Road Trip- Day 5 (Friday)

Today was the final day of the festival.  Morning worship was led by Dr. Bell Self. It was nice to have Dr. Self lead us.  He is a Baptist pastor like myself who has served in almost 30 years in one church and over 15 at another.  He has had a life time of experience and it was great to finally hear him preach (I have heard of him through the years but never heard him preach).  He preached on Matthew 6:14-15 and focused on forgiveness.  Weaving humor and tragedy he shared the pain we all feel and yet that forgiveness is what we all need.  We are all hurt.  It isn’t “if” but “when.”  Self talked about how as pastors we have been hurt by some within the churches we serve and yet forgiveness is the only way to peace.  If we can get to the point where we can learn to forgive those who hurt us then we can finally find what we really need.

I also attended a lecture by noted preacher, scholar, and hymn writer Dr. Thomas Troeger.  Troeger spoke on “Preaching in an age of Spiritual Hunger and Religious Violence.” Right now the fastest growing group in religious life is SBNR (Spiritual but not religious) and this abbreviation is being used in writings and studies now.   People want to be spiritual but to have nothing to do with organized religious.  While this might sound exciting to some there is no structure and the ‘spirituality’ can be a mixture that I personally would call a mess!   Yet Troeger talked about the need for spirituality and religion (we need to be organized as we seek spirituality).  Yet he talked about “religious violence” that is pushing people away.  Religious violence can be verbal and not physical but it is destructive.  Religious abuse is a reality that is leading many to abandon the church.  Religious violence means that there are those in the name of religion who exclude, hate, or portray faith in negative ways that push people away.  Churches are known for division and fighting over their differences.  The word religion literally means “to bind together” and isn’t bad and a community faith does need this binding together.  We need to figure out a way to move past this division and to bring wholeness in our religious communities.  I personally have heard some preachers say they are not religious and have a relationship with God.  It becomes pious to say this but hearing Troeger defend positive religion I was thrilled.  I don’t think we need to abandon religious structure but we do need to figure out a way to move away from the negative movements today to create healthy communities of faith.

Troeger was clear that this fracture/splitting is a real problem but there is hope.  He pointed to Jeremiah’s passage about “the balm in Gilead” and reminded us how slaves in the South were able to find strong faith in the face of religious violence.  We can preach in this age if we realize this and seek a better way.  A balm is a medicinal treatment (basically saying, ‘Is there a doctor in the house?’) and yet this balm is not a simple cure that is a miracle drug but can encourage us while our body heals.  Is Jeremiah asking the question or is God?  Is Jeremiah weeping or is God weeping?  Is God weeping over our division and pain?  As a church we need to disempower religious violence and empower spiritual hunger.

I loved the lecture and it fit nicely in with what Bass said the day earlier and what McLaren said earlier in the week.  The true issue is that people are hungry for more in life and the spiritual hunger is real but the abuses/divisions/negativity is pushing people away from the church.  The ‘shrill’ voices are leading people elsewhere.  If we as a church can bring something healthier to the front and be real without falling into the traps of the past and find a new way then hope is found.  As a pastor I believe a local church that is willing to seek the unity that Brueggemann talked about the day before (unity not uniformity-a unity that is one of dialogue) that is OK with diversity and agrees to be in continual conversation while not seeking forced agreement and is willing to seek a third way (not to far to the left or right) then that congregation might find itself thriving.  I’m excited about this and find that those churches that are willing to offer hope and healing in the face of the pain of our current realities just might be surprised to see what God can do in just such a church! I want to explore some of the thoughts that went through my mind/spirit as I reflect upon the week. I also have some great books to read that I hope will enlighten this blog!

Blessings,
Derik