Saved for What?

 A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a priest friend that really threw me for a loop. He was heavily critiquing The Episcopal Church for always talking about "The Big 5". I wasn't quite clear what all five were to be honest, but two of them that he addressed specifically were immigration reform and LGBTQ+ rights. Now this is someone who politically agrees with me on these issues. But he serves in a congregation of people who tend to be politically conservative. He felt that The Episcopal Church was always talking about "The Big 5" and not talking as much about the Gospel, the need for repentance, for turning to God, and for truly following Jesus. He said repeatedly that one can fight for rights in these areas and not be a Christian, as if that somehow invalidated the need for response from the Church. He critiqued what he saw as The Episcopal Church leaning left and bleeding out members because it wasn't actually following Christ. He pointed to the numerical growth of other denominations who were strong in addressing the need for repentance and salvation in Christ as proof that our emphasis on social reform was misguided. 

It was hard for me to formulate words and his words kept coming. I wanted to scream as I recognized the power disparity, the devaluation of human rights issues as though they were less important to the Gospel, and I kept on wondering, "What do you think we're saved for?" Because as a gay and transgender priest, I could not piece apart how my salvation had nothing to do with lifting up the dignity of others or getting involved in human rights movements. I recognize that in this country, my body is political, that my saying, "Transgender people are loved by God" is to many a political statement. Some would even call it a hopelessly liberal statement, antithetical to Christianity, even though it shouldn't be. Yet, for me not to say it would dull my ministry and dim the light of Christ in my heart. 

One thing my friend said was, "I believe that a homophobe can get into heaven, though it helps to not be homophobic." I agree with my friend that a homophobe can get into heaven. As someone who has had others question or deny my own salvation, I have committed to not questioning or denying salvation to others. It is painful and it assumes that I know more about Christ than they do. There are many faithful Christians who disagree with my marriage, my status as clergy, and I have decided to simply call them sibling in Christ because I see their prayer and their personal connection with God. I don't have to treat them as enemies, but I also don't have to make them my best friends. They are like cousins, some you are naturally closer to, and some you haven't seen since childhood. You don't hate each other, you recognize your relatedness, you chat at family functions, but sometimes that's as far as the relationship goes. 

I think more than anything, this conversation highlighted our divergence, him moving firmly into the spiritualization of religion camp, and me moving away from it. By this I mean that he is increasingly separating religious belief from social and political responsibility, while I have been asking more and more how the Gospel speaks to the social and political realities of our day. We each have our own reasons. It's not wrong to emphasize the personal commitment of Christians, the need to pray, to attend worship, to be part of a Christian community. I think he's right that we can be lax sometimes in emphasizing our reliance on God. He would say that we should get those things right first before entering into conversation about social and political matters. But I think it's wrong to shy away from human rights issues, especially right now. 

We, as the Church in the United States, are living in the consequences of how racial injustice has shaped our theology. There has certainly been more than enough injustice done to Native Americans and other people of color, but I have been learning about Black history in the United States recently. At the beginning of slavery in this country, there was a desire to baptize slaves, but not free them. Before that time there were deep social implications about what it meant to be a Christian. Christians could not own other Christians. Faith demanded social equity, at least among those who shared the same religious convictions. But American theology morphed, it gave into the economic desire to hold slaves. So slaves were baptized, but their salvation did not have an impact on their earthly life. It was only after life that they could see any benefits. They were in hell here, but could dream of heaven later.

Of course slaves didn't buy it. Many Christians didn't buy it. But this trajectory of separating faith from how we relate to each other has widened and deepened this chasm between us and the Kingdom of God. It allowed Christian people to keep others in hells of our own creation. This isn't a trajectory that just started with the United States, it's a worldwide phenomenon that started before the United States was born, but it's a trajectory I recognize when looking at our history. We bowed down to the economy, deciding to trap people into generations of forced labor, abuse, rape, and exploitation, all so we could become one of the richest nations in the world. 

Human rights become political issues when we separate humans from their humanity. This is something that all those in political power in the United States did, even as they declared liberty and justice for all. In not giving freedom to all people, we built hierarchies of humanity, which goes against the Gospel message. 

Certainly we need to embrace the personal dimensions of faith and talk about them, but I don't think it's the only thing we should talk about as a Church. We have shaped a society in the United States that is socially unequal, and while slavery doesn't exist now, the way we use prisoners in industry, the way we say it's the employee's fault they can't pay their bills while the companies they work for net billions of dollars, the ways we both rely on immigrants from Mexico and South America for cheap agricultural labor yet demonize them for coming here, the way we lock children in detention centers away from their parents, prove that we are still dealing with how racism and the devaluation of humans shape our society. We have indeed bowed to the economy and racialized fear more than we have bowed to God. 

The devaluation of humans is an issue that requires a response from people of faith. Because what are we saved for? Once we have been marked as Christ's own forever, how are we to live? Certainly we must live a life of self-examination and prayer, must be molded and shaped by the Bible and tradition, but there is a social component to all of this. I cannot give my full self to Christ without also giving my social, economic, and political self to Christ. 

When it comes to salvation, I think most about heaven when I think about the hells I see on earth. When I see the degradation of human life, when I see some people denying rights to others, when I see abuse and neglect, I see hell. I don't deny that there are spiritual powers of wickedness, most commonly personified in the person of the devil, because I've seen them at work in the world. Looking at hell, I begin to dream of heaven. I want to see God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. I want the world to be redeemed.

I believe that following Jesus impacts every aspect of our lives, including how we form our society. I think a personal relationship with Christ is vital, but a Christian community centered in Christ is infinitely more powerful than any one individual. We are all part of one Body, and together we can change the world. I also believe that working together as people in nations, as citizens of countries, we can help some out of hells that are on earth, though imperfectly. 

Being able to piece apart what is civic and what is religious is also important. I have no desire to create a politically liberal or politically conservative church. I find church communities of the same political mindset disappointing. I find some within the Church equating Christian living with voting and volunteering, and I disagree. I don't think Christ saved us to make us all politically similar. But Christ did save us that we might also help God save others. 

We are saved, not just for heaven after earth, we are saved to help bring about God's dreams for heaven on earth, otherwise known as the Kingdom of God. Talking about the Kingdom of God requires talking about human rights issues. It requires talking about who gets daily bread and who doesn't. Whose trespasses get forgiven and who gets punished severely for them. May we never be tempted to create a Church that only focuses on social issues to the point where we think humanity can save the planet, but let us also never be tempted to focus solely on the human individual, becoming blind to the evils in our society that go against the society God dreams of building with our hands. God does have the power to deliver us from evil, for God is in control. God's is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen.