Reviewing the Exile Part 2: Exposing the Pyramid Scheme

When I left the institutional church I was overtaken by an unexpected feeling of freedom and well-being.  Puzzled at first, I finally decided that it could have risen from the fact that I was no longer under the authority of some self-appointed hierarchy of religious pretenders.  I recognized their fake world of ordinations, appointments, and degrees for what it was, a fabricated framework of in-authentic pontifications contrived from a few unholy and exegetic extrapolations.  It was an un-sanctified pyramid scheme built from the top down on anti-humility and anti-servanthood, by anti-Christ-like power lords, a sort of decree issued from ivory towers by self-inflated scholars, bishops, chancellors and presidents.

Why do we not get the picture? Jesus clearly banned religious hierarchy the night that he washed the disciples' feet.   "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people.  But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.... "(Matt 20:25-26)

This is ridiculous!

When one exits the system, he removes himself from the pseudo-authority that parades itself with some sort of self-proclaimed "God-ordained" but imaginary anointing.

To the outsider, we are all priests - to one another and to the Lord; all the parts of the Body are answerable directly to the Head which is Christ. (Eph 4:15)  No believer has authority over another.  We are all stones being built up into a spiritual house. (I Pet 2:5)

The foundation of real spiritual authority forever continues to be humble servanthood like that of Christ, and it is bestowed first upon God's favorite humans, the poor, the weak, and the least of these.  It is demonstrated by random acts of love and kindness and mercy every day, and it starts as a grassroots thing, originating in the ditches of everyday humanity and growing upward from there.  Hear me: real spiritual authority never starts at the top and works its way down by means of some corporate chain-of-command.  That would be exactly what Jesus said should not happen. (Matt 20:25-26)  Again, the church has turned Jesus on his head, becoming everything that he decried in the pharisees who paraded around in fancy attire so others could bow to them.

I am loving the living in a world of outsiders, unpowerful folks who do not tell others what to do or how to live.  None of us is infallible, none perfect, none lording it over others.  It's the world that Jesus was hoping for.  It's redemptive, it's pure, it's counter-religious.  Jesus would love it here; it's the kingdom of God on earth that he prayed for. (Matt 6:10)

It is authentic, and it is right, and I love it here.

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Now a reminder to pastors and leaders who are still in the institution:

 Your spiritual authority is not bestowed upon you by some council or bishop who presides from the next level above you, and it never flows from your submission to the powers-that-be in your denomination or church.  It springs from the bottom up as you submit yourself to the Lord and serve the people in humility, never lording it over another human being from a position of man-made power.  Your church authorities are appointed or elected by other human beings and their power is not God-ordained at all.  Don't confuse spiritual authority with institutional authority.  It is a mistake to assume that you are suddenly and automatically endowed with spiritual authority when you are appointed to a position in the church.  That is just unholy crap!
Mind you, an organization needs to be organized, and a top-down, pyramidal system is fine for that.  It works well in the world of the corporation, the military, the schools, and even in religious institutions, but it is not sacred, holy, or ordained by God.  To spiritualized it, building a submission-to-authority doctrine out of it by proof-texting scripture is heresy and is anti-Christ.  Let me say it again:
  The doctrine of a scriptural, God-ordained, top-down, pyramid-shaped hierarchy in the church is heresy and should be de-bunked. 

The clergy-laity split is one more divisive boundary that needs to be erased (see my previous post: Erasing the Boundaries).

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. (Matt 19:30)  Keep that in mind for a great career in service to the masses.  And have fun!

(This is part 2 of my 5-year review of my life since being exiled from the church in 2009.  To read part 1, scroll down to the next post or click here.)

Reviewing the Exile, Part 1: Erasing the Boundaries

This is part of a 5-year review of my unexpected spiritual journey into the post-church wilderness.  It was five years ago that my local church blew up and I found myself  - along with 150 of my church friends - on the outside.  What I am sharing here is part of an intentional re-evaluation of my spiritual direction since my exile from the evangelical world.  What began as a 6-month sabbatical has stretched into a 5-year absence... and counting.

There are some things I have learned while on this journey....

Part One:  Erasing the Boundaries.

"He drew a circle that shut me out,

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,

But love and I had the wit to win,

We drew a circle and took him in."

                        -- Edwin Markham, Outwitted.

My dad quoted this poem several times in his sermons that I heard over the first 18 years of my life.  He was preaching about Godly love, about forgiveness and acceptance, about love for the unlovable.  It was a lifestyle that he lived himself.  Gene Sims was known as a magnanimous fellow, the kind that took notice of needy individuals from every strata of society, without regard for social status or wealth or intellect.  He taught his kids this respect for everybody.  He drew a large circle that took everybody in.  It was probably what made it possible for him to continue to embrace his own son - when my brother came out of the closet in his mid-thirties.  Dad just drew his circle a bit bigger - and took Ron in, along with his many gay friends and partners.  Amazing.

Actually, Dad may have moved beyond the theme of his favorite poem...

Like Jesus, he erased the circles entirely.

In his sermons, Jesus made it clear that only God was to judge people, that humans were never to judge each other.  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:37)  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Matt 7:3)

If Jesus drew a circle, it was a very large one.  He was called the "friend of sinners" because he hung out with outsiders (probably because they throw better parties).  Like Jesus, I am planning to spend the rest of my life making no differentiation between insiders and outsiders.  The wheat (believers) and the tares (nonbelievers) look exactly alike, after all.(Matt 13:24-30)  Well, to be honest, since I spent my first 60 years almost entirely with insiders, I would really like to spend much of the rest with outsiders.  There's just less expectation going on, less tension, less pressure to measure up, more acceptance.

There is a mathematical concept called the Bounded Set which has a circle with points located both inside and outside the circle.  This is rather like the evangelical world today.  The whole environment - from the church service, Bible study, Christian summer camp sermon, prayer meeting, discussion group, TV and radio broadcast, song and book - yes, thousands of books - is all about who is in and who is out.  "Are you saved? (are you inside the fold?)"  "Are you faithful about daily devotions?"  "Are you tithing?"  "Did you vote Republican?"  Boundaries everywhere.

Yet, only God judges who is in and who is out.

There is another concept called the Centered Set.  This set has no divisive circle, only a bold point at the very center, then smaller points located on a field all around the center, some close, some farther away.  This is more the way I think about my earthly journey now.  I can be living in such a way that, not only am I moving closer to the center (God) but I can be helping others move closer to the center as well.  But nobody gets to declare when another is inside or outside based on their closeness or their distance from the center.  There may be a circle that God alone has established, but none of us sees the circle or knows where it is, because none of us has the right to judge another.  We must live in total mystery regarding any invisible boundary that God has established.  That frees us to "be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36)  "Because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." (Luke 6:35)  

God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked!  Let the same be said of me!

When Paul spoke to the Athenians about the "unknown god", he included them all inside God's circle.  He was speaking to gentiles and non-believers when he said, "God is not far from each one of us... For in him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

This sounds like the centered set.  Everybody is present, at varying distances from the center, and nobody knows where the boundary is between in and out.

Now, here's the thing:  God apparently operates with a centered set and is the only one who knows when someone is in or out.

And here's the other thing:  The evangelical church operates mostly with the bounded set, drawing circles, making judgements every Sunday morning, and invitations to sinners to cross the next line and become an insider.  For the most part, it is oppressive  and keeps a lot of folks feeling guilty and worried and insecure.  It's a dangerous environment to be part of, even if you like to think for yourself like I do.

Now back to me:  One of the most wonderful things that has happened to me since leaving the institutional church has been the erasure of those circles.  I see everybody as the same: fallible, imperfect human beings deeply loved by God.  My job as a believer is simple:  Love.  And leave the hard judgements up to the Lord.

When Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden was light, he really meant it.  I can testify to it.  I feel free and unburdened, because, despite the evangelical message, "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)  There is nothing I need to do for God but love people - people of all kinds.  Paul said the entire Law was summed up in a single command:  Love your neighbor. (Gal 5:14)

Join me.  Erase the circles, like Jesus did.  Assume that every human being is on the playing field somewhere, and go from there.

Love without judgement and without boundaries.  Just love.

Erasing the exclusive circles does not come easily for the evangelical community, but there are many, like my dad, who have set the pace.  "There's a wideness in God's mercy!" Let there be a wideness in our lives as well.

*For an excellent explanation of churches with Bounded and Centered Sets see Jeremy Myers here.