The Bible is Clear . . . As Mashed Potatoes

German Colloquialism

There are some German sayings that I really love. Some are bizarre, but then others are very illuminating. One time while I was living in Germany, a friend of mine had called me to cancel an appointment because she had problems with her almonds. I was totally confused by this. I had no idea what she meant. I didn't know if she had an allergic reaction to almonds or if she would rather have walnuts instead. Then she told me that her throat was very sore. Now I was very confused. So I turned to my dictionary. Lo and behold! "Mandeln," the German word for almonds, was another way of saying "tonsils."

I have no idea why that is. There are other bizarre expressions in German. Sometimes a German would say, "That's sausage to me," when he/she means that s/he doesn't care. If you "have a bird," you're "nuts." (Please don't ask me to explain what a "mother cake" is.)

One expression, though, that I really liked was the expression, "clear as mashed potatoes." We have a similar expression in English, "clear as mud." It means the same thing:  that the topic of discussion is actually not very clear at all.

We are the Borg

(Resistance is futile)

Recently in an online discussion group, some of us were talking about how when a person becomes a member of The Salvation Army as a soldier, one of the things that we like to do is to recite our doctrines. All of us collectively read our doctrines. This is similar in other worship services if, especially in liturgical denominations, you say the Apostle's Creed, or the Lord's Prayer collectively.

Our first doctrine in The Salvation Army talks about Scripture. "We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice."

I try to give feeling to what I say when we recite that collectively. Otherwise, we come across all sounding like the Borg from Star Trek. 

I have a somewhat fiendish desire for a session of cadets (Salvation Army seminary students) to say, "Resistance is Futile" after they are commissioned (ordained).

The Bible is . . . not clear.

I have begun to notice a disturbing trend among Christians. This comes from many persuasions, whether conservative or progressive in their thoughts. When discussing theological issues, I often hear the phrase, "The Bible is clear . . ."

I want to wince every time I hear that.

First of all, the Bible is rarely clear on anything. It is often contradictory and filled with inconsistencies. The best example I like to give is with Judas Iscariot.

How did he die?

Most people say that he committed suicide by hanging himself. (See Matthew 27:3-10.)

However, Luke in his account in the Acts of the Apostles, states that Judas died by accident. He tripped in a field he purchased and his guts spilled out.

Unfortunately, I know many people who try to remove the obvious inconsistent stories here with a stretch of logic. They try to reason that Judas hung himself, but then the branch broke on the tree he hung himself and his guts spilled out when he fell. There is a word to describe this type of logic:  Sophistry.

Screenshots are Gossip

Last year, I was involved in an online discussion with some people about this very topic. I was still a Salvation Army officer. In the discussion, my debater told me that the "Bible is very clear" on the topic we were talking about. My response to this person was the grabbed by a screenshot and then sent to my superiors. When I was confronted with my response, my superiors told me that what I said was heresy.

At this point, let me digress. One of my newest pet peeves are screenshots. People use screenshots to prove what someone has said. They can be a useful tool, especially if they are unaltered; however, at the same time, they can be a terrible form of gossip. In fact, I would submit that they are this decade's new form of gossip.

Just recently, some people took screenshots of a conversation I was a participant in and this conversation was shown to a friend of mine. Some disparaging things were said about my friend, but not by me. My friend and his wife promptly "unfriended" me on Facebook and blocked me. Despite my explanations to the contrary, they told me that they couldn't trust me and that they needed to protect their family.

Gossip ruins lives and friendships.

What was so heretical?

What was so damning in my screenshot? In this case (and since I'm no longer an officer), I'll be happy to share what I said.

My counterpart was stating the same sex relationships are sinful and the Bible was clear on this point. I believe he might have also said, "The Bible says . . ."

My reply was this:  "The Bible is rarely clear on anything. It is only our interpretation of certain passages that are clear to us."

I was called a heretic for saying that.

Our approach is wrong.

We often look at the Bible in the wrong way. We approach it with our own understanding, which is guided by our own worldview.

We forget many things. First:  the Bible was not written in English. It was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Secondly, we do not have an entire intact Bible from the first century. We have many fragments of copies and most of these are inconsistent with each other. Granted, these inconsistencies are sometimes small, but sometimes significant. For example, we have 2 different versions of Isaiah found at Qumran.

Also, we need to understand that we are intersecting with our own culture and the culture of the Bible. They are many different things going on there that we might not understand. Some day I'll do a blog on the Canaanite religion, which was basically a sex religion and which would also explain the prohibition laws in the Torah.

When we say "the Bible," this could actually refer to many different versions and translations. Even if we use the Protestant Bible with only its 66 books (Catholics have more!), even the newer translations use texts that weren't available to the translators of the King James Version or even the Revised Standard Version. We discover the huge portions of the Bible were added later by some well-meaning scribes. The last portion of Mark is perhaps the best example. Also, the phrase, "For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever" does not appear in the original Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6.

The Bible is not inerrant.

Finally, I believe we are wrong to call the Bible the Word of God. It is not. That implies something terrible:  that every single word coming out of the Bible is actually God talking. When a church fellowship says they believe that Scripture is inerrant and infallible (which thankfully mine does not), they are setting themselves up for a big disappointment. When someone starts studying Scripture intensely and purposefully, one begins to see even in English the minor inconsistencies and contradictions in the Bible.

We in The Salvation Army don't say that the Bible is inerrant. We do say that it is inspired, which is not the same thing. Just think of a movie you see with the disclaimer ahead of it, "Inspired by true events." That's the type of inspiration I believe the Bible gives us.

The Bible does not speak. It doesn't state. It doesn't talk. It is a collection of inspired words that try to tell about how these ancient people engaged God, especially through the person of Jesus Christ.

Mike McHargue (aka Science Mike) gave some wonderful axioms for his faith when he was looking for structure after he had lost it and regained it once again. It was a starting point for him, to which he admits he has moved on. It can also be a starting point for us.

This is what he stated about the Bible:

The Bible is AT LEAST a collection of books and writings assembled by the Church that chronicle a people group's experiences with, and understanding of, God over thousands of years. EVEN IF that is a comprehensive definition of the Bible, study of scripture is warranted to understand our culture and the way in which people come to know God.

If the Bible is not the Word of God, then what is?

It's not what:  it's WHO.

Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is God's message to humanity, showing us and pointing us the way to God. He showed us how to live, how to love, and how to be.

I found an amusing quote about the Word of God:

Let us not force the Bible into a form that it cannot sustain. Let us realize that the Bible is a wonderful book for us. It is even the basis for Christian belief, but let us not turn the Bible into our idol. Let us not turn the Bible into our sacred cow and try to use it like the Israelites tried to misuse the Ark of the Covenant. Instead, let us turn our eyes to the true Word of God:  Jesus.

photo credit: Making Mashed Potatoes via photopin (license)

Chemistry for Christians

Litmus Tests

I loved chemistry when I was in school. Even today, I am a big fan of chemistry. There is a wonderful series of videos on YouTube from the University of Nottingham on all the elements of the Periodic Table and then some. They are truly engrossing and I get as much excitement watching a reaction of potassium with water as they do.

One of the earliest experiments I learned in chemistry was a simple one:  trying to find out the pH balance of a liquid to determine if the liquid were acidic or basic. Water would almost always have a pH balance of 7. If the number were lower, then the solution was more acidic (like cola). If it were higher, than the solution was more basic (like something with baking soda in it).

All you had to do was to dip one of these litmus test strips in the solution and then compare the color of the reaction to see if the solution were basic or acidic.

A Test for Christians?

Is there a test for Christians? What or who determines who a Christian is? For some people this answer is quite obvious. They will start off spouting also sorts of rhetoric, including words such as "saved," "born again," "baptized," etc.

My own denomination likes to pass out in its literature the ABC's of Salvation. It is a simplified guideline for those wishing to identify as a Christian. It involves: Admitting your need (used to be admitting that you're a sinner), Believing in Christ, and Committing yourself to Christ.

We Salvationists tend to leave the baptism part out of it and the rest of the Christian world screams in uproar. Most Christians worldwide (with the notable exception of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and The Salvation Army) practice baptism as a rite into Christianity. The Salvation Army did away with those with very good theological reasons. (For an in-depth treatise, I recommend Dr. R. David Rightmire's book, Sacraments and The Salvation Army:  Pneumatological Foundations.)

Baptism is often seen as a wonderful rite into Christianity, until you get into the nuances behind it. When do you do it? The high church tradition (from Orthodox to Roman Catholic and even United Methodists) practice baptism at infancy. Anabaptists tend to do it at an age of accountability, a nebulous time when a person is old enough to decide for him/herself to make religious decisions. Then some churches have it as a prerequisite for their own church membership, whether or not they have been baptized before.

Is it something we do? Then what? Get baptized? Eat some bread and drink wine? Do we help people? Do we serve others? Is it what we believe? Is it what we read? The Bible? Which translation? (Weird tangent:  I hold the New World Translation with the same esteem as I do The Message, which is none.) How many books does it have? Protestants have 66 while Catholics and Orthodox have many more. Why were some excluded? What makes them scripture?

We Christians have been arguing with each other over what we believe that it's no wonder we keep on splintering into more and more denominations.

I sometimes imagine that we Christians just like to argue with each other, quite similarly to this Monty Python sketch:

We seem to thrive on debate, but then the debate turns into argumentation, then into contradiction, and finally into rejection.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

I have recently been confronted by people who are trying to find some sort of way to see if I'm still a Christian or not. Some do it out of concern. Some do it out of spite. It seems to me that the latest "litmus test" for Christianity is where one stands on LGBT inclusion. The United Methodist Church is going through that great discussion this week. I am so glad that they can talk about it openly. My denomination regulates such discussions to committee meetings and there is no room for open debate. I believe that these committee could do great things, but I'm just concerned that there is no input from those in the denomination itself. If there is a way for such input, then this information is not disseminated to the rest of the denomination. (A lack of communication tends to be a hallmark in my denomination, all based on the idiom "need to know.")

I am very worried that we Christians are going about trying to figure out who's a Christian or not. I don't think that's our job to do. When we start down that path, we begin to judge other people. We become dualistic:  It's us versus them.

Our job is not to be exclusive. This is a bit ironic. We Christians are called to be holy, which literally means to be set apart, but it's not how you think. Being set apart for Jesus means to do what Jesus did. Jesus set himself apart, not from the sinners, but from the religious. He set himself apart by mixing in with society, by immersing himself with the population and scorning the religious establishment. His harshest words were for those who should have known better.

So what makes someone a Christian? You know what? I don't care anymore. My job is not to define that. My job is to be a Christ-follower and not to determine who is and who isn't. I leave that decision up to God.

My fear is that we are turning into the religious elite of Jesus' day. My fear is that Christ is more welcoming and affirming than his own followers are today.

photo credit: Litmus Bottles.jpg via photopin (license)

Part Two: Reacceptance

The Meeting

If this is your first time reading my blog, you might wish to read the previous blog that dealt with what had happened with me personally. In it, you will read that I was denied membership at the Branson, Missouri Salvation Army because of my stance on marriage quality for the LGBT community.

This meeting turned out to leave me a bit confused. I have drawn my own conclusions and I will allow you to draw your own. I understand that this is my own perspective. How I viewed the meeting will be different that the other two participants in the meeting.

I was apprehensive about the meeting to begin with. A good friend of mine had offered to come with me to the meeting, but at the last minute he had to cancel. I then asked another friend to the meeting, who is the pastor of a local church I had been attending in the interim. He apologized, but he had to be out of town for that time.

So I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I hadn't attended The Salvation Army since that first meeting. I actually couldn't even if I wanted to on Sundays because my work schedule (to this day) doesn't allow me to attend Church on Sundays. It has been OK, though. I have been attending a wonderful Bible Study which challenges me as much as it stimulates me.

During the meeting, we read over the Soldier's Covenant, our Articles of War. During the meeting, I discovered from my divisional commander that he was concerned that I would use the topic of marriage equality to derail the work of The Salvation Army in Branson, Missouri. He wanted assurances from me that I would abide by my covenant. I had already done so before in my previous correspondences. So I reiterated the same to him that day and he accepted me as a soldier in the Branson Corps.

We briefly touched on the differences between abiding by Position Statements versus our Covenant. I brought up the fact that our Position Statements have changed over the years.

However, what was most interesting to me was to discuss the whole issue of #BlackLivesMatter as it relates to the events of Ferguson. My divisional commander is African-American. He has been in charge of The Salvation Army based in St. Louis, MO (of which Ferguson is a suburb) since before the tragic events there. I actually appreciated his spirit and his candor as he expressed how difficult it was to be both a voice for the oppressed as it was to support those in Law Enforcement. It was something I greatly enjoyed listening to and would have loved the opportunity to discuss it further with him.

What now?

I am not certain. Shortly after I left, I received a text message from my corps officer, saying that he supported the outcome of the meeting. I told some of my friends about the outcome of the meeting on Facebook. Their responses were from incredulous to happy.

This has been one of the most difficult experiences I have faced. I have no doubt that my corps officer, my divisional commander, and our headquarters were trying to delicately find a balanced situation here that would appease everyone.

What do you do when a relationship has been broken and trust is now an issue? Do you work through the issues, or do you bid a fond farewell?

This is the question I will struggle with. This is the question I will confront.

I love The Salvation Army. I love how we serve humanity and go where others refuse to go. I have been saddened by the Army's marginalization of those in the LGBT Community, including myself, and I wonder whether it is now worth the struggle.

I have not come up with an answer; however, I am grateful for the outcome of this session and the fact that I am still a soldier of The Salvation Army.

Rejection

"May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. He's the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ's sufferings. So if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort from the experience of endurance while you go through the same sufferings that we also suffer. Our home for you is certain, because we know that as you are partners in suffering, so also you are partners in comfort." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (CEB)

I know something about rejection. This past year could have been my "Year of Rejection." I lost nearly everything that was dear to me.

However, things began to look up. I became a Dispatcher for the City of Branson. I was being welcomed very much in the corps (church) where I lived. I had some excellent talks with the corps officer about what had led to my no longer being an officer. We agreed that although we were of a difference of opinions, we were still brothers in Christ. I was participating again in the meetings. The only thing I really regretted was that this corps has no Bible Study for the members.

So I did what I thought was natural, I asked to have my membership transferred to the Branson Corps. The corps officers even took my orders for my soldier's uniform. Then on the 11th of February, my corps officer asked to have a coffee with me. This was not unusual. I had done it before with him. We talked over an hour and a half. Then I had to get to work. That's when he delivered the bad news:

The divisional commander (like a bishop) and my corps officer had decided to deny my transfer as a soldier to the Branson Corps. The reason:  They did not believe that I would uphold "the sanctity of marriage," as is expressed in our "Articles of War," which is the covenant all soldiers sign when we become members of The Salvation Army. The relevant portion states, "I will uphold the sanctity of marriage and of family life."

What was the reasoning behind this? I support marriage equality. I believe everyone can marry whomever he/she desires to marry. If it is someone of the same gender, I do not have a problem with this. Unfortunately, The Salvation Army has been wrestling with this problem, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.

The topic of LGBT inclusion has become a polarizing issue in The Salvation Army. Because of my stance on it, I was told that I was not allowed to be a member of the corps. This infuriated, saddened, and upset me. I asked our headquarters in Chicago if I was still a soldier in The Salvation Army since my transfer was being refused. They wrote back to reply that I was indeed. So it seemed that my problems only are local.

I shared my concern with some friends of mine in a group on Facebook, called "Salvos for a More Inclusive Church." Unbeknownst to me, an officer from the Territorial Headquarters in Chicago took screenshots of what I had said in this private group and spread them around, including to my corps officer. This was against the rules of the group, but that officer did it anyway. My father confronted him about it and he admitted to it.

Things seemed to be getting worse.

Rejection Letter

I had written to my corps officer, asking for clarification about why he was rejecting my transfer. He wrote the following:

At this time, your soldiership roll will not be transferred to the Branson, MO Corps. There is absolutely no restriction on your attending, participating in, or being active in the Branson Corps. I would hope we could review the transfer together at a later time. I would enjoy the opportunity to discuss with you in person, and in more depth, our reasoning behind not accepting the roll and the things I'd like to see happen before reconsidering an additional request. . . .

As a Corps Officer I am responsible for the membership and the involvement of soldiers within my appointment. As a Salvation Army Officer I feel a great sense of sacred trust for which I am accountable for to both the institution of the Army and most importantly, to God Himself. As much as this choice to not accept your Soldier's roll seemingly erects a wall around the Army for you - making the movement who's been your own avenue of sacred service a vehicle of hurt - be assured that God's grace is greater. God wills to use you just as much as He did the day you were commissioned. His love is steadfast towards you and I believe that the same Holy Spirit who began in you with a ministry of wooing you to Him still works amongst you.

On a larger scale, know that there is no intention, nor do I hold the authority, to pursue the removal of your Soldiership from The Salvation Army. Territorial Headquarters has confirmed that your soldiership is active with the territory, but you just won't be a soldier of the Branson Corps.

Reading this, I was crushed.

This is what I felt he was saying to me:

You cannot be a member. You can attend, but we don't really accept you. We accept you, but you need to sit at the back of the bus.

When I told my friends, many of them quickly came to my side.

What was even more heartening: several officers from around the world offered to take me on as their soldier, even though I wouldn't be able to attend regularly. Some as far away as Australia and New Zealand said they would take me as a soldier in their corps.

So on one hand I had rejection, on the other hand I had acceptance.

Then one of my best friends, who is an officer in Iowa, told me to transfer my soldiership to his corps. I am in the process of that right now. I look forward to being a soldier of the Newton, Iowa corps. His divisional commander did not have any problems with me being a soldier in his division, either.

I decided to write to our Chief Secretary (like an archbishop) about my situation. I felt it would be best to explain to him what had been going on with me. I know him to be a prudent, kind, and caring man, with whom I closely worked in Albania. This is what I wrote to him:

My response:

First of all, it implies that they view my personal beliefs as a form of adultery. However, I have always been faithful to my wife.

Secondly, it implies that I have somehow broken my covenant when I signed my Articles of War.

Thirdly, I understand in my conversation that day with [the corps officer] that this whole controversy stems from my belief that The Salvation Army needs to be more inclusive in its membership, especially towards those in the LGBT Community. [They] have used a tenuous logical thought to state that since I believe that The Salvation Army needs to be an affirming Church (i.e.: welcoming to the LGBT Community), that this in some way means that I do not uphold the sanctity of marriage.

Fourthly, I find it duplicitous that [they] would deny me the right to be a soldier at the corps when my soldiership is in good standing and I do not have any restrictions placed on me in regards to uniform wearing. I have even participated in Sunday Worship meetings, being asked by the lieutenants to do so and with their full knowledge of my personal beliefs.

So, although in his letter, [it] states that I can still come to the meetings and worship there, he denies me membership. It is very much a "separate but equal" situation. Can one wonder why The Salvation Army has such a negative image with the LGBT Community when people in their own ranks are discriminated against and not allowed to be soldiers? How can one feel welcome at all in a corps, but at the same time be told that you can't be a member because of a point in theology? Also, it is in my opinion that it is an insignificant point. When Christ himself said that marriage would not be an issue at all in Heaven (Matthew 22:30), I do not see how it should be so divisive for us. I still hold to all 11 Doctrines of The Salvation Army. I still hold to my Soldier's Covenant in the Articles of War. I still hold myself faithful to my Officer's Covenant, even though I am no longer an officer.

In speaking with Major Dick Justvig, he told me that this was unprecedented and that he had never heard of someone being denied a transfer because of his/her personal beliefs. Since I am not allowed to be a soldier of the Branson Corps, I will not be attending until such time as I can be accepted.

I am extremely grateful to Majors Jeff and Mikey Carter and Major Greg Thompson for looking past this and allowing me to be a soldier of the Newton, Iowa Corps. However, I believe this issue should be addressed.

I am very concerned that this issue will tear The Salvation Army up when it doesn't need to. We have marginalized the LGBT Community far too long. Being bisexual myself, I can only emphasize just how unwelcome this whole action makes me feel at the Branson Corps.

What I would ask of you is that you would countermand [the] decision to deny my transfer to the Branson Corps and allow me to be a soldier there. If, however, you deem this to be unnecessary, I am content to be a soldier of the Newton, Iowa Corps.

With kind regards,
Timothy McPherson

New information!

And so, with this last bit of information, you, the reader, have found out something about myself that I have been reluctant at times to broadcast to the public world: I am bisexual. I did not come to terms with this until this past year in 2015. It had always been a part of my identity, but one that I had been trying unsuccessfully to repress, but that is perhaps a point for another blog.

Do we stand up for an ideology? Do we stand on principle, or do we stand up for people?

In the midst of all this rejection, I have found acceptance and comfort. I have found friends who have come to my side and stood with me, loving me for who I am and for whose I am: a child of God.

I will always love The Salvation Army. I believe in many ways we encapsulate what is best of serving those in need. I think we have lost our way and have decided to marginalize people once again. I, too, have been guilty of that, even as an officer. However, we need to stop being like the learned scholars of Jesus' day.

Love God. Love others. If anything we do goes against that, we are doing something wrong.

My letter seems to have had some effect. I received a text message from the corps officer, stating that the divisional commander wants to meet with me to discuss everything that has been going on.

I am hopeful that something will happen, but also am extremely nervous, given how I have been recently treated.

To be continued . . . 

Um, I felt the Bern.

I'm entering new territory here:  telling you about my experience at a political rally. It's new for me because when I was an officer in The Salvation Army (clergy), I was not allowed to express my views politically through social media. So as a disclaimer, these views here are my own and should in no way reflect those of my family or my denomination. Also, this is mostly talking about my experience at the rally, not necessarily about why you should vote for Bernie Sanders.

This morning I got an email from the Bernie Sanders campaign, stating that he was going to be at a rally on the Missouri State Campus in Springfield, Missouri, which is only about 1 hour north of me. I have never gone on purpose to a political rally before. One was held at my college at Asbury for George H. W. Bush. I remember that being a surreal place where strategically placed people were in the audience, chanting "four more years" at weird moments.

However, this year was different. The email said the doors would open up at 4:00 PM. So I showed up at 3:00 PM. I didn't have a Bernie Sanders pin or shirt, so I wore my shirt from the Christian Left. More than one person asked me if I had started the Christian Left. (I felt that was a very nice compliment, by the way!) The shirt is awesome, too, and has a great message.

Waiting in line, I certainly felt my age. I was one of the oldest people there. Most of them were from the college, but I did meet a retired coast guard sailor. Still, everyone was extremely nice and well-mannered. There were no counter-protests, nobody from the Trump or Cruz campaigns to disrupt the meeting, either. Still, people chatted with me as if they had known me for years. I enjoyed that very much.

I was up in the "mosh pit," in the standing room area, which was closest to the podium. Then we waited. We waited a good, long time. Finally, the event began. Tulsi Gabbard, congresswoman from Hawaii and a veteran of the Iraq War, gave the first introduction, followed by several others.

OK. Yes, this is cheesy. I'll admit it.

Then Bernie Sanders spoke and the crowd went wild. Those of you who know me, know that I normally am not a crowd-follower. When there is corporate worship and people are told to raise their hands, I refuse. So I listened and took notes, applauding when I agreed with what was said.

What did I learn? Bernie Sanders is substantive in his speeches. He covered so many different areas of American life and didn't leave anything out.

This is what he covered:

• Oligarchy - 1/10% of 1% of our nation has the same amount of wealth as the bottom 90%.
• Economy
• Our broken criminal justice system
• The failed Wall Street Bailout
• Hillary Clinton's speeches, where she earned $225,000 per speech
• NAFTA, TPP Trade Agreeements
• Free College Education/Student Loan Crisis
• Equal Pay for Women
• Drug Addiction being a mental health problem, not a criminal problem
• Mental Health and having better access to mental health medication
• Taking marijuana off of the controlled substance list
• Improving Immigration Standards and protecting the undocumented who are being used as virtual slave labor here
• Improving the lives of Native Americans
• Addressing Climate Change and emphasizing that we humans are the cause of the more devastating effects
• Our nation's infrastructure is terrible, as evidenced by the Flint Water Crisis
• Healthcare in the United States is still problematic and needs to be moved to a single-payer system.

I won't go through all of those points, but needless to say, he was quite detailed in how he would approach each issue. (Also, as a side note, there was a wonderful woman, translating American Sign Language for the Hearing Impaired. What was remarkable was this woman only had the use of one hand.)

ASL Translator

However, what impressed me the most about Bernie Sanders, were the things I found out about him that night. Many people are aware of the 4 young girls who were murdered in a church through a bomb in Birmingham, Alabama. This act galvanized the Civil Rights Movement, which Bernie Sanders was a part of then. Bernie said that what was not commonly known, was that this bombing was the 14th bombing that happened in Birmingham. It took that many bombings to happen before people cried "Enough!"

Some of my favorite quotes from the evening:

"Think outside of the box. Think outside of the status quo." - In response to those who say we cannot make such big changes in healthcare, the environment, infrastructure, etc. What is commonplace now (integrated schools and same-sex marriage), was unthinkable several years ago.

"A great nation is judged by how we treat the weakest and most vulnerable."

I was tweeting some of these things during the rally. To that last quote, I knew people who were pro-life would raise objections. Bernie Sanders advocates for a woman's right to choose.

My caveat:  I am also pro-life. I do not believe that abortion solves problems; however, in all of the years we have been electing so-called "pro-life" candidates to office, abortion is still legal and is still happening. We need to address why women are resorting to abortions and not make it illegal. In all honesty, are we willing to pay young women's medical costs, education, and other bills while she carries and unwanted pregnancy? More often than not, the poor cannot afford any more children. Once we address that terrible inequality, only then will abortions decrease.

It is to Christian Evangelicals' detriment that they have become a one-issue voting bloc. Just because someone is pro-life, doesn't make them a good politician. I could also say, just because someone is a neurosurgeon or a business mogul, does not make him/her fit to be president, no matter how "pro-life" s/he is.

After the rally was over (and listening to Disco Inferno ad infinitum), we got to meet and greet Bernie and that is where I felt the Bern. (I shook his hand!)

Does God Need Us?

I had an interesting Twitter conversation with David Henson. He's a blogger, Episcopalian priest, and contributor on one of my favorite podcasts:  The Moonshine Jesus Show. David's main point is that Jesus rejected independence, focusing instead on being Immanuel, God with Us.

If Jesus rejected independence, what does that mean?

One of my favorite titles given to Jesus is Immanuel, which is Hebrew for "God with us." It has been a comforting thought for me, reassuring me that we are not alone, that God is with us no matter what. (Yes, I realize that the prophecy from Isaiah 7 did not specifically refer to Jesus and that the writer of Matthew used this prophecy to describe Jesus.)

However, could there be a reciprocation with this? Why would God want to be with us? Is there any need for God to be with us?

For some people, the answer is an immediate, "No." God doesn't need us. God created us, loves us, cares for us, but that is the extent of the matter.

What if it weren't? What if God did need us?

To me that would clarify many questions. Why did God create us? Why was Jesus here on Earth, sent by God? Why does God love us?

Could it be that not only we need God, but that God needs us?

We focus so much on being independent. We want to do things on our own. We celebrate Independence. We celebrate that imagined freedom. However, it has been my observation that independence is very lonely. Instead, we need each other. God also fills in part of that equation. God needs us just as much as we need God.

I view it very much as a parent with a child. I am a parent. I love my children. This love for them is a drive that cannot be quenched. I need to love my children. In many respects, could it also be that God needs us just as a parent needs his/her child?

There are so many images in the Bible for God showing love like a mother for her nursing infant. (Hosea 11:1-4 is a beautiful image that conveys this idea.)

I do not have a definitive answer on this topic, but it is an idea worth pursuing for me. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject.

The Body of Christ

So, brothers and sisters, because of God's mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don't be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God's will is - what is good and pleasing and mature. Because of the grace that God gave me, I can say to each one of you:  don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Instead, be reasonable since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you. We have many parts in one body, but the parts don't all have the same function. In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts that are consistent with God's grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful. - Romans 12:1-8 (Common English Bible)

I lived in Germany from 2000-2010. I had a wonderful time there, but there was one aspect of German life that I was not allowed to participate in:  Politics. I was not a citizen of Germany, even though I was a permanent resident. I did consider obtaining German citizenship so that it would make it easier for me to stay there, but in the end I was recalled by The Salvation Army to the United States in 2010.

Germany has a parliamentarian system. Whichever party (or coalition of parties) controls the legislative branch, that party also controls the executive branch. Traditionally in the past there were 2 main parties in Germany:  the CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats/Christian Socialists), which is the politically conservative party and the SPD (Social Democrats), which is the politically liberal party. There are also several other smaller parties, including the Green Party, the FDP (similar to Libertarians), and several more smaller ones. In the past, the SPD would form a coalition with the Greens and the CDU would form a coalition with the FDP. Whichever parties won the most votes would form a coalition government. The coalition parties had to have enough seats to form a majority. That coalition government would then elect the chancellor.

Something strange happened in 2005. There were not enough votes for any of the major parties to form a clear majority. No one could form a coalition government on the basis of their ideology. It was a stalemate. So something very unusual happened:  Both major parties (the CDU and the SPD) got together and decided to form a Grand Coalition. Angela Merkel from the CDU was elected the first woman chancellor and Franz Münterfering of the SPD was her Vice Chancellor. Both parties were forced to work together to make a successful government.

And it worked! It was quite astounding. It wasn't without its problems. Gerhard Schröder, who had been the last chancellor, refused to work with the new government and resigned. It also had an unusual side effect. When the next elections came along, neither party could accuse the other party of doing a bad job with the government since both of them worked together. As a foreigner observing from the outside, it was quite amusing for me.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul was encouraging his readers to work together. First, he reminded them that their whole body should be a living sacrifice for God. This terminology might seem strange to us. Paul wasn't saying that there should be human sacrifices. For the ancients, when something was sacrificed, it was dedicated to the gods (or in this case, to God). It was set apart only for God and to be used by God. This is what Paul was suggesting. Our lives should be dedicated to God, belonging to him.

However, this shouldn't make our head big.

One of my biggest concerns lately is the division I have been seeing within the Church and especially my own denomination, The Salvation Army. There are those of us in our denomination who are quite conservative, both theologically as well as politically. This tends to be the norm in the United States, but is not so in other countries.

You might be aware that I was recently terminated as an officer in The Salvation Army. One of the reasons given for my termination (and a reason why I may never be an officer in The Salvation Army again) was that our Officer Review Board felt that my personal theology was no longer compatible with Salvation Army doctrine. I was not told this prior to their deliberations or that this was even a factor in discussing my termination. Nor was I told how my theology differed from Salvation Army doctrine (which it doesn't, at least in my own personal estimation).

One of my biggest concerns as a Salvation Army officer was that I was not permitted the latitude to discuss new theologies or to even question strongly held beliefs. Since I did question them (and there was no forum to do so in any other way), I was terminated. My worst fears had come true.

It was as if the Body of Christ were saying to itself, "I don't need this part of my body anymore. I'm going to cut it off." (Don't worry. I'm not going to insert a graphic of that type of image!)

We tend to do that all too readily in the Church. When we disagree, we'd rather part ways than try to live with each other as siblings in Christ. We have not learned the discipline of living together in the Body of Christ. When we see the differences in the way we worship, the way we talk, the way we act, we tend to throw accusations at each other. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that when we do see these differences, we don't see the other person as part of the Body of Christ. We see others in the Body of Christ as cancer that needs to be surgically removed before it metastasizes.

I realize that I am just as guilty as my more conservative friends in wishing to part ways. It is more difficult to stay and work out the differences. I am willing to step up to that challenge. I was pleasantly surprised by many conservative friends who took it upon themselves to show me love when I was hurting. That not only comforted me; it also challenged my preconceived notions. I loved that.

One day I do envision a Salvation Army that is opening and welcome to all. I see a Salvation Army that doesn't categorize different theologies as disloyalty. I envision a Salvation Army that allows for differences of opinion, which realizes that we are all a part of the Body of Christ, needing each other to serve God as we serve humanity.

I found this beautiful statement from Saint Teresa of Avila:

May it be so with us.