To my dear pastors, presbyters, lay leaders, parishioners, board members, elders, deacons, priests, and bishops,
We have passed the point of no return for the Christian faith. We can no longer identify a cohesive "Christendom" to geographically or politically define Christianity. It's global now. But with that globalization has come an influx of other religious influences. Christianity no longer belongs to Europe or America, just as Islam no longer belongs exclusively to Saudi Arabia, just as Buddhism no longer belongs to India or even Japan. The world is opening its arms to migration and new people groups just as Jesus himself opened his arms to those no one expected him to love.
This may come to you as bad news as you're hiding out in your bomb shelter of nationalized religion and waiting for this storm to pass. It's not a storm, and it won't just "pass." Religion will no longer be able to exist in a crystallized state of patriotic identity.
In this new climate of religious amalgamation we must learn as much as we can about each other, so resist the urge to resist a change to what has largely been a nationalized Christianity. Note that this does not require going to a Christian bookstore to pick up a new copy of "Why Christianity is Right and Everyone Else is the Devil" by Pat Rewind. That kind of approach was never helpful, and it's actually causing more harm than good.
The existence of other religio-philosophical systems in itself is not a threat to the nature and character of Christ, nor is it an affront to your many years' worth of tithes and Christmas plays. Other beliefs are not "the enemy" and certainly their representative believers do not deserve to be anathematized for not being just like you. You might even benefit from another perspective.
I'm not advocating a total abandonment of Christianity, nor am I pushing you to become anything other than fully in love with the person and nature of Christ. But there are two commissions operative in Christianity that need to be addressed.
The first is that Jesus never said that his closing statement before disappearing into the sky was a "Great Commission" and if you read it without that context it really just looks like a benediction such as would be said from a parent to a child. So Matthew 28:19 is not a call to categorical proselytism but an impartation of divine authority to teach the things he taught, which even in his time were philosophically subversive.
The second commission is the actual content of that teaching, which is found across the four gospels but for brevity's sake I will equate with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It has been said that the Ten Commandments and the law of the Hebrews was a religious evolution for the Ancient Near East because for the first time ever, a deity cares about the way people treat other people. And since Jesus confirms that he is not abolishing this law at the Mount of Olives, this must be maintained. But we can also add another layer because in Jesus's teaching it is clear that God also cares about how you think and feel about other people, just as much as if you were acting physically. And here is introduced a God who knows your heart, to whom your intentions and thoughts matter.
God emptied Godself (Luke 1:26-38) of power to walk around in human form (Philippians 2:5-8), to teach a better way to live, and to offer absolution for moral transgressions (Luke 23:34) rather than lex talionic retribution. This concept is what makes Jesus such a striking figure even to people who do not consider themselves "Christian."
By taking all these foreign things like Red-White-and-Blue, the King James Version of the Bible, or legal propositions, and bundling them up with Christ you are heretically obfuscating his teaching with your own hegemonic interests.
Thus, I arrive at my two requests of you:
1) Please allow Jesus to have his own voice untainted by your biases and interests, true to the context in which he spoke both historically and theologically.
2) And please spend time in meaningful interaction with people of other beliefs, faiths, and philosophical backgrounds and positions.
You'll find that Jesus is a lot more powerful once you stop interrupting him, and that other people have some very important contributions to make to our understanding as we follow Jesus's teaching. If you integrate these requests into your life you may find that God starts doing some things you never thought possible. But if you ignore me, feel free to let me know how it's working for you.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas R. Gartin
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