There’s so much…

In which I quote a ton of scripture and talk about Paula White-Cain. Sorry.

…that can be said and should be done. There is so much that is happening. There is so much going sideways. There is so much misinformation. There is so much subterfuge. There is so much. And that is by design.

I’mma quote the Bible. Excuse me. It’s a lot.

Psalm 1

1 Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
    or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Golly, but this one is so damned subjective. Who is righteous? Paula White-Cain proclaims Trump is righteous. He’s leaning into that narrative. What is wickedness? Trumpery? I think so. But other Christians think it’s liberalism or the woke agenda. A conundrum. But then this plays in my brain…

Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”

If I cherrypick these two passages, wickedness appears to be neglect of the least of these. Any nation or government that neglects the poor and props up the rich is hellish. I could be wrong. Reading the Bible for a single synthesis is foolish.

There are multiple visions of what human flourishing looks like. There are multiple theologies in the Bible. There are even multiple Christologies in the Gospels. We have to get over the multiplicity of meanings in Scripture. Multiplicities are not a curse. They are a gift. I fear that gift may be taken away from us as Christian Nationalism grows deeper roots in our civic life.

But I digress.

Another example from the Psalms…

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon—
    there we sat down, and there we wept
    when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows[a] there
    we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors
    asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How could we sing the Lord’s song
    in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand wither!
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
    the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
    Down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator![b]
    Happy shall they be who pay you back
    what you have done to us!
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones
    and dash them against the rock!

So, revenge seems to be a holy motivation here. Now, does God approve or is just this a pithy lyric to sing? That’s the question we should be asking. The Psalmist is incensed. Babylon has destroyed his nation. But is this a godly response? What is Biblical ethics? What is beautiful, good, and true? Surely verse nine isn’t an edict from the Oval Office…right?

I don’t think sitting around doing “sword drills” teaches us how to read the Bible. It just teaches us where certain passages are. Learning to read the Bible is a Whole Thing. I’m still learning to read it. It is difficult, time consuming, and generally frustrating if one is looking for a single truth within it. So, I stopped looking for that. Instead, I made a choice of which tradition of interpretation I would follow. Others have chosen other traditions of interpretation.

Problem is some of us have social/political power right now while others of us are losing that power. You can quote Micah like MLK all day long, but if no one is listening or no one cares…you see my point.

So, I lean on the Beatitudes from Luke in such moments.

Luke 6:20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

The woes are telling. Luke has a very specific idea about what kind of interpretation of scripture is appropriate and how Christians are to navigate times of disempowerment. You cannot hang you hat on what happens in this world. You have to rest on the truth of God’s judgement. The rich will fall away. Like this…

Luke 16:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.[g] The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.[h] 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

I share all this simply to say that Paula White-Cain is going to be very hard for me to stomach for the next several years. She represents everything I cannot grok. She is a kind of Christian that I cannot grok. Individual prosperity is not a Gospel virtue. Yet she is being given the keys to a worldly kingdom. What will she do with them? Does she see me as a Christian with all my wokeness? Likely not.

She has a very long list of who is apostate. I assume we’ll hear soon about what happens to those of us who proclaim mercy in public. That doesn’t mean I will stop doing so, but I imagine it’s going to become very dangerous to do so.

Y’all be excellent to each other.