It’s a rainy, graciously lazy Saturday in Portland. A perfect time to dive into the Gospel of Mark and to cultivate my inner anarchist for the betterment of God’s Kingdom.
This week, I got a list of possible tasks to take on during this month of My Jesus Project, in which I’m exploring “Jesus the Radical.” My mentor this month, self-confessed Christian Anarchist Mark Van Steenwyk, has mercifully offered me opportunities to live out a more radical experience with varying degrees of challenge and discomfort.
The first, easiest opportunity is to seek out breaking bread with the “other.” His suggestion is to walk around in town where there are a higher number of people living on the streets. And if they ask for money, don’t just offer to feed them instead; offer to go to lunch with them. While there, if they accept, try to learn more about their story. If they ask, share your own, all in an effort to dissolve the other-ness between you, and to create a common bond over shared human experience.
Of course, it’s time consuming, potentially embarrassing, and can introduce you to a host of new smells. but even in the embarrassment, try to imagine the dehumanizing experiences someone living on the street goes through daily, simply to survive. All of this offers fertile soil for the fragile but essential seeds of compassion.
Next, while working intentionally at strengthening relationships with those on the social margins, my mentor also has encouraged me to explore the economics of our mainstream culture, and more specifically our relationship with money. At first his suggestion rattled me and seemed a little crazy.
But then in considering why I felt that way, I realized how important it might be.
“Gather a couple friends,” he wrote, “read the Sermon on the Mount together, paying close attention to Matthew 6:24, and then burn some money as a symbolic gesture of fidelity to the one who gives life. After a time of silent meditation, have a candid conversation about how you can organize your lives to be less constrained by the rule of Mammon in your life and, instead, live lives of generous, bold, simplicity.”
Wait…go back to the part where I burn my money.
I got really hung up on that for a minute. It seemed so wasteful, so insane, not to mention illegal. But consider the disparity between these two tasks. We sleep soundly in our beds most every night while others’ lives are utterly destroyed by the systems of consumption on which we depend, but someone mentions burning a $20 as an act religious ritual and we’re suddenly nuts.
I’m thinking I have to do this. Doesn’t have to be a lot, but it needs to represent the fact that we can’t venerate what money represents in our lives and culture, while also serving a God of liberation, infinite compassion and grace for all.
Then Mark’s suggested tasks really started making me itchy when he got to the whole table-turning thing.
He offered three options, of varying difficulty and discomfort. One is to perform some sort of liturgical service or spiritually inspired demonstration in a “subversive’ location. for example, he held a peace rally/service at the gates of a prominent defense contractor. Another time, he and his cohorts smeared fake blood on the walls of a federal justice building in protest of drone strikes (they were arrested). I want to do this, but I need it to be something that compels me, and not just trying to get put in jail or to replicate what someone else did. And I’m coming to realize why Jesus had disciples; I’m gonna need some help with all this stuff.
Next, he proposed that I interrupt a worship service, particularly one in which the pastor is preaching some sort of message that normalizes or even celebrates western socio-political values that stand in opposition to the life and teaching of Jesus. For starters, I work on Sundays, which makes it hard to find a time to do this. Second, I’m not sure how to do it in a way that actually teaches anyone anything, rather than just drawing negative attention to myself. Maybe if it was planned with a “friendly” pastor to actually be a part of the service, in which we process and discuss with some intention afterward. That could really be interesting.
Finally, he suggested I find a local mega-church (not easy in Portland) in which the bookstore sells books about Prosperity Gospel, and perform an act of temple cleansing, including turning over a few tables. Even he admitted that he probably wouldn’t have the nerve to do this himself, but thought it would be cool if I could pull it off.
Don’t hold your breath Mark.
On the the Gospel study this month, which is coincidentally also the Gospel of Mark (no connection as far as I know). So far, I’m only three chapters in, but in considering it with the lens of Christian anarchism, I’m most certainly seeing things in a fresh way. Although there are general accounts of Jesus healing lots of people, the ones specifically elaborated on in the beginning of Mark are unequivocally, intentionally political in nature.
First, Jesus performs an exorcism within the inner walls of the temple, and does so with temple Scribes witnessing. And as if that wasn’t enough of a repudiation to their authority, it says he taught with real authority, unlike their tendency simply to spout memorized scripture. And then the spirit he’s casting out names him as “The Holy One of God.” Talk about the ultimate act of defiance against temple authority.
Then he heals a leper, and instead of ordering him to tell others, he tells him to go straight to the temple, to offer the ritual cleansing and defy them to turn him away: one who previously was unworthy. Not long after, he heals a paralytic as scribes witness again. But before that, he performs what he knows they will claim is blasphemy by forgiving the man’s sins. It’s not the obvious choice, given the man’s ailments. Instead it’s a repudiation of their power as temple officials to dole out forgiveness as some favor over which they have no authority.
He’s challenged twice about violations of the Sabbath too, to which he responds that the Law they hold over people was meant to serve people, and not the other way around. But the Law he’s challenging is the source of the Temple officials’ power. He’s using miracles not simply as an act of love, or to demonstrate his divinity; he’s directly confronting the authority they have wielded over the people they were supposed to serve for too long.
So here we are, with Jesus leading me down an anarchist path, and me, wondering how in the hell to try and follow such a lead. The good news, in some ways at least, is that I’m not Jesus, and I don’t have to be. But we all know there are systems and structures of power all around us that wreak violence on us, our sisters and brothers.
So the lingering question we’re all afraid to ask is: what the hell are we going to do about it?
You might go to your “What Does it Really Mean to be A Christian”, and point out to Vic that his first two sentences appear to put him in the “One and Done Club.
(Dear Christian Piatt,
I believe what it means to follow Jesus is to believe in Him as Lord and Savior and receive His Gift of Salvation. That’s it.)
Or you could try to explain to everyone that “An Eye For An Eye” is a vicious non ending cycle of self righteousness that will not end until someone says, I Forgive You!
Or you can remind me about removing things from my eye, or casting stones…
They need not all be crowd stopping accomplishments. After all, it’s just one year, part time?
It is never, ever that simple, if you really want to reach people. I agree, hatred to me seems to be running rampant throughout the world and growing worse almost each day, but hatred as you mentioned is a very, very viscous, seemingly never ending cycle that seems to eat the spirits and souls of those it inhabits up alive however it does so after it spreads it’s diseased message to as many people it can reach. The old “misery loves company” syndrome. My point here is that merely spouting religious dogma, I say dogma here not in a derogatory way, I just lack the correct adjective at present, to those inflicted is nearly akin to fanning the preverbal flames if you will. We need to think, try and understand and find a way to reach said afflicted before it is too late. We need to really put our hearts and heads together to come up with messages that actually reach people. I am very interested in any ideas out there.
For me it is easy to understand that my heart is not a half empty glass. It is filled with love, and leaves no room for hate.
Each of us are responsible for their own self. I can offer my love to all, but I can force it on no one.
Every day you have to let your little light shine.
If it were Gods will that I save all people, I would say, “Gods will be done!”
What I do say is, “Gods will be done!”.
If you want to know what his will is, I can only recommend that you ask him.
I honestly don’t think there are very many ways to challenge the “systems and structures of power” without drawing negative attention to oneself. There are messages of intolerance and hate being served up in pulpits, not to mention the messages of a political nature, in direct support of institutions that pollute our environment, perpetuate war, and profit at the expense of low wage workers. So what if you stood up in one of those congregations and said a word of truth? I don’t think Jesus was concerned about negative attention. But I guess that’s why he got crucified.
Why would you refer to the attention that would be given to an act of dissent as, “negative attention to oneself”? Are you assuming that the action was incorrect? Or are you saying that the accepted perception of the majority determines what the truth is?
Yes and no. Jesus was “crucified” from an earthly point of view not because his rebellious acts “made him look bad” but rather because his extraordinary acts, miracles, etc. made them look like the horrible humans that they were, and when he smacked them in the face with his honest spiritually correct responses to their trap laying inquires, it burned a hole into their already lackluster hearts and minds. Keep in mind now, that Jesus was a Jew and the Temple was the spiritual center of that day in that culture, one thing that really, really bothers me about many Christians is their absolute readiness to blame/ hate (almost if not absolutely) the Jews. What Jesus said about the Pharisees and the Scribes generalizes completely to many, many Christian churches and pastors, popes, etc. etc. as well as directly to much of the church dogma one runs into day after day after day. Secondly Jesus was crucified so that we Gentiles could be grandfathered into salvation and I say secondly only because it is the second thing I mentioned not that it was a secondary thought or byproduct of the event. My next pondering question is if the Jews didn’t actively, and I mean actively seek his crucifixion would have he been crucified??? Probably not, although I cannot know this 100 percent from the scriptures it appears that Pontius Pilate was not particularly interested in the idea of his crucifixion. So, I ask you that you ask yourselves, where does this leave us?? This is a very, very important point and we all need to ponder this.
I believe your answer “probably not” to your “what if” question is incorrect. Why? Because someone had to pay the penalty for sin. God as God alone couldn’t do it, because among other things, omnipresence can’t be reduce to one spot….namely hanging on a cross. Man being man, couldn’t pay the price of sin, because an imperfect person can’t save another imperfect person. The second member of the Godhead, God the Son, in eternity past, elected to go to the cross and do something man couldn’t do for himself. Why the cross? Because it was the accepted way of Roman capital punishment, and God knew that billions of years ago. But first He had to be borne, through a virgin birth, to escape the old sin nature. Now, God the man being perfect in every respect can die for the sins of the world. And thank God, that he did! BTW, Psalm 22 is a prophesy of the cross…there are many others. I’m sure from your writing you know them. Jesus Christ himself prophesied of his death…So do I need to ponder this? I don’t really think so.
If you have children or siblings or a girlfriend or anyone close to you, as a human being can you honestly tell me that at one point or another in your relationship (s) that you were worried said person might actually embarrass you??? If you can honestly tell me no, then you a remarkable human being indeed!! Take it, the statement regarding, “negative attention to oneself” as it was meant and move on.
I have children, and siblings, and outlived two wives, and I have been in their presence when they have embarrassed themselves and others, But I have never considered it an embarrassment when they were right.
I have embarrassed myself, and have had to apologize, and ask for forgiveness when I have found myself to be wrong.
I suppose I don’t understand your use of the word “negative” if one is doing the correct thing?
There’s so much in that word “correct.” I’m one who has a hard time swallowing the idea that right and wrong are absolute. I think that’s a humanly built conceptual construct, informed by our need for simplicity and clarity in a confusing, chaotic world. Not to say some things aren’t simple, such as the Greatest Commandment. But you’ll note, Jesus doesn’t give you an outline to know when you’re doing it “right.” Rather he leaves it to us to figure that out, with guidance of course.
CDP