"For us the body is much more than an instrument or a means; it is our expression in the world, the visible form of our intentions." Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Primacy of Perception (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1964), p. 5.
"The body is our general medium for having a world." Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans. C. Smith (London: Routledge, 1962), p. 146.
The colonial period of U.S. history contains a variety of interesting lessons. One of these pertains to the concept of a "virtuoso." The virtuoso was primarily characterized by curiosity. Rather than being overly specialized, the virtuoso explored a wide range of interests. The study of nature, art, literature, and theology all would have been pursuits common to this stereotype. This blog aspires to take this early category and use it as a point of departure for exploration and reflection.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Pious Wolves
Mark 12:38-44
As he taught, he said, “Beware of
the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with
respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in
the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour
widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will
receive the greater condemnation.”
41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd
putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A
poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then
he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow
has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For
all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty
has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Sermon:
Through the course of Lent, we have
been coloring in the posters that you see around you. Today’s poster deals with
the topic of love and towards the bottom of it you can see the scripture that
was just read for us. Much of it is probably familiar, but sometimes it’s
helpful to hear familiar passages in their original contexts. Often times, the
setting of a passage can shed light upon its intent and meaning. This morning I
want to bring our attention to the last two section (slides) of today’s
scripture – the contrast of the pious religious figures who Jesus damns and the
widow who gave everything she had.
I suppose that I decided to preach on
these last two sections of today’s scripture because a classmate of mine (Andy
Gill) from seminary published an article on the Christian website Patheos entitled, “MegalomaniacticPastors: What if Your Pastor’s a Functional Psychopath?” The image at the top
of the article depicted a scene from the famous show House of Cards where Frank Underwood, President of the United
States and noted sociopath, skillfully manipulated a church’s congregation to
deflect blame away from his role in the death of someone’s child. Now, I
haven’t spent much time talking to the author of this article, even though we
went to seminary together, we never really crossed paths. As a result, Mike
might know him better than me. However, I do like to read what he publishes
online. His writing is insightful and usually quite pointed. I don’t always
agree with him, often times I feel like his perspective is shaped by a bit of a
chip on his shoulder that he must have acquired in his past experiences with
evangelical megachurch cultures, but I do find his writing to be useful reading
and this week it connected with the scriptures I was looking to preach on.
The whole point of my acquaintances
article wasn’t really new. Forbes and
many other journals have reported on the prevalence of sociopaths in religion
for many years now. They even have a ranking system for the occupations that
attract the most and least sociopaths, based upon psychological studies. [1]
Most:
1. CEO
2. Lawyer
3. Media
4. Sales
5. Surgeon
6. Journalist
7. Police
Officers
8. Clergy
9. Chef
10. Civil
Servants
Least:
1. Care
Aide
2. Nurse
3. Therapist
4. Craftsperson
5. Beautician/Stylist
6. Charity
Worker
7. Teacher
8. Creative
Artist
9. Doctor
10. Accountant
So,
my acquaintances argument wasn’t really a new concern, but it’s one we often
face when we turn on Christian television and see preachers asking for ‘seed
money’ that will make you rich or even the differences between one of the 20th
centuries greatest preachers, who was undoubtedly a sincere and authentic man
of genuine intentions, and a son who makes close to a million dollars a year
running ministries based out of North Carolina without many of the ethical boundaries
his father was sure to employ.
I think that there are genuine questions
we should have around many of the ‘Christian’ leaders and practices that we
have seen in this country. Jesus himself throws shade at these things! So, when
we see prosperity gospel preachers entice poor people out of the little they
already have, we should be appalled. Jesus told us that these people who use
appearances and earthly conceptions of holiness to manipulate others will in
the end face condemnation. They are wolves’ intent on devouring their flocks.
Likewise, when we see preachers preying on people’s fears or emotions, we
should wonder what they’re gaining from that. Are they, in a sense, holding the
people they’re baptizing under water for far longer than is necessary just
because it gives them that extra little bit of pleasure?
As someone who grew up around
Pentecostal and Southern Baptist churches, I’ve seen a lot of emotional
manipulation within the church. In some contexts, a pastor’s success can be
tied to how well he pulls at the emotions of the congregation, as though the
crowd was nothing more than a marionette in need of deft fingers capable of
synchronizing its movements with the choreography of a dance. The words,
movements, and lighting can be adjusted to create an experience – perhaps even
a high – before the people even arrive.
But this brings us to an important
question. What’s the difference between sociopathic manipulation and art? My
acquaintance ended his article with a quote from Donald Miller which said, “I think a lot of […] shame-based religious and political [methodologies
have] more to do with keeping people contained than with setting them free. And
I’m no fan of it.” Art, like religion, also elicits emotional responses
intentionally. It creates things in the tangible world to affect the worlds
inside of you, your neighbor, and me. When we go to a novel, a play, or a
movie, we are, in a sense, looking to be moved by the force of something –
we’re seeking a moment of change or reinforcement. But the question for art,
like religion, is intent. When an artist creates a work to confine, rather than
liberate, you we might call it propaganda.
Likewise, when
faith is used to confine, restrict, and exploit you we can justifiable call it
sociopathic. Religious sociopathy exists not just in the leaders who seek extraordinary
amounts of recognition, honor, and financial gain, but also in institutions
that care more about building empires than healthy lives. When a church
community loses sight of the larger picture of how faith fits into the whole
human experience, it loses a central element intrinsic to the power of the
Gospel. Faith touches all aspects of our humanity – our emotions, our
intellect, our spirits, and our social lives. When we lose sight of helping
each other grow on all of these fronts, we fail to truly exhibit the love of
God – which is what we are called to live into. Our lives should be shaped by a
love that affects every aspect of our humanity. If we can do that, then we too
can be like the widow who gave everything. Our submission to the movement of
the Spirit, which elicits love in everything it touches, is what empowers and
saves us.
[1]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/01/05/the-top-10-jobs-that-attract-psychopaths/#1424f81d4d80
Friday, March 24, 2017
Abraham Kuyper Prize for Public Theology
Thus far, I haven't weighed in on Princeton Seminary's decision to abstain from awarding the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Public Theology to Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. However, I would like to be very clear. I support the seminary's decision to rescind it's decision to award the Prize to Keller, yet retain it's invitation for him to speak. I have no issues with inviting like Keller to Princeton to speak. He is, after all, a very successful pastor.
However, I do think that it is appalling that the Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology decided to award him with a cash prize and formal honor without carefully considering the message they were sending. As Mainline Protestants, we can respect our conservative brothers and sisters as fellow Christians, but we should never give the impression that we endorse their bigotry, racism, homophobia, or other exclusionary ideologies.
I signed the petition to reverse the decision to award the Kuyper Prize to Tim Keller precisely because I do not want my alma mater to be associated with those things. We already live in a society where the Gospel is seen as an oppressive force intent on repression and exclusion, where white heteronormative narratives even define common conceptions of soteriology, we don't need to reinforce those perceptions and blur the lines between those who endorse those views and those who do not. Dechristianization will deliver it's blow to American Evangelicalism in good time, that process has already begun, and there's no need to fight evangelicals or conservatives. Such a tactic is fruitless.
However, progressive Christians should retain their distinct identity because it is that identity that can survive the progress of dechristianization. A postchristian America is not going to turn towards Tim Keller's message. It will, instead, turn towards a far more robust post-Christendom faith of inclusiveness. Refusing to endorse Keller is important precisely because it is his Christendom that must fall in order for the Gospel to be reborn.
I support my female colleagues and I support the LGBTQ community and I do not believe that Princeton should endorse those who seek to silence and oppress them.
Merleau-Ponty on What it Means to be Human
"Merleau-Ponty sees the body and perception as the seat of personhood, or subjectivity. At root, a human being, is a perceiving and experiencing organism, intimately inhabiting and immediately responding to her environment."
Havi Carel, Illness: The Cry of the Flesh, revised edition (Durham, UK: Acumen, 2013), pp. 24-25.
Havi Carel, Illness: The Cry of the Flesh, revised edition (Durham, UK: Acumen, 2013), pp. 24-25.
Fromm on Social Pathologies
“The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make
these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not
make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share
the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane.”
― Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, 1955
― Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, 1955
Monday, March 20, 2017
Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night
A Poem by Dylan Thomas:
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Poetry
"The future of poetry is immense, because in poetry, where it is worthy of its high destinies, our race, as time goes on, will find an ever surer and surer stay." Matthew Arnold, "The Study of Poetry" Essays in Criticism, 1889.
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