| | Today I was struck by a difference between my experiences among "mainliner" Christians at Duke Divinity School and the more "conservative" friends from my youth group years. At Duke, many people talk about humanity's "brokenness." "We are a 'broken' people," I often hear from from students and teachers. Heck, in my first year here one person leading the Eucharist had the audacity to break the bread while listing off different countries and people who are broken. She stood in front of us, grabbed one of the many loaves/crackers and proceeded to break one after another. I remember her breaking the first piece while saying, "Iraq...broken." Then, "America...broken." Eventually, it came down to, "We are ... broken." Okay. What about Jesus? I thought that this bread/cracker and wine/grape juice were supposed to be for us the body and blood of Christ? Not Iraq. Not America. Not ourselves. Whoa. Anyway, I say all of this as an example of how some here talk about humanity being broken. Even tonight in one class the teacher talked about the general condition of humanity's brokenness and Christians' call for reconciliation. Then, I start driving home. I was listening to the O.C. Supertones' live CD. They were totally one of my favorite bands back in the day, and I admit to still listening to them quite a lot. I think they have some of the most profound, thoughtful, and intelligent lyrics in all of Christian music. Anyway, on their live CD they have a few songs where they lead the group in worship songs from my youth group memories. One of these songs is "Holiness." You probably remember the song: "Holiness, holiness is what I long for, holiness is what I need." Then, a verse that follows is: "Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for, brokenness is what I need." Wow! What a difference! Here we have people singing to God for brokenness. Now, I always sang this verse with a bit of hesitation, but I still sang it. These conservative Christians certainly look for reconciliation (although others may try to say they don't), but they leave room for brokenness. This is a significant difference. Now, I must admit that these two groups are probably meaning something different by "brokenness," but I think this variation may point to a deeper difference between the two parties. It seems to me that most mainliners look for a kind of Christianity that speaks mostly to the current situation of the human. If a person is hurting, then God wants them to feel better. If people are trapped in what I may call a sin, many mainliners speak of this as just evidence of the world's brokenness. On the other hand, most others think of humans needing to be broken so that their perspectives might be changed. We need to be broken because we are too selfish. We need to be broken so we crawl to God as our only hope. I still relate more to this latter understanding, but I also recognize that this may not fall well on the ears of certain people or groups of people who have experienced significant suffering. I do not need to go to a Native American or a disabled person and convince her that she needs to be broken. She probably is already. But I do need to go to the spoiled teenager or the frat boy and convince him that he needs to be broken. Might this be a difference in groups to which these two parties are ministering? I certainly do not think so, although that is probably what the mainliners would want to tell us. Mainliners get off on thinking that they care for the poor and disenfranchised, and yet many or most mainline churches are filled with the rich, powerful, and arrogant who are nominal Christians at best. Granted, many seeker churches are filled with middle class American-loving people, but many conservative churches also have powerful ministries to the poor and disenfranchised - just as much as any mainline group would hope to have. I have seen a deep and sincere care for the disenfranchised in conservative churches. So, I don't think this is the cause of the difference. No, I think we have a good ol' theological difference on this matter. What is our focus? Like I said, I suppose I tend to side with the Supertones on this one, and this is probably informed by my theological bent. I am a Baptist who understands baptism and salvation as dying and rising with Jesus. We are called to be crucified with Christ and forsake ourselves for the cause of Christ. Therefore, I see a call to brokenness. Let my arrogant and selfish spirit be broken so I may fall into deeper devotion to Jesus' call. So, I will hesitantly, fearfully, and boldly continue to sing along, "Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for" (and even more honestly), "brokenness is what I need." |
