We’re
\ncurrently looking at 3 different worldviews: Moralistic Therapeutic
\nDeism, the Christian-Right, and (for lack of language that is better)
\n\u201cJesus-Following.\u201d \u00a0 \u201cMoralistic
\nTherapeutic Deism\u201d was identified by sociologist through a large
\nresearch project with US teens, and is the actual belief system of
\nmost teens, despite any religious tradition they claim. \u00a0Furthermore,
\nas teens are most heavily influenced by their parents (No! \u00a0Really!)
\nwhen it comes to faith, we have reason to believe that a rather large
\nsegment of the population actually believes \u201cMoralistic Therapeutic
\nDeism.\u201d \u00a0So, we are looking at it, and finding where it does and
\ndoesn’t match our actual faith tradition.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMoralistic
\nTherapeutic Deism\u201d has 5 salient points:\n<\/p>\n
\nThis
\nweek we are going to take a closer look at the second of the them:<\/p>\n
\n“God
\n\twants people to be good, nice, and fair to
\n\teach other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\tUnlike
\n\tlast week, where I directly contrasted Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
\n\twith the perspective of the Christian-Right and then both with
\n\tJesus-following, in this case I think Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
\n\tand the Christian-Right largely overlap. \u00a0I don’t see a noticeable
\n\tdifference, other than perhaps in the degree of openness to other
\n\tfaith traditions.<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
The
\ndifference from both is in how Jesus-followers see our tradition,
\nincluding in our Micah passage today. \u00a0That passage claims that what
\nGod wants is for us \u201cto
\ndo justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.\u201d
\n
\n<\/b>For
\nsome people, what Micah says and \u201cbe good and nice\u201d may look
\nsimilar at the outset. \u00a0That’s what makes it so dangerous!<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nNow,
\nobviously, I take no issue with the last bit, where the Bible is
\nconflated with other faiths. \u00a0When it comes to the basic moral
\nprinciples of the world’s religions, there is enough agreement to
\nspeak in such terms. \u00a0The issue, rather, is what a moral life looks
\nlike!<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nfirst statement is that God wants people to be \u201cgood.\u201d \u00a0That’s
\nnot particularly controversial at this point, but it is circular
\nlogic! \u00a0What does it mean to be good? \u00a0Isn’t this a statement about
\nwhat being good means? \u00a0Then simply saying, \u201cbeing good is being
\ngood\u201d doesn’t help us figure things out much does it? \u00a0That means
\nwe have to decide from the next two words what this goodness looks
\nlike. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nThis
\nis where we get \u201cnice.\u201d \u00a0 \u201cGod wants people to be nice.\u201d \u00a0In
\nfact, if you take out some words, this statement could read, \u201cGod
\nwants people to be nice, as taught in the Bible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nHere
\nis the problem. \u00a0It doesn’t. \u00a0The Bible doesn’t tell people to be
\nnice. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
Actually,
\nthe Bible does not include the word NICE. \u00a0And I mean AT ALL. \u00a0Its
\nnot there. \u00a0It doesn’t show up. \u00a0And I don’t think its an accident or
\na mistranslation. \u00a0I think its not there ON PURPOSE. \u00a0What is nice
\nanyway? \u00a0We use the word so much that we easily lose its meaning.
\nApple dictionary defines it this way: \u00a0\u201cNice\u201d
\n<\/b>pleasant;
\nagreeable; satisfactory.\u201d \u00a0I think the most important part of that
\ndefinition is \u201cagreeable.\u201d \u00a0The word \u201cnice\u201d has very serious
\nconnotations of \u201cdon’t rock the boat!\u201d \u00a0A nice person doesn’t
\nargue, doesn’t disagree, doesn’t tell you when you’re wrong, doesn’t
\ntell you when you are harming another person. \u00a0A nice person doesn’t
\nname injustice, doesn’t upset the status quo, doesn’t willingly
\nengage in conflict. \u00a0A nice person is always pleasant, even when
\nthings are profoundly wrong. \u00a0To be NICE is to take the path of least
\nresistance. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nOur
\nMicah passage says that God wants us to do justice, to love kindness,
\nand to walk humbly with God. \u00a0 For clarity’s sake, I offer 3
\ndifferent translations of this verse for you: \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nNRSV:
\n<\/b> He has told you, O mortal, what is good;\u2028 and what does the
\nLord require of you\u2028 but to do justice, and to love kindness,\u2028
\nand to walk humbly with your God?<\/p>\n\nNIV:
\n<\/b>He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD
\nrequire of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
\nwith your God.<\/p>\n\nMessage:
\n<\/b>But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God
\nis looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair
\nand just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love,
\nAnd don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously.<\/p>\n\nNow,
\nthere is something in there about loving kindness or showing mercy.
\nThey aren’t the same thing as \u201cbe nice.\u201d \u00a0Now, the definition of
\nkindness, \u201c<\/i>the
\nquality of being friendly, generous, and considerate\u201d,
\nhelps, but I think its in the definition of mercy that we really see
\nthe difference. \u00a0Mercy is compassion
\nor forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to
\npunish or harm. \u00a0WHOA. \u00a0That’s so not the same thing as agreeable.
\nIts so much STRONGER! \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nJesus
\nsays that the greatest commandments are to Love the Lord Your God
\nwith all you heart, all your soul, and all your mind \u2013 and to love
\nyour neighbor as yourself. \u00a0In fact he suggests they aren’t so
\ndifferent. \u00a0This Micah passage is another way of saying it. \u00a0To
\nlove mercy is to love your neighbor as yourself, ESPECIALLY when you
\nhave the power and reason to do otherwise. \u00a0\n<\/p>\nNow
\nits time to go back to the rest of Micah’s claim. \u00a0To do justly, to
\nlove mercy, and to walk humbly with God. \u00a0 I will admit that its best
\nthe Moralistic Therapetic Deism’s claim that God wants us to be
\n\u201cfair\u201d is entirely true, and I suspect that its a similar
\narticulation as the theme of Justice throughout the Bible. \u00a0It seems
\nclear, Biblically speaking, that God is OBSESSED with justice. \u00a0There
\nare all sorts of commandments that have to do with making sure that
\nthe justice system is fair \u2013 and that it doesn’t benefit the rich
\nmore than the poor, men more than women, natural citizens more than
\noutsiders. \u00a0There
\nis a deep awareness that left to its own devices, a society will bend
\njustice toward power so that the powerful will constantly become more
\npowerful and the powerless more powerless. \u00a0God’s commandments are
\nmeant to prevent this!<\/p>\n\nJustice,
\nand judgement, and the judicial system even are all there to make
\nsure that things are FAIR for people no matter who they are. \u00a0You
\nmight remember the story of the prophet Nathan telling a sob story to
\nKing David \u2026 the story is that a very very wealthy man with many
\nherds noticed that his very poor neighbor had a very nice lamb, and
\nso, he stole it! \u00a0David’s was so angry at this rich man, and Nathan
\npointed out to him that HE was the wealthy man in the story. \u00a0The
\nprophets were the ones making sure that people didn’t forget about
\njustice!<\/p>\n\nJustice
\noften demands the opposite of niceness. \u00a0While niceness is the
\npath of least resistance, justice often requires being part of active
\nresistence. \u00a0The demands of justice in the world may require
\nupsetting the social order, upsetting other people, upsetting the
\ninstitutions of power and privilege. \u00a0Those fighting for women’s
\nrights were told they weren’t being NICE. \u00a0Those fighting to end
\nslavery weren’t NICE. \u00a0Those fighting to end segregation weren’t
\nNICE. \u00a0But…. they were just, and they were merciful. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nIn
\nthe best case scenario, if \u201cfairness\u201d is given all the power and
\nenergy that it deserves, then YES, God does want us to be fair, but
\nnote that it isn’t some fairness that has mostly to do with trivial
\nmatters \u2013 it is a fairness that has to do with everyone having a
\nfair opportunity to LIVE and THRIVE. \u00a0That’s where the Leviticus
\npassage comes in. \u00a0It does, of course, include \u201clove your neighbor
\nas yourself\u201d but it seems to also be pretty explicit about what
\nthat looks like. \u00a0In this passage, loving your neighbor as yourself
\nmeans leaving a means of livelihood for the poor rather than
\nenriching yourself. \u00a0In this passage, loving your neighbor as
\nyourself means telling the truth in order to produce fairness and
\njustice. \u00a0This passage worries about the disempowered, and tells
\nthose who have power to act responsibly with their power: to give
\nwages when they’re earned, to refrain from doing harm simply because
\nit can be done. \u00a0Loving your neighbor as yourself means creating a
\nJUST justice system, impartial to power and wealth, and to refrain
\nfrom profitting from violence. \u00a0This is some PRATICAL and real stuff.<\/p>\n\nIt
\nisn’t \u201cnice\u201d stuff. \u00a0It is \u201cjust\u201d stuff. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nThat
\ntiny Micah passage includes, as well, that God wants us to \u201cwalk
\nhumbly with our God.\u201d \u00a0This is not paralleled at all in Moralistic
\nTherapeutic Deism, and from my understanding of it, that is not
\naccidental either. \u00a0People following that way of thought do not
\nbelieve that in spiritual practice or discipline. They see prayer as
\na way of manipulating God into giving them what they want. \u00a0For the
\nmost part, they do not read the Bible, or reach out to others as a
\nway of sharing God’s love. \u00a0They think of God as existing for THEM,
\nrather than thinking of themselves as existing to do God’s work in
\nthe world. \u00a0Its an enormous switch! \u00a0\n<\/p>\nThis
\nmay be one significant place where the Christian-Right and
\nJesus-followers align. \u00a0Our Tradition teaches us that we are the Body
\nof Christ \u2013 we are gifted and blessed so that we can be a blessing
\nto others. \u00a0We exist so that God’s love can spread. \u00a0We are the
\ncontinuation of the ministry of Jesus himself. \u00a0We are part of God’s
\ntransformation of the world, and our work in that includes
\nsignificant time studying and praying and worshipping and discussing
\nso that we might BEST use our lives for the goodness of all. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nMicah
\ntells us to be humble before God. \u00a0That is, to remember that God is
\nGod and we are not! \u00a0That the purpose of life is not that God serve
\nus, but that we serve God. \u00a0And that in serving God we are both
\nblessed and a blessing! \u00a0That our lives AND the lives of those we
\nmeet are improved! \u00a0\n<\/p>\n\nYou
\nsee, our Tradition is not all about us, it is about everyone. \u00a0It
\nis DEFINTELY not about \u201cME\u201d! \u00a0Micah reminds us with simple words
\nabout humility \u2013 which are put next to justice and mercy in their
\nimportance! \u00a0Those THREE things are what it means to be a \u201cgood\u201d
\nperson, if you listen to the Bible. \u00a0Justice, mercy, humility.
\nThey’re balanced, and they push us beyond ourselves to being truly
\ngood neighbors to those we meet.<\/p>\n\nSo,
\nmy friends, despite the the apparent similarities, again we find that
\nMoralistic Therapeutic Deism is a mistranslation of our faith. \u00a0Our
\ntradition does NOT teach us to be nice. \u00a0In many ways it teaches the
\nopposite. \u00a0It teaches us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
\nhumbly with our God. \u00a0May we do what we are taught. \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n– <\/p>\n
Rev. Sara E. Baron <\/p>\n
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady <\/p>\n
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 <\/p>\n
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers\u00a0<\/p>\n
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n