Okay – I’m just parodying the Wizard of Oz; I don’t plan to define either, and I know that there is good in all of us. Today’s thought asks the question: are you a St. Francis kind of follower, or a Crusader kind of believer? I have just started reading Elizabeth Neumann’s amazing book, “Kingdom of Rage”, and my question comes from her analysis. She looks at how so much of the church in America has transformed itself since 9/11 into an aberration of what the church, and how we can come back from this dangerous practice of violent “Christianity.” And while there are more than two kinds of Jesus-followers, these two seem to me to be polar opposites that make the point. Are you a lover of God who is in harmony with the world and the peaceful teachings of Jesus, or are you a warrior willing to destroy the heretics?
I will admit that there have been times in my life when I struggled with this paradox. I would see the perversions of faith around me, and how they hurt innocent people, and I would yearn for that proverbial bolt of lightning to take the oppressor out. I always saw this as righteous anger, but the reality is that it was also a form of judgment that is only reserved for God. There have been other times when I have sought inner peace and oneness with the world, using my words to try to convince people who practice the opposite of what Jesus taught that they needed to repent and be renewed; I have been in that phase for at least the last 10 years. I have come to realize that I cannot make others change – I can only point the way. In fact, I don’t believe that God forces people to change; we all have the freedom to grow in our faith – or not – toward a more peaceful, kind way of being. We are all on a journey of discovery.
The St. Francis mode of faith seeks to understand where people are so that they can be helped to move towards greater depth and unity with the Spirit. The Crusader mode believes that our task is to make the world more like the kingdom, and it uses any means necessary – even the law – to force us into compliance. The church through history has largely embraced the latter, forcing affirmations of faith and writing Creeds that define who is in and who is out. Much of what is happening in politics today is being fueled by this righteous anger, making women subservient and limiting people’s freedom. This isn’t the way that Jesus did His work, but most Crusaders don’t really care about that. They believe in their reshaping of the Gospel into their own image above all else, and others need to kneel or get their heads metaphorically chopped off.
What kind of kingdom do you believe in? I think it is obvious that I am with St. Francis; I prefer to live the best faith life I can and work to change the world through love rather than rage. Forced faith and piety aren’t real, and history has shown us that the result of that kind of oppression only brings about rebellion against religion. We have seen it in Europe for decades, and we see the fruits of that kind of abusive behavior in America now. The only way to bring about revival is to turn away from the Crusaders and back towards St. Francis and his view of Jesus. Because Crusaders only bring about death and destruction; a St. Francis kind of faith is about life and love and grace.
Prayer – Holy God, You have shown us the way through Your servants of peace; show us the way again. We need to return to the way of peace. Amen.
Today’s art is of St. Francis and is on numerous websites, but none of them say who the artist is.