I can almost hear host, Gene Wood belting it out on the TV (or perhaps for many of you game show watchers it was Richard Dawson), but the words are burned into our collective crawls:
C’mon, say it with me: “…Aaannnd the survey SAYS…(DING!)”
Is it a coincidence that the results of a survey could be mentioned in the context of something called, uh, “Family Feud?” I think not!
At least as it pertains to the game show, a lot rides on the results of what the survey says. And for many of us within the confines of Christ Church, there’s some weight that comes with the results of the recent survey taken as an outworking of the General Conference in May 2024 (By the way, if you’d like a copy of the survey report, they’ve been emailed church-wide and made available hard copy. Please visit the church office if you want to read the report and feel free to bend my ear if you want to process it in detail. If this is of interest to you, I intend to speak and write more about human sexuality in the days ahead. For now, what you read below should serve as a starting point for us.
Good, bad, or indifferent, here’s what the survey says: Some relish the results, some regret the findings and some remain in the middle. Really, it’s no revelation. If you think about it, it’s a micro picture of a macro reality within our denomination. It’s a picture that hasn’t changed much in the 53 years we’ve been debating human sexuality and we’d be wrong-headed to assume that numbers on a sheet settles it once and for all.
Subsequently, since the survey data has been distilled and you may have dedicated the space to digest the findings, I want to take time to address the tension. Admittedly, though we have our own ways of dealing with difficulty, let’s not tip-toe around it or be tentative about the tension—it’s real. Further, let’s not pretend that this is the first time a community of Jesus followers had to navigate something not-so-favorable. Do this with me: Go to the Gospel of Matthew and mind the moment:
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (9: 9-11)
Now, picture yourself as a disciple of Jesus, sitting at dinner in the middle of the house that Matthew bought with your money. Four minutes ago, you wouldn’t be caught dead in Matthew’s tribe and now you’re sitting at his table…and Jesus took you there. Hmm. If you asked me, you couldn’t cut the tension with a table saw. Why? Because you couldn’t be farther apart from a person of Matthew’s policies. For now, forget about who’s living right or wrong or who’s sinned more or less than the other. The fact is, here are two parties who aren’t on the same page. Matthew’s convictions don’t comport with your convictions; his viewpoints don’t align with your values. Tax collecting isn’t your cup of tea and you have a hard time understanding how anyone else could see it as remotely acceptable. Heck, even the Pharisees show up and start asking you questions about the audacity of your teacher spending time at the table with those people since the survey says you shouldn’t do that kind of thing and it’s all of a sudden fodder for a…family feud. Sound familiar?
Jesus should’ve known better than to take two very different disciples and sit them down in the same place and not expect them to squirm or squabble over who was more right or left. Someone should’ve told him that it looks too much like the church of today. Someone should’ve traveled back in time and told Jesus—God in a body—how much better life would be if he selected disciples who were of the same mindset, who never had to take a survey since there’d be no disagreement on doctrine. It’d be cleaner that way, right? We wouldn’t feel compelled to seek asylum with members of our preferred theological silos and we wouldn’t have to snicker condescendingly at “those others” who are obviously off base, biblically bankrupt and whom we’re better without. The survey says Jesus made a mistake. He should’ve been more judicious so that his people could see that agreement is the real glue of the Gospel. He should’ve selected members of the same mindset, held it up as a model for disciple-making and then challenged the church to follow suit.
But, alas, here we are breaking bread with Matthew the tax collector. Simon, the Zealot, can’t stop shaking his head and yet he eats from the same loaf. Blah! Down the row there’s Judas, the Betrayer and beside him John, the Beloved. Peter won’t shut his mouth and Andrew can’t get a word in. How weird is this? Honestly, I’m uncomfortable. This is no life for a disciple. We’re all too…different. Before I decide to leave the party, someone should say something to set the record straight. Someone should set policy that says:
“I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against those who agree.” Or
“I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against those who are uniform.” Or
“I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against those who vote the same.”
But wait. Hold on. If we check the record, such a policy was set. There was, in fact, something said about a church being built, one that would stand the test of time, one that would withstand cultural pressure and persecution, one of which the gates of hell would not prevail. Help me remember. What was the bylaw that bound a people for so long? What was the standard that cemented the church through all kinds of change? What was the prevailing policy that propelled a people to transform the world as we know it?
Oh, what’s that? You found it?
Where? In Matthew? (Go figure)
What’s the policy say?
If we can pinpoint that policy and rally around it, maybe the church still stands a chance.
It’s not a policy, but rather a proclamation?
Who said it? Peter? (Go figure).
Well, what was the proclamation that assembled the church and shook the gates of hell?
“Jesus is the Christ.”
That’s it? That’s the governing glue that bound a people? That’s the gasoline that advanced the Gospel? That’s the cement that caused a tax collector to serve shoulder to shoulder with a zealot?
That’s the statement? That’s the standard? That’s what inspired all those different disciples to forsake the family feud and to stick around and stay? It’s that simple?
“Aaaaand the survey SAYS….”
Ding, ding, ding, ding…
