What God Be Doin’

In the controversial stage play, Corpus Christi, the Judas character asks the High Priest why it was necessary to condemn Jesus to death. "Was it because he said he was the Son of God?"

"No," replied Caiphas, "that we could have dealt with. It was because he said you all were the sons of God. We NEED sinners."

What a sad commentary that is. Sad because it still holds force today. Religion NEEDS sinners to maintain its power base. The teachings of Jesus regarding forgiveness are considered dangerous to the religion raised up in His name. A recent event in my life rather perfectly expresses this issue.

I had been invited to present a sermon at The Pacific Garden Mission on Chicago’s near South Side. The minister who had sent me there thought I had a unique perspective that might reach some of the previously unreachable. He cautioned me to stay away from my usual intellectual delivery. "These men have heard it all," I was advised. "Most are drugged up in one way or another. They only show up for the free meal that comes afterwards. If you want to reach them, you’re going to have to find some way to grab their attention.’

So, there I was. One white face amongst The Brothers on the dais studying the mix of despair and boredom before me. I observed, as the Pastor in Residence had to coerce the men to stand up and join in the hymns. I watched them snooze off or stare at the walls as he addressed them. Then, it was my time to be introduced as "the man of God." I have never in my life felt so incapable of a task. How could I reach these men? As I took the pulpit and stared out at a situation where, but for the Grace of God, I could have easily ended up; God gave me the only possible introduction.

"Live sucks," I bellowed out with force. Heads jerked up. "But, then, you don’t need me to tell you that, do you?" A murmur of agreement rose up as more heads turned my way.

Then, I went on to address the sorry state of the world and the lack of available solutions. "You are not alone in your plight. In fact, you are in the majority. The way things are going; many more are going to be in the same sorry state. The way the economy is going, I may be sitting among you before long. But, that does not concern me, because I know the answer to why we all suffer and I’m going to share it with you." Even more faces began to pay attention. Unfortunately, there was another face off to the side paying attention to me.

"Do God be all powerful?" I called out, now filled with the Spirit. (*NOTE: The verb "be" in Ebonies connotes a continuous state of being. To say, "I be passing by at noon, means it happens every day. Thus, God be is a superlative state.)

"Amen," came the answer from the crowd.

"Do God be ALL powerful?" I repeated.

"AMEN" they answered back, now getting into it right along with me.

"Then, God be responsible for all this shit," I proclaimed. "And, if so, God be doing it for a reason. AND, if God be doing this on purpose, then He cannot hold it against you that you be trapped in it along with the rest of the world." There was a murmur as if they were talking amongst themselves. But, I was no longer speaking on my own.

Think about it. If God is all-powerful, then why is the majority of His creation ignorant of Him? Why is evil so rampant and knowledge of Him so fractured? Even amongst those who profess a belief in God, there is considerable disagreement to the point of intramural competition and infighting. If Jesus is the only way to forgiveness, why hasn’t God made it plain to the world in general? If ANY particular faith structure represents God above all others, why doesn’t God shine the light of divine approval on that one group? If God is love, why so much sorrow? If God is justice, why do the wicked seem to prosper? If God is in complete control, why do the innocent suffer so? If so, is God responsible for all the suffering in the world?

This contradiction was so apparent to the early church fathers that they could only surmise that God had predestined the few to glory while consigning the majority to damnation. Success, declared John Calvin, was the sign of divine approval. Anything short of such was proof of divine rejection. How horrible – what a destructively horrible perspective, and, how convenient for the upper classes and Robber Barons of the Industrial Age? Just imagine the added suffering this satanic doctrine would bring to someone who was already suffering with the pain of disease or social trauma. But, what was the answer to this apparent conundrum? Why does God seem so cavalier in the expression of His shed grace?

<Augustine Commentary> The great 4^th Century Religionist, St. Augustine, recognized that God would be impossible to resist; yet men still resisted their Creator. It seemed to him that this meant God was not attempting to reach most of Mankind. Why would this be, he pondered? Could it be that God was only interested in the salvation of a few, with the majority of His creation consigned to the nether reaches of Hell? Had God predestined but a few to achieve glory? It seemed to him to be the only answer to the continuing presence of evil after the atonement of the Christ. Since repentance was impossible without the Holy Spirit, those whom God favored could not resist Him. Those who were rejected by God could not attain salvation under any amount of effort. Thus was born the demonically horrible Doctrine of Predestination.

The ultimate result of such teaching caused many to simply despair of ever rising above their sinful nature to the standards erected by the high priests of Religiosity. . John Calvin and others have depicted God as an angry hanging judge in the sky, suspending us over the flames of Hell by the thinnest of threads. This angry bearded white guy seemed intent on finding any excuse for severing our support and sending us screaming into eternal agony. The mental picture such a "loving deity" would produce in most would lead to only two reasonable courses of action. Either outright rejection of such a god, or despair leading to antisocial behavior. As Sam Kinison once proclaimed, "Hey, if I’m going to Hell anyway, I might as well hop on the Hell Express."

I recently spotted a bumper sticker warning "Get right or get left." Well, if sinners" feel they can never overcome their "evil natures," why even bother to try? Why not just surrender to the baser instincts and enjoy what life there is to experience? Why even yield our place in the food line? Why not just take what we want? In the end, it will make little difference, since we are already condemned.

But, IS that the case? DOES that represent the loving, forgiving God revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus? Or is it the deity taught by those who "need sinners" to maintain their position in the extreme food chain? Is God’s grace dependant on us "getting ourselves right" or has God already provided the necessary justification?

"Do God be ever loving?"

"AMEN!"

"Do God be forgiving?"

"AMEN!"

"Then, you all be forgiven."

"AMEN!"

"You just gotta come to realize it. You don’t have to do nothin’, although how can we not once we realize how Great God be? God already be forgiving you. He be forgiving me, He be forgiving you, He be forgiving Osama bin Laden." That brought a bit of a murmur again. "But, we got to learn how to forgive each other. That’s why we all be dealing with this shit. That be the only way we can learn to forgive…"

At that moment, the Pastor rose up in indignation, shouting out "That’s all young man – no more! I will NOT have profanity in MY house."

I was stunned. Had I had time to think, I might have pointed out that it was NOT his house. I might have challenged him with an accusation of resisting God’s will. I might have pointed out that we are encouraged to "be all things to all people that a few might be" reached. But, all I could do was ask why, apologize if I had offended him, and ask to be allowed to finish.

"No," he shouted at me. "Sit down this instant! I will not have profanity in my house." I was later told he was offended by my use of the four-letter word for human waste. However, that was only his excuse.

Cries from the crowd of "No, no, let the man speak. Let the man speak," caught me attention. I turned back to them and raised my hands. It don’t matter brothers. God be forgiving me; he be forgiving you too. Come on up and be healed of your pain." Then I left the pulpit and sat down as the Pastor finished up. Off in the anteroom, as I awaited my fate, one of the deacons watched through the doorway. "Here they come," he exclaimed with excitement. They’re coming on up."

From through the doorway, I heard the Pastor speak. "Yes, yes, that’s right. Come on up. Anyone else/ Yes, yes, come on up." God had reached the unreachable through me, yet I was in the process of being kicked out for my efforts. What had I done that could be so right while, yet, being so unacceptable? What do you think?

How DOES one come to be a raving heretic? I wasn’t always this way; I used to have quite a comfort zone. Those around me didn't think so, but it served my purposes. My friends and family saw me as a religious kook hung up on ceremony. They were both right and wrong. I had glimpsed a hint of something we all are searching for. I just accepted, at that time, that it came with all the legalistic baggage I was handed. This is where my journey began.

Some time ago, while searching for light in a darkening world, I came upon a message of hope: A message that spoke of a coming time of peace and harmony -- a time when mankind's misrule was to be supplanted by God's kingdom after the return of Jesus Christ. I was hooked and began to pursue that message of freedom and hope right into a straight jacket of do's and don'ts.

Surrounding the message, like an army protecting it's dwindling ammunition supplies, was a group which called itself The World Wide Church of God, a Christian sect of about 100,000 members. This small group, spread mostly through the English speaking world, had a powerful dynamic through combined tithing and focus on producing a high quality publication known as The Plain Truth. They, also, broadcast "The World Tomorrow" radio and TV shows rated among the top three televangelistic endeavors but without ever asking for contributions.

How did such a small group manage in this manner? Well, mostly through application of Jesus words preserved in Matt. 16:25, Mark 8:35, and Luke 9:24. I prefer the wording of Luke: "Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up my cross each day, and follow in my steps "Whosoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it. By these words, the church was able to frighten everybody into pulling on the galleon oars together.

Was this a bad thing, however? Here was a group totally committed and full of purpose in life. The purpose of doing what was necessary to "make it" into The Kingdom of God. The problem was we believed, since God had revealed his plan to us, everybody else was wrong. See, if one group is right in its teachings, all else that differs MUST be wrong, right? So we drew together and cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, as well as other "Christians."

We, the enlightened, were commissioned by God to serve as "a church of prophecy" warning the world of what was to come and of "The World Tomorrow." As long as we did this, and attended church every Saturday, did no work on that and other prescribed holy days, tithed, didn't eat pork or shellfish, didn't smoke or wear makeup, avoided "false traditions" such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and anything else not approved by our leadership, we were assured of being saved from the coming tribulation. That was our comfort zone. The trouble was, there was no personal growth with a blind acceptance of doctrine, and we were not doing God's work for the right reasons. We were still trying to "GET saved."

Then a strange thing happened. Herbert W. Armstrong died and new leadership took over which began to change the default settings on our beliefs. Before long, we didn't need to anything to be saved. All we needed to do was accept Jesus. Well, we believed that before, didn't we? The problem was we had to do all those other things to show we believed. After all, didn't James say that faith without works was dead? The membership was torn. Many had sacrificed jobs and associations to maintain such a socially suspect belief, and they weren't so quick to give it up and admit all had been for naught.

Some members formed rival congregations that denied the changes and went back to a more conservative standard. Others, feeling that it no longer mattered where they attended, went to the local mega-church to take part in the superior social services provided. About one-third of the congregation remained to make sense of the spiritual paradigm shift. What had been a dynamic group with a black and white concept of what God required, now found itself faced with uncertainty.

Each group developed its own comfort zone; one had a list of do's and don'ts while the other had simple acceptance of Jesus with nothing else required. For me, it wasn't so simple. In the past, I would work to fulfill my obligations to God and, then, each Easter/Passover season I would review my growth over the previous year. I never did seem to live up to the standard; I always came up short. How would I ever manage to reach the level of acceptance by God? See, although I knew the price had been paid, like many, I felt I was now required to live up to the standard to retain that level of Grace. After all, didn’t scripture warn of such complacency? So, in reality, my comfort zone was just an illusion.

Others, who maintain their sense of equilibrium by focusing on grace without works, have a comfort zone that seems more stable. But, is it legitimate? Is it acceptable for us to just believe and live life as we choose? Can we just show up for church each week and buy the freedom to do as we choose the rest of the week? Is there something yet required of us by God? That is the concern fear-mongers feed on. That is the uncertain standard that Christianity has misunderstood ever since Jesus first walked out of the wilderness with Good News for all. It is that very issue of the nature of Grace that has so divided those seeking to attain it.

Well, some say the Devil is in the Details. Certainly, that’s where religion finds its greatest test. If the details do not conform to the basic image of "Jesus, and Him crucified," as related by the Apostle Paul, then they are suspect. I began to review all the details I had blindly accepted on that basis. Most important were those details having to do with Grace, forgiveness, and the great-unwashed masses over which Augustine and others have despaired. After all, it is my vies that if God can ignore these, the least of our brethren, He is no deity worthy of worship. I have always believed in the power of parable to simplify difficult explanations.

The Parable of Frankie and Bonnie

Frankie and Bonnie were lovers, or so a similar story goes. Theirs was a stormy relationship with towering heights and troubling lows. The slightest annoyance could send them from the passion of their mutual love into a screaming fight that would dissolve back into a passionate embrace. However, Frank had never laid an angry hand on Bonnie. True he was constantly repairing holes in the walls, and the occasional piece of furniture suffered its brief flight of destruction. But, despite his horrible temper, Frankie had never hit Bonnie.

Then one day, Frankie got into a horrible fit. Afterwards he was quick to take the blame for his stupid outburst, but the damage had been done. As Bonnie tried to calm her raging love, Bonnie gave Frankie a mighty shove away from him. Back she flew and down she fell, landing badly. When all was said and done, Frankie had her arm in a cast from multiple fractures, the worst being to her wrist. So bad was the injury, that she could no longer manage the simplest of tasks on her own.

Frank was horrified at what he had done. Not only did he constantly apologize, doing all he could to ease Bonnie’s plight, but he also took a deep and honest look at his own temper. He resolved to never again let it get the better of him. For a time, that seemed to work for Bonnie as well. Soon her arm would heal and life would improve. But such was not to be, and therein lies the lesson.

Bonnie’s arm never healed properly. Despite the knitting of the bones, something was still wrong. The simplest tasks took great effort and caused continuing pain. She longed for the pain to go away so she could forget what Frankie had done to her. But, all that happened was she became more and more bitter. She could not forgive and forget as long as the arm reminded her of what had happened.

No matter how hard Frankie tried, it was never enough. Bonnie just never let him forget. She kept him in a constant state of guilt. When Frankie would reach out to her, she would slap him with a look. Then, after Frankie gave up, Bonnie complained that he never caressed her anymore. When Frankie would try, she would, once again, hit him, as only a female is so able. Soon Frankie gave up altogether. Strangely, they never fought anymore. Neither cared enough to bother. It was once "whatever" after another. After a while, the stress took its toll and they completed the break-up.

Who was wrong? Frankie had sinned, but Bonnie hadn’t been able to forgive no matter how hard Frankie had tried to prove his repentance. It seemed he had committed the unpardonable. However, he had also given up. Maybe if he had kept it up. Maybe if Bonnie had given him the slightest spark of hope, Frankie would have kept on bloodying his knees before her. Then again, maybe not. Certainly, Frankie’s sin was forever before him. Maybe if he had been able to find the forgiveness offered by Jesus.

Religion is much like Bonnie, however, demanding its supplicants flail their backs in obeisance to what Jesus went through for them. "You haven’t suffered like He did," declares Sister Mary Margaret Conception, pointing her stick at the impaled savior on the wall. But, Jesus suffered and died NOT to dump guilt on us, but to remove it. He forgave us without condition. The hope is that we will do likewise: Forgive others without condition. IF Bonnie had been able to do that, Frankie would have been happy to continue proving his change of heart by catering to her every need. We all need that fuel to overcome that which so easily pulls us down.

How many continue sinning simply be because they feel they are so bad, god would never forgive them. How empowered would they be, knowing that God has already forgiven them and will continue to do so no matter how many times they might stumble and fall? Like a loving father, teaching his son or daughter to walk or ride a bike, he is there to pick us up each and every time we stumble.

Realizing this, we might be more inclined to want to "pass if forward" than give up in despair. After all, if god is willing to cut us so much slack, why shouldn’t we show how thankful we are by changing our ways and beginning to serve others in the same manner? We don’t need to get physically nailed to a cross – just figuratively to sacrifice our lives for Him. In doing so we could continue transforming the world in the manner He began to.

That was the message I sought to carry with me into the Pacific Gardens Mission. When I walked into that mission, it was this newfound faith that sustained me. I had something to share with the hopeless. Jesus had come to free us from the oppression of man’s religions. He had come to reveal the compassionate God of Grace and forgiveness. It didn’t take long after His crucifixion for mankind to restore the system. Throughout the ages since, any that have challenged that system have met with an uncomfortable fate. One does not mess with la Cosa Nostra de Dios without paying the price. There is too much to lose. How could I have been surprised at what happened to me? The Religious Establishment has never welcomed messages contrary to the norm. I have no rosy glasses with which to view my ultimate fate at their hands. Despite this, I thank them for giving me my opening: Never pick a fight with a poet who has nothing to lose.

The dysfunctional relationship between religious dogma and scientific revelation, as portrayed in Chapter 2, will further illustrate the problem.