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Sugar-Free Religion
Trimming the Fluff from a Fragmented Faith
By Denny C. Wise Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2014 Denny C. Wise
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-3887-1
CHAPTER 1
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE "UNION" IN COMMUNION
THE TRAGEDY OF A HUMPTY-DUMPTY CHURCH
If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
—Mark 3:25
My first appointment was to Trinity United Methodist Church in Marshallberg, a quaint fishing village on the coast of North Carolina. My wife, Judy, came from the central part of the state and the thought of living on a tiny peninsula did unnerve her a bit. "What about hurricanes?" she sobbed.
At the time, Marshallberg was fifteen miles from the nearest supermarket. But don't feel too sorry for my young bride and me, as we were constantly getting oysters, shrimp, and fresh fish delivered to the parsonage door. Once, a neighbor brought a bushel of live crabs. I was away visiting at the time, so when he asked Judy, "Where would you like this basket, Ma'am?" she hesitated, but said with feigned assurance, "Oh, just put them on the washing machine."
By the time I got home, Judy was frantic. She had a life-long fear of spiders, and now there were slimy spider-like things scampering sideways all over the house with threatening claws held high. I would love to have that scene on a video. It was quite a show, as I scrambled on hands and knees, trying to corner those slithering blue-green crustaceans—without getting pinched. One was even under the couch. I knew if I failed to corral even one of those critters, it would die and ruin our lovely new parsonage. Fortunately, I was able to capture, clean, cook and devour every one. Yummm! Thanks be to God!
In those days, I was young and brash. I thought I could change the world. "I know your problem," I would say, "and I can help!" The people would reply, "What problem?" A concern we immediately observed in our tiny village, was the absence of anything for the teenagers. So with our teens on board, we decided to turn an old community building there into a youth center.
Unbelievably, in only one month at our new appointment, we managed to organize a little carnival as a fund-raiser. We had balloons, games, a bake sale, bag races, a bike-decorating contest, a watermelon-eating contest, and a talent show. We started the day off with a parade. Since almost everyone had boats and trailers, we challenged the village people to turn their boats into floats. It worked—even better than expected. Judy dressed up as a clown and went down the parade route, bouncing a four-foot beach ball while a dog nipped at her legs. People thought it was all part of the act, and so they cheered and clapped with delight. What a trooper she was, with teeth marks to prove it!
Now the reason I tell you this story is that Marshallberg just happened to be roughly divided, both numerically and geographically, between Methodists and Baptists. In order to get to the community building, our parade had to cross into Baptist territory. You could see Baptist mothers restraining their eager children behind screen doors as the parade went by. Those desperate housewives did not want the Methodists corrupting their little ones with dart throwing and other forms of "gambling" and "sin!" Even after successfully opening the Community Youth Center, there were still Baptist parents who wouldn't let their teens participate. Over the years, I have encountered many other examples of senseless division, as God's children scatter like crabs, slithering off sideways in a thousand different directions.
One day a man pulled to a stop at a traffic light and read the sticker on the car in front of him. It said, "Honk if you love Jesus." So he honked. A matronly lady leaped from the car in anger, pointing up to the light. "Look, you fool, the %$#$ light is still red!" So how do we heal this broken world when we can't even heal the rifts between ourselves?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
Has Christ been divided?
—1 Corinthians 1:13
At a time when we desperately need to stand together, Christendom finds itself fragmented, almost beyond repair. Devout believers turn on one another in hate, to ridicule and even kill in the name of God. I am saddened when the pope proclaims that only Roman Catholics are true Christians or the KKK invokes Jesus to justify hating Jews, Hispanics, and blacks—all of whom were created in his own image. I am appalled when Christians kill doctors who perform abortions or align themselves against all gun restrictions, along with the NRA.
There are even hidden divisive messages in books like the Left Behind series. I suspect you have seen those bold bumper stickers that so arrogantly proclaim, "In case of the rapture, this car will be unmanned." Did Jesus shed his blood on Calvary to encourage schisms and divisions or did he die to bring unity?
To me, that bumper sticker is saying, "Na, na, na, na, na! I will take flight, rising up like a weather balloon to meet Jesus in the air, while you slobs will be left behind. You and all other nonbelievers will suffer terrible torment in the tribulation. So too bad for you and too bad for all sinners, homosexuals, pagans, prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, believers in pro-choice, and believers in evolution. Get off the bus; you're not one of us!"
WHY CAN'T WE LEARN TO GET ALONG?
I ask you, when some churches call themselves "full Gospel," does that mean the rest of us are (at best) only "half Gospel?" And when they call themselves "Bible believers," does this not imply the rest of us are "Bible nonbelievers?" Why can't we learn from each other and grow? Charismatic denominations certainly could use a little more reason in their worship, and mainline denominations could certainly use a lot more enthusiasm in theirs! Can't we tolerate our differences and celebrate the same Lord we all hold dear? God must weep to see us so divided! Jesus shed tears like drops of blood, praying we would all be perfectly one, but look at us. There are hundreds of different "Christian" sects in America—with millions of duplications of buildings, literature, and resources. What a waste, what a tragedy, what a sin!
Even King David understood that sometimes God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies! Surely, there is room at God's table for more than one point of view. After all, we have four different Gospels. We do not have to think exactly alike to find a place at the Lord's Table. John Wesley said, "Let my soul lie with these Christians, whosoever they are, and whatsoever opinion they are of." Surely God is not so narrow-minded that he would condemn a person to everlasting torment because they belong to a certain denomination or are brought up in a certain religion.
Once upon a time, an Indian medicine man was sitting by the river on a huge flat rock near the entrance to a large cavern, eating a sweet potato. Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw wondrous visions of God! Immediately, he returned home to share his sacred experience with the people of his village. They, in turn, responded by hurrying down to the river bank. There they all huddled together to meditate on the huge flat rock in front of the cavern, eating sweet potatoes.
Don't you get it? The villagers missed the point! Neither the big flat rock nor the cave, nor the river, nor the sweet potato had anything to do with the holy man's religious experience. This has been the story of the church for two thousand years. Christians have squabbled over the trivial stuff such as immersion versus sprinkling. At the same time, they have missed the spiritual message of unity and tolerance and the wonder that Jesus came to bring.
You have probably heard the story of the man and his wife who were riding together on a bicycle built for two. "Phew! Thank God we finally made it!" the weary man moaned, as he crested an especially steep hill. "Honey, I know exactly what you mean," sighed his wife. "If I hadn't kept my foot on the brake the whole way up, we both would have slid right down that terrible hill!" Is this a parable of the church?
Remember when Jesus began his ministry? The ultra-traditionalist groups, the Sadducees, the Scribes, and the Pharisees were always there to block his path and challenge his every purpose. These were not bad people, they sincerely meant well. Their intentions were quite noble. In fact, they were the most moral and religious leaders of his day. But because Jesus was different, they saw him as a radical threat to their conservative way of life. They saw themselves as an elite moral people, set apart to come to God's defense! They were fighting against the invasion of strange new beliefs from Romans, Hellenist, pagans, and "false prophets." So they tried to put the brakes on Jesus, simply in God's defense! How little times have changed! There are many devout conservative Christians today with the same mindset. They believe God needs them to run interference for him, and protect him from evil people, like "socialists!" (See Acts 2:44–45)
Occasionally, I will receive a list of "Christian" candidates they say deserve my vote. Certain groups proudly claim that Jesus is on their side, when in truth, if he were to run for president, he would be unelectable. Can you imagine, for example, what the image handlers would do with one who tells this affluent, self-indulgent society to deny themselves and make sacrifices for the needy, instead of creating tax breaks for themselves? Ouch! And how would Wall Street bankers react to his embarrassing request to lend only to those who could not pay them back? (Luke 6:34–36)
My point is, just when you think you have Jesus safely tucked away, he comes out with some outlandish word to remind us that he is God, and God's ways are not our ways.
And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.
—Matthew 11:6
WHAT'S THE THING YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT JESUS?
In the late 1960s, I helped organize a coffeehouse beach ministry at Atlantic Beach, known as the Koinonia House. One of the theme songs we used was a song entitled, "That's the Thing I Don't Like about Jesus." It made the point that sooner or later, the vertical will of God will confront the horizontal will of man, forming a cross, and on that conflicting cross, Jesus had to die! For example, perhaps you don't like our Lord's stand on "turning the other cheek." Perhaps, he sounds far too much like a bleeding-heart, liberal pacifist to you! Then again, if you consider yourself to be a liberal, Jesus may not satisfy you either or sound nearly liberal enough to suit you. After all, he could have said a lot more about social justice and corruption in high places, for your tastes. And he could have said a lot less about personal sacrifice and absolute devotion to duty. You see, whatever the issue, Jesus was always an equal opportunity offender.
AH, HOLY JESUS, HOW HAST THOU OFFENDED?
Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground, he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering "and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces" he was despised and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken struck down by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
—Isaiah 53:1–6
In my early years of Sunday school, the walls of our classroom always had a picture of Jesus. This picture was always of a handsome, slightly effeminate, gentle-looking man who wouldn't hurt a fly. No wonder almost every group, no matter how off-the-wall (including the KKK), liked to claim Jesus was on their side. He is so popular that car dealers have used him to boost sales. But the frustrating thing about Jesus is that he absolutely refuses to choose up sides. Instead, he offers both judgment and grace to all, even me and you! He calls us all to repent. The truth is that our sweet gentle Jesus could make people mad—mad enough to kill him.
If you abuse drugs and alcohol, surely Jesus will call you to account, yet he made 160 gallons of wine at a wedding party. He called the unrighteous to repent, but he was also called a friend of publicans and sinners. He offered free grace but said the way to salvation was narrow and hard and few would find it (Matthew 7:14). He was a man of peace, but some of his twelve disciples carried swords by his command (Luke 22:36). Still, he said only two swords were "enough" (sword control?) (Luke 22:38).
He often ate with rich men and talked a lot about investments, but he told the rich young ruler to redistribute his wealth to the less fortunate (Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22) and proclaimed the year of Jubilee as "good news to the poor" (Luke 4:16–20). If you are rich, he said that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for you to enter the kingdom of heaven. But if you are poor, he said "the poor you will always have with you" (as our responsibility perhaps?) (See Deuteronomy 15:7–11).
So to the advocates of free speech, he might say, "I tell you, on the day of judgment, you will have to give an account of every careless word you utter, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36), and "woe to anyone who would place a stumbling block before one of these little ones" (Matthew 18:6). However, if you support censorship, he said, "Nothing is covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim to the housetops" (Matthew 10:26–27).
If you just love to gobble up the sweet aroma and syrupy fluff of cotton-candy praise worship, he would say, "Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven ..." (Matthew 7:21) But if your worship is "zombie"—cold, dry, and formal—he would say, "I know you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead" (Revelation 3:1). If you seek a sweet and gentle Jesus, he would say, "I have come not to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34), "I have come to set father against son and mother against daughter" (Luke 12:53). But if you are a hawk, he said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the Children of God" (Matthew 5:9).
If you interpret the Bible literally, he would say, "You have heard it said of old ... but I say unto you." (He was correcting an Old Testament error!) But if you interpret the Bible loosely, he said, "Not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (See Matthew 5:18 and John 19:30).
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Sugar-Free Religion by Denny C. Wise. Copyright © 2014 Denny C. Wise. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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