On the day we celebrate the rich history of Texas and its independence, I thought I might take a little time to celebrate some great interdependence. Last night almost 40 congregants arrived to the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church in Waco in order to discuss Jack Haberer’s book GodViews. Haberer provides a wonderful tour through the various types of Theo-Ideological Impulses (34)….or for simplicity’s sake, GodViews. These GodViews describe at least five ways that individuals perceive God’s call upon their lives. Here is the briefest summary:
- The Confessionalist is an individual who understands, through careful attention to the scriptures, a truth that must be proclaimed, shared and protected.
- The Devotionalist is an individual who understands that prayer, contemplation and quiet time with God is an essential expression of faith.
- The Ecclesialist is an individual who understands the building of the local church and its ecumenical relationships to be what God calls them to do .
- The Altruist is an individual who perceives the call to help the “least among us” and to respond to God’s call by “feeding His sheep”.
- The Activist is an individual who understand that God’s call upon their lives is to participate in social transformation, breaking down systemic evils to realize peace, justice and mercy.
In his nuanced and sympathetic approach, articulating our distinctions, Haberer pushes further. Even existing within a a similiar GodView does not mean that you will share a same mind or opinion. There can be, within each GodView, sharp disagreements. If any GodView lives alone too long, there may be a propensity to self destruct. The Confessionalist becomes Judgmentalist. The Devotionalist becomes an Isolationist. The Altruist becomes a sort of Secularist. The Activst morphs into an Elitist. Lest we secede from one another, Haberer seals his effort with an argument for interdependence, stating that that no one GodView can exist well or mature to its finer place without influence of all the others.
The participants in last night’s gathering knew this well and instinctively. Again and again as they sat in the GodView “most indicative of them”, they could recognize good friends who were better indicated by a different GodView across the room. Many voices rose up to identify friendships in those other GodViews. One person declared, “Our parts make us whole!” Another remarked, “When we are cognizant of each GodView, we are less likely to be blindsided by our own thinking, believing and behavior.” Finally, another said, “We all need each other even when we disagree.”
Today, Texas celebrates its historic courage in declaring its independence. Then in its young and formative years, we might imagine the state as we do a young person, bravely differentiating in order to become a strong adult. Today, our state is no longer young but well into its adulthood. We celebrate the historic move to declare independence even as we strive to be interdependent in the USA today. In the passage of time, there is a celebrate of our distinctiveness as a state and our place among the many. So, too, in the maturation of faith.
We each, having necessarily distinguished ourselves from one another, bring our strength back to task of mission, ministry and Christian Education that we might be radically interdependent. What a privilege it was to watch a portion of the congregation do their work last night. Together they laid a strong foundation for more difficult conversations. Our next gathering, on Thursday March 5th at 7:00 p.m., will discuss the marriage amendment to our Directory of Worship. The demands of healthy marriage require that the work of individuation has been completed. A healthy marriage requires radical interdependence. This may be true whether we are doing marriage as individuals or talking about marriage as the Body of Christ.
Waco Pastor 