8/31
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| What the world needs now is love |
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| Appolo marquee |
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| ATLAH speaks |
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| Weighing in on gentrification |
Walking along 125th, I look at the marquee of the famed Apollo Theatre. Like every other entertainment venue, looks like they’re just trying to figure out how to survive. And that they’ve got a virtual fall season lined up. Walking south on Malcolm X, I stop to see the latest comments from the infamous ATLAH (All the Land Anointed Holy) church. I share them without comment.
Tonight in Bible study we are looking at Matthew 18: 15-20. In this section, Jesus addresses the issue of how to deal with conflict within the church. The whole process of going one to one, and if that doesn’t work, 2 to 3 witnesses, and if that doesn’t work, the whole church. And then if the person does not respond, that them as a “gentile or tax collector.” Then it talks about “binding” and “ loosing” on earth and heaven and wherever “2 or 3” are gathered together, Jesus is there in the midst.
On first reflection, Marsha says “what you say has staying power. Jesus is saying, don’t forget, I am there too.” Later Leila will say “ a grudge gives you purpose, people want to hold on.”
It’s easy to miss that Jesus is about more than conflict resolution here. As much as those processes can help one resolve a hurt or complaint, the real focus here is what it takes to build community. Russ points out that the “you” to whom the instructions are directed is plural. Enabling people to have “hard conversations” with each other strengthens a community. Enables a community to hang tough when tough things happen. ( I remember my friend Kristen Leigh saying that there are all kinds of communities, but a church needs to be the place you can go to when “the shit hits the fan.” We are reminded how rare that is.
Russ reminds us that when we talk about treating that person as a tax collector or gentile we have to rememeber that Jesus ate and drank with them. What he appears to be saying is that hen a person has essentially removed themselves from community, you have to start all over agin from the beginning.
We talked about whiter it might actually be possible. In my experience as a pastor, when 2 people came into conflict both expected me to set the other person straight and ultimately both would get angry and leave. I never figured out how to deal with triangulation. If I could make one requirement for joining a church it would be a commitment to resolving any conflict as community. To not break community solidarity . When Jesus is saying wherever 2 or 3 are gathered together, there he is, I believe this is what he is talking about. That oft quoted verse is really in the context of a dispute resolution community building process. In the end, even 2 to 3 people committed to resolving differences in community are a beginning. 6 to 8 can be a true and strong cell. And a dozen, well , can change the world.
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