Today’s Scripture
Reading (November 8, 2017): John 12
The French poet and novelist Anatole France asserted that “If 50 million people say a
foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” Often in our world, we want
validation. The fake news on both sides of the equation is compelling because we want to hear voices who
support our point of view. And we believe voices who say things with which we
agree, whether or not they voices are wise. The problem is that in that kind of
a world, we are never challenged with
different ideas, and we never get into discussions that might expose us to a
different point of view. We exist in our private echo chambers, only ever
hearing our own voices over and over
again.
The church is one of the prime
organizations where this is echo chamber is at work. We do not honestly engage
people who hold different opinions from us, often because we seem to be afraid
of what might happen – on either side of the coin.
Maybe we are scared that our point of
view will not stand up to their intense
scrutiny, or maybe it is just simply that we are afraid that, by entering into the conversation, we will be rejected by our friends who hold a specific
set of beliefs. We miss that there might be strength in the discussion.
Just over a week ago we celebrated
500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints’
Church in Wittenberg. The action was essentially
the opening salvo to an intellectual conversation. It was a statement by a monk
that should have read; these are the
things that are bothering me; Can we talk? What seems to have followed were a series
of condemnations rather than a discussion around the issues. But the whole
process could have been more strengthening through a conversation. The result
might have even been a stronger Catholic Church rather than a split between
Catholic and Protestant, two factions that, unfortunately, are still fighting
today. Maybe some of the things that Martin Luther said were foolish. Maybe some of the realities of the Catholic
Church were foolish. Increasing the voices on
either side didn’t, and still doesn’t, mean that they made more sense; it
simply increased the volume of the foolishness.
The accusation of John in this
passage should not be missed. Some religious leaders believed that Jesus was
the Messiah. We know of Nicodemus who met with Jesus secretly at night (John
3), but according to John, Nicodemus did not stand alone. There were others who
believed but did not voice their belief publically. John gives the motivation
for their silence quite clearly; they loved the praise of men more than they
wanted the praise of God. They understood
that the claims against Jesus were foolishness, and yet they stayed quiet, and
through their silence they allowed their voices to be added to the foolishness of
the religious elite.
John’s words are correct but possibly imprecise. It was not just
that they wanted the praise of men, or in this case the praise of their colleagues, but there was most likely an element of
fear of rejection by their colleagues if they did not tow the party line. There
could be no conversation.
This moment would not stand
alone in the history of the Christian Church. Every time Christians want to try
to right a wrong in our theology, there
is a moment when pioneers like Martin Luther are challenged to remove their
voice from the 50 million and, with much fear, enter into the conversation.
Reformation is not a single event, but an ongoing process as we are willing to leave
our private echo chambers, talk about God
and seek his praise rather than the praise of men.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: Matthew 22
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