10 Reasons Why “10 Reasons Why Men Should NOT be Ordained” Doesn’t Apply to Me

A couple days ago I posted a list of the 10 Reasons Why Men Should Not be Ordained. However, after some thinking I have decided that they do not apply to me. Below I refute each reason. Guess my call in life is still safe…

10. I am a pacifist and so do not believe in serving in the army

9. I don’t have children

8. My physique in no way qualifies me to chop down trees or wrestle mountain lions; plus, big animals with teeth scare me…oh, and I don’t really like cats anyway

7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation (ok, good point)

6. I don’t watch sports

5. I’m not going to distract any female worshipers

4. Maybe I can try…

3. Again, pacifist…

2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take. (again, good point…)

1. Repairing roofs? I am afraid of heights. And I am an academic so I have no idea how to repair anything.

Well, assuming I can try # 4 only two still apply. But 80% isn’t too bad.

10 Reasons Why Men Should NOT be Ordained

These are great…A little fun in the midst of the end of the semester…

10. A man’s place is in the army.

9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.

8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do ministerial tasks.

7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation.

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. Their conduct at football and basketball games demonstrates this.

5. Some men are handsome, and this will distract women worshipers.

4. Pastors need to nurture their congregations. But this is not a traditional male role. Throughout history, women have been recognized as not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more fervently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.

3. Men are prone to violence. No really masculine man wants to settle disputes except by fighting about them. Thus they would be poor role models as well as dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take.

1. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep sidewalks, repair the church roof, and perhaps even lead the song service on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the church.

(HT: Eugene Cho)

Transnational Eucharistic Identity

At the Eucharist we are fellow citizens not merely of other currently living Americans or Germans or Britons, but of those in heaven who have gone before us and toward whom we now strain forward.  In this eschatological view we must regard all human beings, Christians and non-Christians alike, as at least potential members of the Body of Christ.

-William T. Cavanaugh, Theopolitical Imagination

‘The Bread You Possess Belongs to the Hungry’

“They say: Whom do I wrong by keeping my property? What, tell me, is your property? Where did you find it and brought it to your life? Just like someone in the theatre, who had a seat and then stopped those who entered, judging that what lies common in front of everyone to use, was his own: rich men are of the same kind. They first took possession of the common property, and then they keep it as their own because they were the first to take it. If one had taken what is necessary to cover one’s needs and had left the rest to those who are in need, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, no one would be in need.

Isn’t it true, that you fell off the womb naked? Isn’t it true, that naked you shall return to the earth? Where is your present property from? If you think that it came to you by itself, you don’t believe in God, you don’t acknowledge the creator and you are not thankful to him who gave it to you. But if you agree and confess that you have it from God, tell us the reason why he gave it to you. …

Who is the greedy person? It’s him who doesn’t content himself with what he has. And who strips? He who steals what belongs to the others. And you think that you are not greedy, and that you do not strip the others? What was granted to you, in order for you to take care of the others, you took it and you made it your own. What do you think?

He who strips the clothed is to be called a thief. How should we name him, who is able to dress the naked and doesn’t do it, does he deserve some other name? The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need. You wrong as many people as you were able to help.” —St. Basil

St. Basil was bishop of Caesarea in the 4th century.

‘The Bread You Possess Belongs to the Hungry’. by St. Basil. Sojourners Magazine, May 2008 (Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 15).

A Litany of Resistance

Got this in my email today.  Posting it as something for you to think about.  It is from Shane Claiborne’s new book Jesus for President (which I have not read).  I do not necessarily agree with every statement in this litany – they might go too far in a couple areas – but interesting nonetheless…

Litany of Resistance
by Shane Claiborne, Chris Haw, Jim Loney and Brian Walsh

One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Have mercy on us.

One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Free us from the bondage of sin and death.

One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Hear our prayer. Grant us peace.

One: For the victims of war.
All: Have mercy.

One: Women, men and children.
All: Have mercy.

One: The maimed and the crippled.
All: Have mercy.

One: The abandoned and the homeless.
All: Have mercy.

One: The widowed and the orphaned.
All: Have mercy.

One: The bleeding and the dying.
All: Have mercy.

One: The weary and the desparate.
All: Have mercy.

One: The lost and the forsaken.
All: Have mercy.

One: O God, have mercy on us sinners.
All: Forgive us for we know not what we do.

One: For our scorched and blackened earth.
All: Forgive us.

One: For the scandal of billions wasted in war.
All: Forgive us.

One: For our arms makers and arms dealers.
All: Forgive us.

One: For our Caesars and our Herods.
All: Forgive us.

One: For the violence that is rooted in our hearts.
All: Forgive us.

One: For the times we turn others into enemies.
All: Forgive us.

One: Deliver us, O God.
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace.

One: Hear our prayer.
All: Grant us peace.

One: From the arrogance of power.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the myth of redemptive violence.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the tyranny of greed.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the ugliness of racism.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the cancer of hatred.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the seduction of wealth.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the addiction of control.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the idolatry of nationalism.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the paralysis of cynicism.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the violence of apathy.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the ghettos of poverty.
All: Deliver us.

One: From the ghettos of wealth.
All: Deliver us.

One: From a lack of imagination.
All: Deliver us.

One: Deliver us, O God.
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace.

One: We will not conform to the patterns of this world.
All: Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

One: With the help of God’s grace.
All: Let us resist evil wherever we find it.

One: With the waging of war.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the legalization of murder.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the slaughter of innocents.
All: We will not comply.

One: With laws that betray human life.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the destruction of community.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the pointing finger and malicious talk.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the idea that happiness must be purchased.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the ravaging of the earth.
All: We will not comply.

One: With principalities and powers that oppress.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the destruction of peoples.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the raping of women.
All: We will not comply.

One: With governments that kill.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the theology of empire.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the business of militarism.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the hoarding of riches.
All: We will not comply.

One: With the dissemination of fear.
All: We will not comply.

One: Today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the kingdom of God.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To a peace that is not like Rome’s.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the gospel of enemy-love.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the kingdom of the poor and broken.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To a king who loves his enemies so much he died for them.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the least of these, with whom Christ dwells.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the transnational church that transcends the artificial borders of nations.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the refugee of Nazareth.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the cross rather than the sword.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the banner of love above any flag.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war horse.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the way that leads to life.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: To the slaughtered lamb.
All: We pledge allegiance.

One: And together we proclaim his praises, from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power.
All: Long live the slaughtered lamb.

One: Long live the slaughtered lamb.
All: Long live the slaughtered lamb.

More from Rudolph Bourne’s “War is the Health of the State”

“The triumphant orthodoxy of the State is shown at its apex perhaps when Christian preaches lose their pulpits for taking in more or less literal terms the Sermon on the Mount, and Christian zealots are sent to prison for twenty years for distributing tracts which argue that war is unscriptural.”

Can we even expect this to happen anymore?

Talk Amongst Yourselves…

Why is it that we expect Muslims clerics to come out and condemn terrorism, but we expect Christian pastors to come out and support the war?

On Being Homeless

In the movie Garden State the main character Andrew (played by Zach Braff) and Sam (played by Natalie Portman) talk about the idea of “home.” Andrew says, “You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone.” Later, he continues, “You’ll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it’s just gone. And you can never get it back. It’s like you get homesick for a place that doesn’t exist. I mean it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.”

I wonder how many people feel this way. Especially those of us who are in our 20’s and 30’s. We are transient generation. I was talking to someone a couple weeks ago about how nice it would be to stop moving around, to settle down – put down roots, find someone with whom to live life and experience those simple every day things. To have something as simple as matching dishes. How nice it would be to have everything in one place. To make friends with the idea that you will be around for a while to cultivate those friendships. To begin building that idea of home again. For now, however, many of us have a sense of homelessness, lostness, disconnectedness. Even as we live in a community together.

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of opportunities to build community, but I wonder how many of feel like we have a place we can call home. In The Land Walter Brueggemann writes, “The sense of being lost, displaced, and homeless is pervasive in contemporary culture. The yearning to belong somewhere, to have a home, to be in a safe place, is a deep and moving pursuit. Loss of place and yearning for place are dominant images.”

For many people in our ‘postmodern age’ we have space, but we do not have place. Space is everywhere. Place is something altogether different. Again Brueggemann:

Place is space that has historical meanings, where some things have happened that are now remembered and that provide continuity and identity across generations. Place is space in which important words have been spoken that have established identity, defined vocation, and envisioned destiny. Place is space in which vows have been exchanged, promises have been made, and demands have been issues. Place is indeed a protest against the unpromising pursuit of space. It is a declaration that our humanness cannot be found in escape, detachment, absence of commitment, and undefined freedom.

Place has a sacredness that space does not. In The Hermeneutics of Charity Brian Walsh and Steven Bouma-Prediger examine this phenomenon of home and space in “With and Without Boundaries: Christian Homemaking Admist Postmodern Homelessness.” They lay out seven characteristics of what it means to be home.

1) Home is a place of permanence and familiarity. It is more than a place to say, but “signifies a certain degree of spatial permanence, a kind of enduring presence or residence.”

2) Home is not simply a house, but there must be an experience of at-homeness that makes the house into a home. This happens “when it is transformed by memories into a place of identity, connectedness, meaning, order, appropriation, and care.” Another way to say this is that homes are “narratively formed.” Forgetfulness then becomes exile; “once stories are forgotten, there is no home to return to becuase there is no place, or even potential place, that could be shaped by those stories.”

3) To dwell is “to be at peace.” So, home is a place of rest. A place of enough, of satisfaction, of contentment.

4) Homes require the practice of hospitality, or they become self-enclosed fortresses. A sense of home is formed in the welcome of the other.

5) A sense of home requires inhabitation. A putting down of roots. It is a matter of being “not merely at our destination but fully involved in it.” Care and cultivation of a particular space turn the space into a place and make a home.

6) Home is a point of orientation. “Home is a nomic structure that provides order and direction for life.” Home is how we orient everything else we do, and everywhere else we go.

7) Home is a place of belonging, acceptance, and affiliation. Home is “where people know me, and where I find recognition without having to struggle for it.” Home is a place where we belong, and a place that belongs to us.

Home sounds like a pretty good place…

(More to come…)

Erotic Jesus

So, as I keep procrastinating from working on my paper I stumbled across a page on my WordPress Dashboard that gives me stats for my blog.  Apparently the top search term that leads people here is ‘erotic Jesus.’  I wonder what they were looking for.  And I wonder if they found it.

The Eucharist is a necessity for life

“…the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is not a luxury that the baptized can permit themselves according to their own mood or convenience, but something they can just as easily do without.  The Sunday celebration is a necessity of life, for after at most a week the community is in danger of losing its memory.  The continual erosion of memory and the constant danger of individual isolation work against the conscious memory of the Eucharistic celebration.”

-Gerhard Lohfink, Does God Need the Church?

I can feel this in my own life.  The entire liturgy is a reminder to me of the faithfulness of God.  I am reminded that he feeds me when I have nothing to bring to the table.  That he always provides when I am in need.  And that even when I feel alone there is a community constituted by sharing in the bread and the wine, in the Body and the Blood.