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December 08, 2005

Are There Places and Issues to Which Christians Should Not Speak?

This morning, I sat reading Psalms 145 and continued to read 146, 147, 148 and 149. It hit me while I was reading that this is (all of it is) God’s world. Oh, it is not that I didn’t intellectually know this. I guess this morning I saw the consequences of truly believing not only with the mind but the heart, as well as what follows if I accept this.

If everything, everyone, and even our thoughts should be subject to God, then there are no places, things, people, and activities of humanity that God doesn’t have authority to speak to. And if God has that authority and we are the body of His Son then doesn't the church, (the body and the people of God) have the right to speak to everything that either brings God’s kingdom (dominion) or hinders God’s Kingdom from coming “…on earth as it is in heaven”? I realize that many of us Christians are uncomfortable with that notion and desire to limit conversation either because the conversations challenge us or our beliefs or threaten our power or way of life.

I remember so well that while serving on the General Board of Church and Society that an issue arose about Mt. Olive Pickle Company and what responsibility they had to the persons who picked the cucumbers that they subsequently would buy. Some of the GBCS members wanted to boycott Mt. Olive and I did too until I realized that my daughter and I who were pickle lovers always bought Mt. Olive Pickles. (They really tasted the best to us). Well, all of a sudden my vote was not just a vote against Mt. Olive but a vote against my daughter and me eating Mt. Olive pickles.

Now, this may seem comical to some but it was serious with me. And then the scripture came to me, “If it offends my brother to eat meat, I will eat meat no longer.” I didn’t need to hear that. Well, our committee that was considering this discovered that the President of Mt. Olive was a faithful United Methodist and so we began a conversation with him that didn’t always go well but eventually with the help of the North Carolina Conference and others we were able to resolve it in a way that blessed the farm workers and Mt. Olive.

This came to happy resolution but sometimes when we (the Church) decide to speak truth it is hard and difficult for some of us to do so and it places us in positions that we don’t like to be in. I realize that we cannot always avoid getting people angry about what we say but when we speak we should be clear that our desire is to bring about transformation of people, systems, organizations and places in such a way that God’s Kingdom comes even when it is painful.

Are there places and issues to which Christians should not speak? No. I believe I hear Jesus say to us, “Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit TEACHING them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Posted by Bishop at December 8, 2005 11:18 AM

Comments

Thank you, Bishop, for the personal insight about the Mt. Olive Boycott. I, too, had conflicting issues about it like many other Methodists here in the South.

On the subject of speaking out to challenge systems, I left ministry thinking I was done with the church and that I had no voice left to speak with. However, after much prayer and healing, I've decided to write a case study about racial-ethnic female cross-racial/cultural appointments in the UMC. In my research I discovered that many women have left ministry and sometimes the church, and their voices have not been heard. I hope the church will begin to be proactive instead of reactive about its needs and future for all.

Peace, blessings and Happy Holidays!

Posted by: Giselle Remy Bratcher [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 13, 2005 03:38 PM