A series of unpopular opinions

I like to do series of #UnpopularOpinions sometimes on Twitter. They are mostly ridiculous things like how mint chip ice cream is the best, how I am against leggings as pants, and how Halloween trunk or treat parties are still Halloween parties.

While this is a silly pastime over social media, I am finding it increasingly obvious that I have some unpopular opinions about things. People may actually agree with me more on ice cream than I thought (I had six unexpected likes), but other parts of my life and my beliefs are not exactly the norm. While I’m ok with that and I like to dialogue respectfully about these issues, I find it necessary to stay true to myself and to my future career as a religious leader in some capacity to be honest about what I believe.

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To start off, I don’t believe in any white Jesus and white God stuff. When I walk into churches with pictures of Jesus as this white dude with a halo over blonde hair and some ocean blue eyes, I’m wondering if we are making Jesus into more of our pop band superstars than our savior. Geographically and historically, Jesus was born in the middle east. If you’ve ever seen any people from the middle east, you would likely notice that they don’t have white skin like I do.

I think people make God into who they want the divine to be. It would be easy as a white person with privilege who has lived in the Midwest for most of her life to say that God as human looks like me, but I cannot grasp onto that myth with any truthful beliefs because Jesus and I look different in being absolute opposites.

Actually, I really like that Jesus on earth doesn’t look like me.

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To keep in line with Jesus not looking like me to make me feel better, I see God as a gender-inclusive or maybe even gender-neutral being. While it is often shared of God as Father with a masculine pronoun used, I have been fascinated by reading the Bible in places where God is cast as a feminine presence such as Asherah (a traditionally-female Hebrew name) in Genesis, one who gives birth in Isaiah, and one who has the wisdom of Sophia (an oft-used female name in English).

I know many who refer to God the parent as both Mother and Father, who use he and she interchangeably when talking about the Creator and Sustainer of all life. Out of respect to my traditional-leaning friends and family, I tend to talk about God without gender. The Creator who can make females and males and all along the spectrum of gender identity from God’s own image is one who can encompass all distinctions and divisions.

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I find scripture to be essential – both from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testament while also valuing the Apocrypha and extracanonical works. They are a source of symbolic interpretation to be used in our current context while studying the historical, geographical, cultural, linguistic, and genre-based contexts from which the texts were written. And, because I find these research aspects to be so important, I often do not read the stories of the text literally.

Many of the stories of the Bible are encouraging, many blow my mind, and many are confusingly baffling. I certainly think that plenty of Bible stories are based on true historical figures and events: the prophet Isaiah writing the first part of the one book known by that name, the Israelite exilic period, and Paul and his letters.

But, I see many great stories that I do not take literally: Jonah and the big fish, Queen Esther, and Adam and Eve. As it is not often studied in traditional Christianity, these stories were told orally to share meanings and provide symbols for life circumstances.

I think the Bible is an amazing, sacred text that has so much for me to study further despite reading pieces of it for years. I genuinely believe that I have much more to learn about how these stories originated and what they mean to me now.

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I was speaking to a professor recently about the struggle between the literal interpretations that I was taught as a child and the more symbolic approach through which I am currently approaching sacred texts. I said that I struggle with how I can define which texts seem appropriate and which need further study because of how they are used in harmful ways. The professor presented the idea of seeing the text through a lens of ethics, and that has resonated with me.

It’s not that I want to dismiss scripture that people before me have deemed to be sacred texts as important in faith traditions. Rather, I absolutely feel as if I must read the Bible through the ways in which others will be treated. Scripture should not be used as something which can hurt and push away others.

Through the four sources of Christian life, also known by my United Methodist peeps as the “Wesleyan quadrilateral” – reason, tradition, scripture, and experience – I have learned this past semester in Systematic Theology that different understandings of Christianity rank the sources in orders that are pertinent to their interpretations.

My order changes sometimes, but I am currently ranking experience first with reason, scripture, and tradition to follow. To simply rate the four sources is rather simplistic because there’s a lot of intermingling that happens within the quadrilateral.

This probably places me among the Christians who fall into more progressive or liberationist “paradigms.” I’m sure I have been in this realm for years, but I have been aligned with organizations of traditional, conservative beliefs which I wanted to honor.

If someone would ask directly about my opinion on something, I would determine if it was a time when I could answer with honesty or if I could move around and past the question. I often felt as if I had to give a disclaimer that these were personal beliefs that I was working through and point out that the organizations and people with whom I was attached would teach differently.

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When a favorite author / kind-of-friend through book launching, Jen Hatmaker, disclosed that she was affirming of people who are LGBT in the church in October of 2016, I realized how harmful the backlash can be – not only to the allies who are affirming, but mostly to the people of the LGBTQI+ community.

If you had asked me ten years ago about my thoughts on homosexuality, I would have instantly repeated all things against it because I did not know of any other positions held by Christians.

If you had asked me six years ago about my thoughts on gay people, I would have said that we should be friends but they are living sinful lives. “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” is a terrible approach because of how harmful it is, but I believed it. At that time, it had become more nuanced because my friend (at the time, my recently-out gay ex-boyfriend) and other people who I knew through theatre were approaching times in their lives when they felt more comfortable coming out about their sexuality that defies the heteronormative culture in which we live.

If you ask me now about my thoughts on the LGBTQI+ community, I am quite direct: I believe in the full inclusion of people who are LGBTQI+. Full stop. For some friends, this is not any new information and this is something we can openly support as Christians. For some friends, this is an “issue” that probably seems shockingly against their foundational beliefs as Christians.

When I heard Nadia Bolz-Weber speaking at an event in October, I knew from her talk that I needed to write publicly about being affirming; there could be people around me who have never been told that God has always loved them and will still love them if they come out as gay or even that God created them as they are. This sounds very look-at-me-doing-good-things which I strive not to do, but I genuinely mean it. Within three months of hearing Nadia, I had three teenagers or young adults who felt comfortable telling me that they aren’t straight. And that’s ok.

I recognize that this is just a belief for me, but it is a matter of daily life for numerous friends and people who I respect. I have way too many friends who have walked away from God because they were rejected by Christians over sexuality. It makes me sick every time I think about them and how they have been hurt. Because I'm in theological school as a religious leader, I feel as if I am now responsible for speaking against the hate that causes such hurt from this heteronormativity and homophobia.

Honestly, I have been so amazed with the number of queer Christians who I have known throughout my life. I'm awed with their perseverance and their persistence to be part of the universal church even though the vocal majority of American Christian evangelicalism says that they should not be included. I have much to learn from my friends, and all I can do is continue to use my voice to affirm them.

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I’m living within the tension between conservative and liberal interpretations of faith of those who are close to me in proximity and in relations, but I feel as if I must be honest about where I stand within the church and within structures of faith. It is not an effort to ostracize anyone, to say that I’m right, or to ignore the foundations of faith that I knew growing up.

In Sarah Bessey’s book, Out of Sorts, she writes, “If our theology doesn’t shift and change over our lifetimes, then I have to wonder whether we’re paying attention.” These certainly aren’t beliefs that I have held within my entire life, but they’re also not entirely new concepts within my theological framework. I am working not to limit myself in future career opportunities as well as within Christian practices.

A guiding line for discovering and deepening my beliefs is “break my heart for what breaks yours” from Hosanna by Hillsong. If I am following God, then my heart will break for what could symbolically break the heart of God. I see people who are marginalized, placed as “others” in society, called “the least of these," and experiencing other forms of oppression, and I believe that God calls us to be a source of love and healing for people on the outside.

This is exactly the God whose model I want to follow. I want to be known for what I'm for: love, inclusion, acceptance, justice, freedom, creativity.

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So, here I am at the end of my first year of theological school. So much has shifted and changed, so much has remained the same, and so so so much is still to be explored. I can’t imagine what kind of #UnpopularOpinions I’ll develop within the next two years, whether about ice cream (blueberry cheesecake ice cream is actually pretty good, tbh) or about theology (so many more classes to take!).

I have found that sometimes after I post potentially-controversial content, people will dismiss me (if it’s your time to peace out, I wish you well) or be worried (lol, I’m good). I do think it’s best to have conversations when appropriate and when healthy dialogue will benefit all, but I recognize that this is unachievable sometimes. I hope you’ll stick around with me through this quest of discovering practices that are new to me and of building up unshakeable pieces of who I am.

Who Tells Your Story?

Welcome back to the blog, friends! For the final project in my Race and American Christianity class with Dr. Morris Davis, I am compiling my research into a post to share my knowledge. I am finishing my second semester at Drew Theological School, and my classes are helping me to fill in gaps of education, both within faith traditions and in the broader world.

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I knew that I didn't come into this class with a lot of Christian historical knowledge because I have not yet taken a course in church history. I also knew that my US history skills were lacking. I have not intentionally studied American history since high school, and I never took a class that studied past the Lincoln administration.

My history gaps are huge.

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In the fall of 2015, the Original Broadway Cast Recording from Hamilton: An American Musical was released. I recognize that this is a creative, artistic rendition of history that Lin-Manuel Miranda has created from the work of Ron Chernow's biography on Alexander Hamilton, but it has seriously opened my mind.

I love that the show's casts include a majority of people of color playing the Founding Fathers and the family of Alexander Hamilton, the first treasurer of the United States. This hip hop musical is reframing history in a way to include people who have been systemically oppressed and typically ignored. Rather than what may be expected, people of color are playing the historical roles which were originally white men of power.

I quickly fell in love with Hamilton, and I saw the show in Chicago in June of 2017. In addition to the cast recording, the Hamilton Mixtape was released in December of 2016 as further creative insights into shared history. In the mixtape, hip hop and pop artists are covering tracks from the show and remixing pieces that were cut from the production.

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Much like the intro on the Hamilton Mixtape, the way that race has been handled within American Christianity is not as simple as a John Trumbull painting.

For those who may be unaware (as I was before the release of the Hamilton Mixtape), John Trumbull painted notable scenes throughout the Revolutionary War. One of his most celebrated works is the painting of the Declaration of Independence. While it looks nice and seems like everything easily came together to start a new nation, further research into the time period proves that the process was anything but nice and easy.

This is similar to my history knowledge - or, previously, my lack thereof. 

I knew it couldn't have been easy or simple to handle the constant pressure and tension of race within the history of American Christianity. But, I don't think I was aware of how difficult it has been for people of color to remain in a religion that was written by men in the middle east, yet it has been studied deeply and loudly by white men in western contexts who manipulate the text to what would benefit them.

I'm not so sure that much has changed.

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During the fall 2017 semester, I was enrolled in a hybrid class of Biblical Literature 1 and Church at Worship: Preaching with Dr. Danna Nolan Fewell and Dr. Gary V. Simpson. For the third sermon of the course, I was creating a written sermon based on Isaiah 43:1-7 NRSV. I unintentionally referenced older commentaries which did not include any specific information about the third and fourth verses, so I left them as is.

My sermon was focusing on the literal and metaphorical exile of modern people groups who are marginalized, with an intended focus on people of color in relation to Black Lives Matter and the fear of diversity. I wrote that God cares for God's people.

I was genuinely shocked to receive my graded feedback which stated that these verses have been used to intentionally exclude people (especially people of color by referencing Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saba - locations in Africa) which is the exact opposite direction of my sermon. I had no idea that these verses were used against people of color, despite spending half of my childhood in a multi-ethnic church environment.

After I thought about it, duh, of course it made sense. These verses are extremely exclusionary, and I chose to not see it.

I still have much to learn.

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Many texts throughout both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testament include specific references or casual nods to slaves, servants, and others who are treated as unequal. Rather than the collection of books as a unifying story with a solo narrative of uplifting positivity (as many people have tried to market the Bible to me throughout my life), I now see that these books are filled with various genres for varied audiences. Scholarly research shows that scripture has historically been used by people in power to promote those same people in power.

Here's a pretty sad thing I have learned: the early Christian texts - including the Christian Testament books - never specifically call against slavery. Never.

There are casual references to slavery throughout the texts, including both the gospels and the epistles, and no one ever says anything against it. Of course, it would be super anachronistic to apply these to an American Christian context and say that the texts are racist. Slavery and race - a social construct - were not directly linked until slavery began in America. But, it doesn't look good from the biblical perspective.

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More specifically, the one chapter that is known as the book of Philemon has been used regarding the debates over slavery within the church.

There are three big characters in the text:

Paul, the writer of the epistle / literal prisoner according to the letter

Philemon, a slave owner

Onesimus, slave to be returned to Philemon

The name "Onesimus" means useful, so it's *possible* that the whole thing is a misunderstanding and that Paul is simply telling a story in this letter that is undisputed in authorship. But, what if he's not?

The passage uses manipulative language in order for Paul to assert control on Philemon who then controls Onesimus. Slavery is used repeatedly as a theological model for obedience. For example, in another undisputed letter by Paul, Ephesians 6:5 instructs slaves to obey masters just as followers of Jesus would obey Christ.

This collapse between the two is extremely harmful. Paul totally feeds into this support of slavery and never specifically denounces it; he absolutely could have done in the text if historical Paul believed that slavery was wrong.

The influence of not denouncing slavery has continued throughout the history of the United States. John Henry Hopkins, a former Episcopal Bishop in Vermont, published a book in which he said there is no scriptural basis to end slavery. He wasn't incorrect.

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I was at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. in March, and there was an exhibit on the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. The exhibit included information about the lyricist, John Newton, who worked on slave ships prior to writing the famed song.

The song includes melodies that are typical of slave spirituals which shows how easily people in power - in this case, a white man - have appropriated culture that is not their own.

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In Eddie Glaude's book, Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America, the scholar relates the struggle of racism with the exilic periods in the Hebrew Bible. He discusses how Christianity was something that many black Americans adopted, but it came with conditional aspects.

Glaude writes, “Black evangelicals had to come to terms with the fact that early Christian evangelicalism was, to some extent, complicitous with slavery and white supremacy. Many of its proponents assumed the inferiority of black people…What meaning could Christianity have for them if the religion was, as it was assumed, a white man’s religion?”

If a religion has the power to support oppression, why would those who are oppressed choose to stay in it? That's a question that I struggle with, and I have found some hope in reframing the story through the writing and theology of Rev. Dr. James H. Cone.

Cone, a leader in black liberation theology throughout his lifetime (and likely a leader posthumously because of his deep legacy left behind in his recent death), writes in God of the Oppressed - one of my favorite books from this semester - that Jesus is black.

He says, "Christ’s blackness is both literal and symbolic. His blackness is literal in the sense that he truly becomes One with the oppressed blacks, taking their suffering as his suffering and revealing that he is found in the history of our struggle, the story of our pain, and the rhythm of our bodies…The least in America are literally and symbolically present in black people."

To see Jesus as one who suffers alongside humanity is a way to find hope in the struggle and to see liberation as something that is actually accessible on earth.

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This is not to say that Cone flew in to save the day or that there have never been issues within the "black American church."

I think of the split between Historic St. George United Methodist Church (the oldest UMC in the United States) and what is now known as Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (the creation of the first national black protestant denomination) in Philadelphia. I think of how those original leaders who caused the split were courageous, yet they also withheld Jarena Lee from preaching because of being a woman.

I think of how Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Philando Castille should still be alive today. I think of how black women are even further oppressed because of their intersectionality of race and gender.

I think of how there is not a solution to our problems of the past and how those problems further perpetuate our current issues of racism. The work is not complete, but I have a glimmer of hope for liberation to come for all.

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Like in Hamilton, the stories that become prominent depend on who tells them.

In regards to how race has been handled through the history of American Christianity, will we tell it as something simple like, "Burr shot Hamilton," or will we look deeper into history and realize the legacy that lives if we are willing to study more?

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For my class in Biblical Literature 2 with Dr. Althea Spencer-Miller this semester, I am producing a series of videos on biblical interpretations with Brinna Kolitz. For our final video of Riding in Cars with Theo Students, we covered modern applications of racialized Christian Testament texts with PhD student abby mohaupt.

Enjoy!  (You should watch the entire mini-series for an idea of how much we believe in the feminist movement, how hilarious we can be, or - you know, strictly educational things - how we have developed our biblical interpretations to this point.)

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Thanks for joining me on the blog today. I felt like I had mind-blowing experiences in this class, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn more and engage in classroom discussions. This is something that I care about, but I had limited prior knowledge. I have so much to share, and I tried to limit it to some key points.

I recognize that I am approaching the topic from a growing-in-scholarly-work perspective. I also recognize that I am a white woman of upper middle class upbringing which brings a great deal of privilege and power. I do not claim to know the experiences of those who are different than me, but I do hope to share some of what I have learned.

Did you learn anything new? Have you read other interpretations of any information that I presented here? Are you interested in reading more academic work? I would love to hear from you with your thoughts on this piece.

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Bibliography available upon request.