The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is one of the larger fishing competitions on the East Coast. Needless to say, if you happen to land a championship Blue Marlin, you're kind of a big deal. In June 2010 the fishing vessel Citation did just that by landing a tournament record 883 pound Marlin, which dwarfed the nearest competition and easily took home the $1,000,000 grand prize. An onslaught of pictures and interviews ensued over the eclat fish, the anglers beaming along side their haughty catch, and the ceremonial "big check" was brought out as the finale of the seven day event. However, the celebration was short lived as the judges soon noticed a glaring flaw: one of the Citation 's hired crew neglected to acquire a North Carolina fishing license. By the end of the week the judges concluded the inevitable; the blatant violation of tournament rules required the disqualification of the Citation from the tourney and the immediate return of the massive purse.
Major Oops. After months of preparation and planing, thousands of dollars invested in bait, tackle, and equipment, and years of acquired experience, all of it goes to waste over forgetting to purchase a 15 buck fishing permit. To be honest, it's laughably depressing that such a simple detail could be so significant and whose absence could be so devastating. Then again, it's pretty easy to put the cart before the horse, a hysteron proteron for you Hellenists out there, and suddenly realize that in the midst of complex planning and the working out of minute intricacies we completely forgot to do the most basic of tasks and pay heed to the most obvious of solutions or precautions. Without gas, the most well tuned car won't drive; without food, even the most fit and gifted athlete will falter; and without addition, even the most brilliant mathematician would be left in stupor.
Also, without consistent goal-tending, the Red Wings can't get a break. Thanks Jimmy Howard.
Sometimes, in the midst of the passion and the sweeping motions of the entangled knot that is our lives we become so preoccupied with untangling its twists and snarls that we don't even realize that we ourselves have become entangled in the very knot we so vehemently struggle to unravel. We forget that sometimes the little things that are so self-evident are in fact the most essential factor; so essential that the entire phenomenon is dependent upon this seemingly simple factor.
Christianity is thrust into chaos on a daily basis. Just last night I heard first hand how quickly schism and division tear asunder the church. A congregation in Michigan, led by a few well-intending but over zealous congregants, informed the spiritual community that a female pastor would be speaking in May. Some of the congregants, however, hold an interpretation of scripture, such that they have been led to believe that a woman should not be ordained and to do so goes against what the Bible says. Because of the suddenness of this announcement with little or no warning many members of this congregation were scandalized and offended, causing arguments and flashes of anger and even the departure of a couple Christ-following families over the conflict due to the hurt the breadth of the prior actions caused.
Now, I personally believe that the Holy Spirit is not restricted by gender; male and female are both children of God and both are, through the grace of Christ and the Love of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, called to be pastors and caretakers of the Lord's beloved. However, such a view challenges others; by scandalize I mean it causes our brothers and sisters to stumble, to come into spiritual conflict which has left them stranded and alienated from their community. Though I feel it is surely necessary for the church to allow full freedom to the Spirit of God such actions cannot be taken via oppression and insensitivity while neglecting any consideration and compassion concerning the struggles of our fellow Christian. In that regard, no matter how right or true to God we may be, we are in the wrong and have given up humility to our pride of liberal correctness and sense of righteous indignation towards those who we see as weak and simple minded.
Huldreich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, knew this well. In one treatise, he makes clear that true Christian love "demands that every one avoid that which can offend or vex his neighbor" for "One should make those of little faith strong in the faith." In saying this, Zwingli reflects on Romans 14 and concludes that as Christians we should see to it that;
The weak is not to be allowed to remain weak, but is to be instructed in the truth, not with subtle arguments, by which one becomes more doubtful, but with the pure, simple truth, so that all doubt may be removed.
As Romans 15:1-2 says: We who are strong ought to put up with the failing of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. This in mind, three things come to the surface:
1) Those who are weak and who need to be taught what the truth of Scripture is need to be given the truth. Christ-followers guide each other through the trials and struggles of faith and into the places where very often we come to a conjuncture where little makes sense, where the Word of God causes internal clashing and a stockpile of sticky questions. Those of us who have fought and wrestled with such conflicts and have been led by the Holy Spirit with Christ as our guide must, as he did, do unto others and guide them as gently and meekly as we were guided.
2) Those who are strong and who need to teach this truth need to be meek and emulate Christ in this teaching. It is uncalled for and frankly quasi-demonic to force anything, even if it be the truth, down people's throats with no concern that they may be choking on such premises. If one truly believes that Christ has called women to be ordained ministers of the Word and truly feels called to bring that to the fruition of God's Kingdom, then why would they ever scandalize and call into question such truth through their pompous actions? To truly teach the truth means, as Zwingli said, not the sweeping charge of an army of self-righteous hipsters, but instead the humility and compassion of Jesus Christ.
3) In bearing the failings, or the 'infirmities', of the weak, neither side is to act with the pride of assumption their their opinion and belief is the end-all of dialogue and testing of one's belief. NEVER should one's faith and belief come to a standstill of scrutiny and inquiry as long as one does so in prayer and in light of what Christ has done on the cross. We should always be seeking how we may become more true, more aligned, and more conformed to Jesus Christ through his Word and through his work in us. As Barth writes in his Epistle to the Romans:
We ought to bear the infirmities of the weak...Should we, whilst appearing to bear their infirmities, secretly rejoice in our strength and freedom? But that is not to bear infirmity. After all, the New Testament is not a theatre. The bearing of infirmity is a wholly existential occurrence; it is a genuine being-weak with the weak.
Thus, if we truly feel that Scripture and the Holy Spirit have revealed truth to us, and this truth is not dependent primarily on culture, on social norms, on the popular trends of the day, but are based on the Word of God, then we who may understand this truth are called not to force adherence to other Christians, but are to walk along their struggle. We are not to chastise such weakness; contrary, we are to walk alongside the weak and share their weakness and re-enter wrestling with our faith alongside them, doing so in complete humility knowing that we will never know all the answers.
Conflict is always a plenty. Between Rob Bell's supposed "universalism" and the constant burdens of Christian history there are an endless supply of such clashing points. The question is not, first and foremost, who is closer to the right; the question is are we placing our firm foundation on Christ? Are these clashes merely individual beefs of immovable objects, or are we truly engaging the truth with our feet planted firmly on Jesus Christ? Too often, we concentrate on the sweeping issues which cause discontent and disassociation. Yet, how often do we ignore the basic root of our faith, the hope for eternity, and the love which unconditionally reaches out to us even in our perpetual bickering? We can catch all the Blue Marlin we want, but without the basic license we will get no farther than whence we started. In the same, no mater how deeply and dearly we wish to change our world, our church, and our society it means next to nothing if such change, liberation, and movement isn't founded upon the Word of God and the beautiful and terrifying act of Jesus Christ on the cross. Until that moment, all the rest is mere vainglory.
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