Christians are called to love, not fear

“A New Kind of Christianity” is the title of Brian McLaren’s latest book. The subtitle is “Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith.” McLaren is one of the intellectual leaders of what many are calling “the emergent church.” We can disagree with McLaren (he welcomes that), but he has one thing correct — to get right answers, right questions need to be asked.

McLaren poses 10 questions he believes are vital to Christian beliefs and practices. He also welcomes the posing of additional questions. I believe his first question is on target. He asks, “What is the overarching story line of the Bible?” In recent weeks, I have had great fun asking people this question. I have heeded McLaren’s suggestion that addressing his questions not be an exercise in questions and answers; rather, they should be an exercise in questions and responses with a commitment to be good listeners to one another. I have asked his first question of people who have a high level of exposure to Bible material and its messages. Some of the folks I have asked are seminary graduates. The answers cover the landscape. No two people have given the same answer.

Of course, I have my own that changes, or at least is tweaked most every day.

This week I addressed the question to a good friend. His response was to the point. The Bible is a book about loving. I resonate with his answer.

When Jesus was queried about the greatest of commandments, he responded with two love challenges. He stated that the first of all commandments was that you shall love the Lord your God with heart, mind and soul. When he gave that answer, he was quoting the Shema, the command that was placed on every door post and worn as headpieces and bracelets. It was the command that was never to be forgotten by the people of God.

The second command was that you shall love your neighbor. Again Jesus was quoting from Old Testament law. He spoke nothing new. He was reinforcing the Israelite prophetic voices, who were saying that killing of neighbors had to stop and love was God’s way of relating to neighbors. Jesus added the comment that these two commands summarized all of God’s laws.

Collectively, the Bible materials do not make a unified statement about loving. In the history of the Israelites, the fear (not love) of God was at times a dominant theme and there was active debate about how to handle neighbors. Were faithful Israelites to love their neighbors or were they to kill their neighbors, especially if they wanted their neighbor’s land?

Jesus came down very clearly on the love side of the argument. Jesus did not live a life of fear, and his recurring advice to his disciples was, “Fear not!” Even enemies were to be loved.

Early in the 21st century, America is being gripped by xenophobia. Xenophobia is the fear of strangers or foreigners, or more broadly, the fear of the unfamiliar. There is evidence that this particular fear has become worldwide. Xenophobia has been heightened by a large increase in the global mobility of people.

The United States should be the world leader in calming the fear of new neighbors. We are the great melting pot. With great pride we inscribe “e pluribus unum” on our coins — out of many, one.

Over our 234 years of history, we have had great difficulty in living up to our own standards. Jews, Catholics, Quakers, Mormons, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians, Cubans, Mexicans, Vietnamese, African Americans, Indians and Native Peoples have felt the sting of persecution and rejection because of differences of skin color, hair texture, language and religion. The list of Americans who have suffered discrimination is even longer. Ugly state and federal laws, many eventually declared unconstitutional, have supported and perpetuated xenophobia.

Add to this ugly history the unconscionable denial of rights to woman, and the United States may qualify as the ugliest discriminator in the history of humankind.

This has all happened in the context of a Bible-waving Christian majority.

The world needs a leader in the eradication of xenophobia. With the rapid rise of the fear of Muslims in the United States, American Christians have been presented a unique opportunity. Now is the time to show the power and wisdom of practicing one of the most basic teachings of Jesus. We are to love our neighbors. To this point, the performance of Christians has not been hopeful.

We live at a critical time. A new kind of Christianity is in order and greatly needed.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister who lives in Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.