Be the Crack

Go Tell the World

“Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always, not just when I am with you…”

The Apostle Paul (Galatians 4:16-18)

          Paul was pleading with the Galatians for fealty after they had strayed from the fold. This scripture recognizes a split in the early church—between the followers of Peter and the followers of Paul. From the very beginning, there were splits and competitions in the Christian church. Just as there are today. Then as now, the leaders knew better, but they did it anyway.

          Perhaps this was Paul’s teaching that the Galatians were unhappy about: “You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28) Maybe the Galatians, too, felt themselves to be entitled and privileged to be First among many, and not simply One among many. Racism, misogyny, and xenophobia did not originate with us.

          Ultimate truth exists only in the eyes of the beholder. There is no one truth and anyone who tells you that there is only one way to be a true believer, and one leader to follow is lying to you for their own purposes. The only truths that Jesus of Nazareth stood for and taught were these: God is love and that love is healing to your soul; your neighbor is equal to yourself and everyone is your neighbor; and the table is large enough to feed everyone, so invite them in. There is no difference between the top tier and the bottom tier—in fact, there is, in the eyes of God, no top tier and no bottom tier.

          I have no license to preach, but I cannot help myself since I think the church is complicit in the divisive politics of our time. Leonard Cohen wrote a song in the 1960’s titled “Anthem” that spoke to this. Here are a couple of verses from it that resonate with me:

“I can’t run no more with that lawless crowd/ while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud/ but they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up a thunder cloud/ and they’re going to hear from me.

“You can add up the parts, and you won’t have the sum/ you can strike up the march, there is no drum/ every heart, every heart to love will come/ but like a refugee…

“Ring the bells that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering/ there is a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in…”

Here is my message to you: Be the crack. Let in the light. What is happening now is wrong. Go tell the world.

                                        In the Spirit,

                                        Jane