circles who are feeling the weight of being on the wrong side of someone’s lines? How might you take Jesus-like actions toward them?

Let us as followers of Jesus be as radical as this text and confront the judgmental purity codes of our day.

Thriving Rather than Growth: Digging Deep, Changing Defaults

What comes to mind if someone says, “it is a very successful business” or, “one of the nation’s most successful businesspeople”?

The bus climbed up the rutted dirt road starting the journey from Minas de Oro to Tegucigalpa. I sat staring out the window imagining possibilities for Julian and his family. I had spent the weekend with Bob and Gracie Ekblad. Their work excited me. In contrast to my teaching at a bilingual high school I sensed their efforts could make a significant difference for the poor. The Ekblads modeled regenerative farming methods on their hillside plot and taught the methods to others. We spent Saturday with Julian. He, his wife and young children lived in single room shack. Julian rented both his home and a plot of land where he grew corn and beans. Bob, always the visionary, had persuaded Julian that the hardpacked patch of dirt in front of his shack held great possibilities as a vegetable garden. We took the first step that day, cutting up banana leaves, weeds, and grass to start a large compost pile. Sitting on the bus I imagined the compost transforming the dirt into rich soil. I imagined the family eating vegetables from the garden, the bananas trees producing more in the enriched soil. They would not just eat better, they would spend less on food, and could sell the surplus. I imagined him putting the methods into practice on his rented plot and production increasing. Then I imagined them, through increased income, buying their own land—a small plot first, then a bigger one. A realization crashed into my imagining. In spite of my intense commitment to live simply and give to the poor; and in spite of my strong critique of wealthy Hondurans, and foreigners, who had unrelentingly pursued wealth, bought up acres upon acres of prime valley land leaving the vast majority of Honduran farmers with tiny hillside plots—in spite of that what was I doing? I was turning Julian into a capitalist success story.

Perhaps, right now, you are doing just what I did then, thinking “wait a minute Mark, don’t be so hard on yourself. Julian was desperately poor, it is fine to imagine him having land of his own. And sure your images were all about increased production and income, but what you really wanted for Julian was a better life.” True, yet I could not escape the fact that my default success story was one of economic growth. On the surface many of my perspectives and lifestyle choices had changed, but down deep I still had the same framework of most in my society.

To be clear, I do not think the things I imagined for Julian were wrong. He was desperately poor. Having land of his own would be a great thing. What sobered me in that moment, and saddens me today, is how quickly my mind went to money and economic growth. Take a moment. Think, what else could I have imagined?

I could have been looking out the window excitedly thinking about the richness that would come to Julian’s life through meeting regularly with the group the Ekblads had brought together for training and Bible study. I could have rejoiced in less erosion and less burning that would happen through Julian using these methods. I could have imagined changes that would occur in his life and in his family through interacting with the Ekblads and coming to know the God revealed by Jesus. I did not. I thought of economic growth. What stopped me that day was a voice within me asking, “and does he just keep going, growing bigger? Is that the point? When does he stop? What is enough? Is there another model?”

If economist Kate Raworth had been sitting beside me on the bus that day she would have said, “Time to reimagine progress Mark.” In her book, Doughnut Economics, she critiques 20th century economics for flawed theories that have led most of the world to pursue economic growth not only as desirable, but as necessity. Think for instance of hearing on the news, “the economy is not growing.” We expect the next statements will say why, and what can be done so it will start growing again. There is little questioning of that. Raworth challenges us to change our focus from working to make economies grow, whether or not they make us thrive, to instead creating economies that make us thrive whether or not they grow (209). She asks why have we settled on growth and efficiency as the default goals and not others? “What if we started economics not with its long-established theories but with humanity’s long term goals, and then sought out the economic thinking that would enable us to achieve them” (8). (Her “doughnut” is pictured above.)

She is thinking at a macro level, societal, not just an individual’s goals, but using a micro example might help grasp her point. Let’s return to where we started, how we define a successful business? The Fortune 500 are ranked by total revenues, that reflects how most would evaluate a successful business. What if the Fortune 500 were not ranked just on how much money they made, but on employee satisfaction, on their contribution to lessening inequality and increasing the health of their workers and customers, on their levels of pollution and resource depletion, etc.

The unrelenting commitment to economic growth and the unquestioning use of profit as the definition of a successful business has a host of negative consequences—on society, on employees, on the environment, on individual consumers. God recognized this. In the Old Testament, through the Law and prophets, God sought to instill other values in addition to what we might call financial success. The Sabbatical and Jubilee years prioritized the value of redistribution and leveling the economic playing field on a regular basis. Through years of gathering daily manna God trained Israel to not practice hoarding. They could not use any more than enough.

To be clear, neither Raworth nor the Bible is against a business or a farmer making a profit. They need to make money to stay in business. Rather, similarly to how I argue that efficiency is just one characteristic to consider when we evaluate what is the best, so Raworth wants to broaden what characteristics we use to evaluate if a business or a nation’s economy is successful. Sometimes a nation does need economic growth. The problem is making it the one value and assuming it is always good and necessary. It is unsustainable for all economies to continue growing forever.

Many of us might want to agree with Raworth, but think it will not work. It goes against the “laws” of economics. In 20th century economic theory growth is not a problem it is the solution. Raworth points to fundamental flaws in those laws. (See her book for her thoughtful and clearly articulated arguments on limitations of widely accepted economic laws.) Yet, even if we find her arguments compelling, change will be difficult because most of us have so absorbed the values of an economic-growth-as-measure-of-success perspective. (Think of me on the bus.). It may be a default, but we are not hardwired this way as humans. In Europe when techniques were first adopted that enabled people to accomplish more in less time, what did people do? They worked less hours. Their priority was not economic growth. They did not assume that more income would make life better. Many traditional societies have lived by the principle of sufficiency. In the 19th century in Manitoba European traders offered the Cree higher prices for furs. They assumed it would motivate the native people to bring in more pelts. The opposite happened, “The Cree brought fewer furs to the trading post, since a smaller number were now needed to obtain the goods that they wanted in exchange” (240). We are trained and shaped into embracing economic growth as the definition of progress—for societies and individuals. That means we could be trained and shaped to embrace other values and goals.

Part of achieving continual economic growth is influencing people to consume more and more. In my class session dedicated to consumerism I have sought to expose the lies of consumerism and point to ways through Jesus and Christian community we can be free from it. That is important. I will continue to do it. Reading, Raworth, however, led me to see that although that is getting below the surface it is not deep enough. I have not worked at the deeper societal level. Economic growth demands increased consumption. We must address the societal commitment to the former, not just individual resistance to the latter.

Invitation: Watch Raworth’s TED talk; watch a news clip about a city putting her approach into practice. Read her book. (It is accessible, engaging; not an economics text book.) Then share with me and others ideas you have on how we can work at this paradigm change. I will start by sharing this action-step idea for the Church.

Action step: I put Julian into the mold of the definition of success given to me by society. Many Christian business owners today do the same. They work to be successful based on the definitions of success given to them. Imagine what would happen if churches began to promote a different definition of success and actively honored Christian business owners for their success based on that alternative model. It would impact not just the lives of the owners, but all those working for them, and it could contribute to our society changing its model of economic success. A deep change we need.

Postscript:

A day after finishing this blog I heard Mary Hirschfeld interviewed (Mars Hill Audio Journal, 147). She is an economist and theologian and also calls for going deeper. She states that mainstream economics teaches that acquiring more increases our happiness. It teaches us that it is rational to seek to pursue more and that we should seek greater income and wealth to meet our desires. She challenges this in her book Aquinas and the Market: Toward a Humane Economy. And if, after reading this blog, you are assuming all of this is “leftist” or “socialist” I encourage you to listen to the first 15 minutes of her debate with a democratic socialist. 

Freedom from Superficiality, Distorted Definitions of Worth, and Exhausting Status Management

Guest blogger Jessica Rutkosky, graduated with an M.A. in Theology from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in May 2013. She is an adjunct professor at FPU. She has twice taught the online version of Discipleship and Ethics and regularly teaches in FPU’s Degree Completion Program. She blogs at: http://www.musingsofatheologist.com/blog

Part One: Parenting: Naming in my living room 

My 10-year-old stepdaughter started 5th grade several days ago. Towards the end of her 4th grade year, and over the summer, she’d been struggling with some of her friendships; a struggle exacerbated by COVID and confounded by social media.

In general, she’s beginning to encounter the challenges that come with all relationships—communication, reciprocity, and rejection. But more specifically, she’s becoming acquainted with how fleeting relationships can be at this age, how venomous girls can be, and how exhausting keeping up with the “young” Joneses is. 

Despite our best attempts, my stepdaughter is consumed by the latest trends, as these are an indication of popularity; a societal benchmark she’s learned all too young. 

Yet, at the core, it’s really her desire for acceptance that consumes her. She wants to be part of the group that has everything—looks, clothes, big houses, and fashionable lip gloss—because this is a confirmation of her own status and belonging.

For a long time, my husband and I have lamented this. Together, we’ve tried to figure out how to expose these superficial forces and shallow friendships that have such a hold on her, and which are preventing her from being her. 

The opportunity came last night. 

In a moment of intense vulnerability, she became an emotional hydrant, sharing everything she was feeling and thinking. She shared how she was turning into someone she didn’t like, all in an effort to gain the approval of the “popular” girls. She expressed how exhausting it was to try to “keep up with them,” and yet how jealous she still was of them. She revealed how poorly they’d treated her, yet how rejected she still felt that they didn’t want to be her friends. 

My husband and I sat with her as tears poured from her eyes, with the same intensity and rapidity as the revelations about self and relationships were hitting her. We validated how painful this all must be, how rejection hurts, and how devastating it can feel when we’re confronted with our own ugliness. 

While my husband got up to let the cat in, I asked her, “What makes you the feel the saddest?” She responded, “They don’t get to see the deep parts of me.”

I sat in awe of perhaps the most profound revelation yet. I was amazed at how quickly she identified precisely what she was feeling, and how candidly, and courageously, she shared. 

Vulnerability has a way of opening us up to truth. And my husband capitalized on this. 

For the most part, I sat on the sidelines, witnessing this beautiful naming moment. 

He affirmed that we saw, understood, and loved the deep parts of her; that we know her to be the intelligent, funny, quirky, loving girl that she is; that we know the sweetness and kindness that’s core to her identity; that we accept her. He then counseled her that true, healthy friends, will see this too; that they will understand and love her deep parts just like we do. She just needs to let them see it, because hiding them is such a loss for her and others. 

We’d all been in the emotional depths for a while, and my stepdaughter, needing to surface, brought some levity by sharing a funny story. 

Later that night, my husband and I celebrated this victory. 

Part Two: Naming in the Bible: Individual and Communal 

Though I’ve been teaching the letter to Philemon for almost 6 years, I never connected “naming” to the events that transpire in the letter. Yet, this is the very thing that’s happening. 

In Bible courses for FPU’s Degree Completion Program, I guide my students through the historical and literary contexts of the letter, in the hopes that this investigative work will lead to a richer understanding of Paul’s petition. In these conversations, we talk a lot about “story.” Specifically, how Paul uses the Jesus story to challenge the story of Roman society, as it relates to the identities of the individuals in the letter. That is true,  however, “naming” seems an even more apt description of what Paul is doing. In fact, Paul directly names Onesimus in the letter, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother” (v. 16). Paul further “names” Onesimus, calling him “my child” (v. 10), “useful” (v. 11), and “my own heart” (v. 12). All of these descriptions counteract how Roman society had “un-named” Onesimus. Paul was a “Namer,” Roman society the echthroi.

The Roman echthroi had branded Onesimus as “useless” and merely a “slave.” His identity was wrapped up in these labels. Not only did Onesimus believe this, but Philemon as well, and quite possibly, the church that met in Philemon’s home. When Paul names Onesimus, it’s for all to hear. It’s not just for Onesimus’ sake. What’s fascinating about naming is that it’s simultaneously for the individual and the community. Onesimus needed to be named in order to become a part of the Christian community that awaited upon his return. The Christian community needed to hear this in order to embrace Onesimus, and continuously remind him, and themselves, of their cross-centered identities. They were all brothers and sisters, partners, and coworkers, united in Christ, unphased by the status and rank of Roman society.

In the letter, Paul models what it means to be a “Namer,” in the hopes that the church will continue naming in his stead

Naming

One of the questions I asked in a survey I did of former students was: what topic from the course has had the greatest impact on your life, work, ministry? “Naming” was the number one response. Yet in the almost 50 blogs I have written I did not even dedicate a full blog to naming, only part of one. Why is that, what’s going on?

It did not intentionally avoid writing on naming. So I can’t say exactly why I did not. Perhaps I have not written blogs on naming because I sense that anyone who has been in my class already clearly understands it. I do not feel a need to further clarify or even review. I have, however, made a fundamental mistake. True, many of the blogs I write share new insights—things I had not already said in classes. Yet my primary motivation for doing this blog and website is the conviction that the current of society flows strongly against the way of Jesus. We need encouragement and support to stand against that current. So, the purpose of the blogs is to inform, but also to affirm and encourage actions that are not easy and natural because they go against the current. I have been remiss to not write and encourage you to more actively name others.

In this short blog I will do four things. First, for those of you who are not former students of mine and are wondering, “what is ‘naming’?” I give a brief explanation. (The rest of you can skip the next two paragraphs.) Second, I introduce a great parallel metaphor which will both increase understanding of naming and motivation to name. Third, I ask a few questions I invite you to respond to prayerfully. Finally, an invitation that will help there be more blogs about naming.

Naming Explained

Naming is a central activity in Madeline L’Engle’s  novel A Wind in the Door, which is a sequel to A Wrinkle in Time. As the characters in the book explain it, naming helps someone become more the particular person that she or he was meant to be. As the story unfolds we observe that naming requires discernment, is rooted in love, and is a process that utilizes both words and actions. Naming both calls and aids people to live more fully as the people whom God created them to be, more in the image of Jesus Christ. One key element in the book is that someone cannot name himself or herself. Naming affirms individuality but stands against autonomous individualism.

Perhaps the most obvious type of naming is when someone says something affirmative about us that gets to the core of who we are and calls us to live that out. Coupled with this is the act of helping people peel off debilitating false labels that others have stuck on them. Naming also includes helping people identify and change behaviors that hinder them from thriving and living out their calling. Furthermore, naming helps people develop positive behaviors and character traits. 

Parallel Metaphor

Just a few days ago I read a short blog by former student and former T. A., Dallas Nord. He develops an excellent metaphor that moved me. It moved me to want what he describes for myself and want to do it for others. It can, I believe, lead to a deeper practice of naming. I will not even try to summarize because: first, Dallas is a much better writer than I am—read his beautiful words. Two, it is short—no need give a shorter version.

Take a Moment to Reflect, Listen, Pray

- How have you been named recently? Thank God, and perhaps the person or community that named you, for that naming.

- Who are people you have named or are naming? What are additional ways God might be calling you to name them?

- Who are people you know in need of naming? Who are ones God is calling you to name?

- How might you do so?

Growing in Naming, Learning from Others

Please send me an example of how you have used naming. It could be a short account of a specific example, a description of a general practice you do frequently, a story of the fruit of your efforts at naming, or insights on how you have learned to be better at naming. What is something you know about naming now, that you did not know when you left seminary? Please send these to me and I will shape the contributions into a blog (or multiple blogs).

Race: What has Been Constructed can be Deconstructed

It has been a season of revealing: the murderous knee on George Floyd’s neck, the disproportionate number of people of color dying from COVID-19, and the flagrant racism depicted in Bryan Stevenson’s movie, Just Mercy. All three reveal that systemic racism did not die in the United States with the removal of Jim Crow laws in the 1950’s and 60’s. This revealing calls for response. Even so, I did not anticipate my next blog would address racism and whiteness—not because I did not think it is vitally important, but because I did not think I am the one to speak. It is a moment for this writer to take his hands off the keyboard and read others, a moment for this teacher to step away from the lectern and learn from my former students, including Marcel Woodruff (and here), Ivan Paz (and here), Noemi Vega (and here), Nathan Hunt (and here), and Dallas Nord. I have listened and read. And what has happened for decades now when I read something that grabs me? I want to share it with others. So, although in regards to racism I still think my posture should remain, predominantly, that of learner and listener, I am going to follow the internal voice that today said, “Mark, you are a teacher. Be who you are.” I read an article and am listening to a podcast series that propel the teacher in me to want to share a few insights and say “read this” and “listen to this!”

In a previous blog about whiteness I quoted Ben Franklin writing glowingly about white people and making disparaging comments about non-whites. The shocking thing was that I was in the latter category! Franklin wanted to stop the swarthy Germans from flowing into Pennsylvania and contaminating the purity of the English-Saxon culture of white people. My father’s ancestors came from Germany and settled in Franklin’s beloved Pennsylvania. Franklin’s comment made very concrete something I was learning from Willie Jennings (book, article, lecture) and some of my students mentioned above. Race is not a biological given, it is a construction. And, as Franklin’s comments display, it was as much about perspectives on superiority and inferiority as actual skin color. Of course, there have been people with different shades of skin for millennia, that is biological, but there were no racial categories of white people and black people until after Europeans started taking Africans as slaves. 

What has been constructed can be deconstructed. Understanding more of how racism was constructed will aid us in deconstructing it and constructing alternatives.

Season two of the Podcast Scene on Radio is titled “Seeing White.” The second episode “How Race was Made,” repeated and reinforced things I had already learned, yet the conciseness of some statements grabbed my attention. I share two with you.

- Exploitation came first. People were not seen as inferior and therefore enslaved. The concept of blackness as an inferior race to whiteness was developed to provide a rationale for enslaving Africans. The “enlightened” Christian Europeans needed, and came up with, a justification for the oppressive practices of their day.

- Race is constructed, but real. To say it is not a given of nature but a human invention does not mean the construction does not exist today. It does, however, mean there is opportunity for deconstruction.

One thesis of the podcast series is that working at “race relations” is not enough. Changing attitudes is not enough. Those relations and those attitudes are lived out in a system that is fundamentally racist. This coheres with what I learned from Willie Jennings: whiteness is not just certain privileges and biases, but a way of understanding land/place, property, rights, relationships, and the economy. The series seeks to display systemic aspects by exposing how exploitative racialization was intentionally woven into the fabric of this nation.

One way the podcast does this, in the third and fourth episodes, is by peeling back layers and exploring early colonial rulings and legislation about race. The chattel system of enslavement of blacks was not a given in the early days of the colonies. It developed as something distinct from indentured servitude through rulings and legislation. The definition of whiteness and the rights of whites were constructed over time. The podcast argues that power and economics were at the root of all these decisions. For instance, the first legislative body in the colonies, the Virginia House of Burgesses, crafted legislation to define who was white—and therefore those with rights. They were going to use a purity definition of whites being those without one drop of African or Native American blood. But some of the most powerful and richest men in the colony were descendants of the mixed marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas. So the legislation allowed that one could still be considered white with a degree of Native American blood, but no black blood. White was not a definition of biological realities; it was a category of those who had power.

There is so much more. I encourage you, listen to this podcast series!

Despair

And I want to say, “read this!” In a New Yorker book review Atul Gawande engages the question why the death rates of working-age white men and women without college degrees have increased dramatically in recent years. We have heard the immediate causes of the increase: suicide, drug overdoses, alcohol related liver diseases, but what is behind them? Despair. So argue the authors of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. They found that locales with higher rates of people without jobs also had higher death rates. And those who are working have seen their wages stagnate or go down while they see the college educated growing wealthier. The article states, “Religious institutions previously played a vital role in connecting people to a community. But the number of Americans who attend religious services has declined markedly over the past half-century. . . (The rate is lower among non-college graduates.)” No job, less meaning and purpose, less connection—despair.

There is much more in the article that calls for reflection. I read it and wondered, “how is the church responding?” Perhaps I will return to this article in a future blog. I am wary, however, of giving it more attention in this blog because I do not want to pull the focus away from where we started—the knee on George Floyd’s neck. I do not bring this article in as an attempt to counter “Black Lives Matter” by saying “some white people have it pretty bad too.” Rather, I include it to say, “those dying of despair are hurt by whiteness as well.” And, especially, to reinforce the point that whiteness was constructed by the powerful and is used by the powerful. I will do that by pointing to similarities between what the article describe and something the podcast described.

Many whites in the south, in colonial days and after, were poor. They were not enslaved but in other ways they too were exploited by the powerful elite. This wealthy minority, that controlled the economic structures, hindered the flourishing of the poor whites. But the elite used racial categories to create a white-black division rather than an oppressor-oppressed division. Even though in reality poor whites had more in common with slaves than the slaveowners, the powerful turned them against blacks and created unity through having a common other. The racial prejudices that poor whites developed against blacks did nothing to help the concrete situation of the poor whites. How about today? What have some of the rich and powerful said to the working-class whites dying of despair today? Have those with power worked to address the root causes of despair? No, they have shifted the poor white’s angry gaze from the white elite who continue to prosper, in part by moving industries and jobs to other countries, and have told those in despair that the cause of their problems is brown-skinned people from south of the border. 

In each case racial difference was used to scapegoat one group of people and create a superficial unity, a racial unity, that ignored deep differences and injustices. Every layer of these actions is opposite to the way of Jesus seen in the gospels and counter to the movement of the Spirit observed Acts. Let us be aware of how race may be used today as a tool to enable some to continue to oppress others and to create false divisions between people.

Final Thoughts

I want to underline, I write this blog mostly to say, listen to this podcast, read this article, and join me in learning from Willie Jennings and my former students listed above. With a spirit of humility of one still learning and one enmeshed in systems of whiteness, I end with a few implications of the above observations for us as followers of Jesus.

- The God revealed by Jesus Christ stands against categorizing groups of people as inferior or superior to others, and through the liberating power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we have the possibility of living in ways of unity and respect radically different than our racially sick society.

- Systemic problems are revealed through George Floyd’s death, through COVID-19, and descriptions of the criminal justice system like Just Mercy. Part of the problem is individuals who are profoundly racist, but it is much more than that. (And even those individuals are products of systems.) Deep repairs are needed.

- At the core of racial categorization are some things that I address directly through the Discipleship and Ethics course and website—Mammon, Greed, Consumerism. But there are other things at the core that are so much part of the air I breathe that it is hard for me to imagine alternatives. I want to. As followers of Jesus we are called to and enabled to. Join me.