Perspective: All Kinds

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All Kinds

To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not weep."

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, "He has a demon"; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!"  Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

Luke 7:31-35 (NRSV)

Love will hold us together

Make us a shelter weather the storm

And I'll be my brothers keeper

So the whole world will know that we're not alone

From "Hold Us Together" by Matt Maher

It would seem that part of being a prophet - a person who speaks on behalf of God - is having a lot of critics.  Throughout the Gospel story, we can see that there were plenty of people who were always more than ready to criticize Jesus, most of whom were religious leaders.  John, Jesus' predecessor, had his share of critics as well, perhaps from the same lot.

One day, Jesus became rather frustrated with John's and His critics and compared them to "children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.'"  I might be missing some of the cultural significance of what Jesus said, but I think He was saying that His critics were like children who were unhappy because nobody else wanted to play what they wanted to play when they wanted to play it.  They criticized one prophet and then turned around and criticized another who was very different from the first.  Neither was suitable to this fickle bunch.

John was rather eccentric.  He lived in the wilderness, apart from society; he never touched a drop of alcohol; and he was a fiery preacher who called his audience a "brood of vipers" and warned them that they had better get right with God or suffer the consequences.  Jesus was the polar opposite of John.  He traveled from town to town; He enjoyed food and drink with all kinds of people, from religious leaders to tax collectors; He was rather accepting of people, especially those on the margins; and He typically reserved His harsh words for the holier-than-thou types.  People accused Him of being a drunkard and a glutton who fraternized with all the wrong people.  In one recent paraphrase of the Bible, Jesus says, "You can't win with this generation."¹

Jesus said, in response to the criticism directed at Him and at John, that "wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

When comparing and contrasting two or more of anything, we are often tempted to consider which one is best.  C.S. Lewis, in a letter to a friend, zeroed-in on the word all in Jesus' statement, suggesting that, when Jesus referred to all of wisdom's children, He might have been referring to wisdom's children of all kinds.  Lewis muses, "I fancy we are all too ready... to assume that God will deal with everyone exactly as He does with us.  But He is no mass-producer and treats no two quite alike."²

The fact that two people are very different does not necessitate that one is wise while the other is foolish.  Jesus and John were called to very different ways of life and to very different kinds of ministry, and both of them were wise to follow their callings.  I would not put Jesus and John on equal footing with each other, since John's role was to prepare the way for Jesus, but I would say that both faithfully did their parts.

Perhaps one lesson we can glean from what Jesus said about His critics is that His followers should take care that they are not overly critical of each other.  Many Christians are quick to criticize others from different branches within Christianity.  Some segments of Christianity are sectarian, meaning that people within these churches consider those from other churches not to be legitimate Christians.  I have to admit that I too have a tendency to be critical of some Christians outside my particular tradition - and some within my tradition as well - because I have a lot of religious baggage.

Though there are plenty of things in the Church that are worthy of criticism, perhaps we are a bit too eager to criticize each other when we should be more interested in learning from each other.  I admit that I am very partial to the Methodist tradition, but it would be utterly arrogant of me to think that any experience of God or expression of faith different from my own is any less real or legitimate.  I do not get to decide where God meets people or how God meets people.  Furthermore, people outside my tradition might have something I need.

St. Paul compared the community of faith to a body and individual persons in the community to parts of the body, all of which are essential.³  Typically we understand this metaphor to mean that, like different parts of the human body, different people have been given different gifts to carry out different functions within the community.  In a typical church, there are people who preach, people who teach, people who sing and play music, people who care for children, people who serve on committees, people who take care of the facilities, people who tend to the finances of the church, people who keep records, and people who carry out other various and sundry functions.  All have different roles, but all serve a common purpose.

Could it be possible that the different parts of the Body of Christ also represent different branches within Christianity?  Perhaps the Body of Christ needs both quiet contemplatives and energetic evangelicals to function.  Perhaps different parts of the body are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal, just to name a few.  Could it be that all the different traditions within the Church have gifts to offer and that all of these gifts enable the Church to be the Church?

Brian Zahnd, one of my favorite preachers, has come to embrace an eclectic Christianity.  He writes, "We need the whole body of Christ to properly form the body of Christ.  This much I'm sure of: Orthodox mystery, Catholic beauty, Anglican liturgy, Protestant audacity, Evangelical energy, Charismatic reality - I need it all!"⁴  I know that I've been shaped by multiple strands of Christianity.  One of my pastors told me that the United Methodist Church is a "big tent," meaning that there is a lot of diversity within it.  Though I like to think I'm on the more "Metho-piscopal" side of the tent, my preference for contemporary worship music suggests that I'm probably be more "Metho-gelical" than I would like to admit.

It has been said that it takes all kinds to make a world.  Perhaps it takes all kinds to make a Church as well.  May we be willing to accept people who have experiences, perspectives, and expressions of faith different from our own.  May we be slow to criticize, quick to listen, and eager to learn.


Notes:

1. John 7:33 (The Voice)
2. From C.S. Lewis's February 5, 1954 letter to Mrs. D. Jessup
3. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
4. Brian Zahnd.  "A Premodern Sacramental Eclectic."  BrianZahnd.com, 06/24/13.

Christ in the House of Simon was painted by Dieric Bouts in the 1440s.