Today’s Readings: Psalm 58; Amos 8:1-14; Luke 19:11-27; 2 Peter 3:14-18; Psalm 14
In her recent book The Great Emergence, Phyllis Tickle gives a wonderful diagram that explains some of the tensions that have existed within Christianity. The diagram suggests historically there have been four quadrants in Christian community. The first quadrant (upper left hand corner) is for those who are liturgically minded; the second quadrant (upper right hand corner) is for those who are social-justice minded; the third quadrant (lower left hand corner) is for those who are charismatic minded; the fourth quadrant (lower right hand corner) is for those who are conservative/tradition minded. Each individual led spiritual lives most identified with one of these four quadrants. Denominations also tended to align themselves with one of the quadrants as well. The alignment of denominations looked something like this. Quadrant One, for example, was made up largely of Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans; Quadrant Two was made up of Methodists, United Church of Christ members, and Mennonites; Quadrant Three was made up of Pentecostals & Assemblies of God; and Quadrant four was made up of Baptists and Nazarenes. She says the tension in Christian community came from the fact that the core values differed dramatically between the first two quadrants and the last two. The first two quadrants (liturgical & social justice minded) were based on the value that right action is what matters most. This orientation is called orthopraxis. The third and fourth quadrants (charismatic & conservative/tradition minded) were based on the value that right belief is what matters most. This orientation is called orthodoxy. If you were to use the quadrants to try to chart where some of today’s readings might fit in, it wouldn’t take long to figure out that today’s reading from Amos would be located squarely in Quadrant Two – for as the prophet lists his accusations against the people, he focuses exclusively on their actions (i.e. “those who walk on the week”, “those who give little and take much”, “you who exploit the poor”). No mention is given to condemning those whose beliefs are not considered “right” or “correct”. Phyllis Tickle notes that what is happening these days is that individuals (and denominations, for that matter) are no longer restricting themselves to just one quadrant; their lives are starting to be informed by all four of the quadrants. This means that both individuals and denominations are struggling these days because elements of the faith that they long ignored (i.e. elements associated with other quadrants) are now being brought into their own location and they aren’t sure how to handle this. I see this as a positive development for I believe that right action stems from right belief (and conversely, right belief stems from right action). In other words, like those early prophets I believe that you can learn much about a person’s real beliefs by watching their actions in the world. In closing, today I would ask you this question: if someone were to secretly watch you from afar for a week, what would they learn about your beliefs based upon your actions? Til next time…
In her recent book The Great Emergence, Phyllis Tickle gives a wonderful diagram that explains some of the tensions that have existed within Christianity. The diagram suggests historically there have been four quadrants in Christian community. The first quadrant (upper left hand corner) is for those who are liturgically minded; the second quadrant (upper right hand corner) is for those who are social-justice minded; the third quadrant (lower left hand corner) is for those who are charismatic minded; the fourth quadrant (lower right hand corner) is for those who are conservative/tradition minded. Each individual led spiritual lives most identified with one of these four quadrants. Denominations also tended to align themselves with one of the quadrants as well. The alignment of denominations looked something like this. Quadrant One, for example, was made up largely of Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans; Quadrant Two was made up of Methodists, United Church of Christ members, and Mennonites; Quadrant Three was made up of Pentecostals & Assemblies of God; and Quadrant four was made up of Baptists and Nazarenes. She says the tension in Christian community came from the fact that the core values differed dramatically between the first two quadrants and the last two. The first two quadrants (liturgical & social justice minded) were based on the value that right action is what matters most. This orientation is called orthopraxis. The third and fourth quadrants (charismatic & conservative/tradition minded) were based on the value that right belief is what matters most. This orientation is called orthodoxy. If you were to use the quadrants to try to chart where some of today’s readings might fit in, it wouldn’t take long to figure out that today’s reading from Amos would be located squarely in Quadrant Two – for as the prophet lists his accusations against the people, he focuses exclusively on their actions (i.e. “those who walk on the week”, “those who give little and take much”, “you who exploit the poor”). No mention is given to condemning those whose beliefs are not considered “right” or “correct”. Phyllis Tickle notes that what is happening these days is that individuals (and denominations, for that matter) are no longer restricting themselves to just one quadrant; their lives are starting to be informed by all four of the quadrants. This means that both individuals and denominations are struggling these days because elements of the faith that they long ignored (i.e. elements associated with other quadrants) are now being brought into their own location and they aren’t sure how to handle this. I see this as a positive development for I believe that right action stems from right belief (and conversely, right belief stems from right action). In other words, like those early prophets I believe that you can learn much about a person’s real beliefs by watching their actions in the world. In closing, today I would ask you this question: if someone were to secretly watch you from afar for a week, what would they learn about your beliefs based upon your actions? Til next time…
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