Pope Declares Mobsters Excommunicated From God

 © 2014 The Wired Word

www.thewiredword.com

Mobsters "are not in communion with God"; they are excommunicated from him. That's what Pope Francis declared a week ago in Italy's Calabria region, which is noted as the center of Italy's biggest crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta.
The pontiff traveled to Calabria last Saturday on a one-day pilgrimage to meet the father of a 3-year-old boy killed in January along with one of his grandfathers and his grandfather's girlfriend during the region's drug war. The killers set a car afire with all three victims inside.
Hearing that news, the pope had expressed horror and promised to visit the town.
The child's parents were in jail on drug-trafficking charges at the time of the slaying. The mother was released to house arrest after her son was slain. During his time in Calabria, the pope visited the boy's father in jail and also met with two of the boy's grandmothers. According to a Vatican spokesperson, Francis said to the boy's father, "May children never again have to suffer in this way." He also agreed to the father's request that he pray for the boy's mother.
At an outdoor Mass during the trip attended by tens of thousands, Pope Francis spoke against the Calabrian Mafia, calling it "an adoration of evil and contempt for the common good."
"Those who have taken this evil road ... such as the mobsters, they are not in communion with God, they are excommunicated," the pontiff declared as listeners applauded.
According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, excommunication is "the principal and severest censure, ... a medicinal [intended to remedy the situation], spiritual penalty that deprives the guilty Christian of all participation in the common blessings of ecclesiastical society. Being a penalty, it supposes guilt; and being the most serious penalty that the Church can inflict, it naturally supposes a very grave offence." Excommunication is similar to the practice in some Protestant groups of "disfellowshipping" or "shunning" members who have willfully and unrepentantly distanced themselves from God through sinful behavior. The purpose of excommunication and disfellowshipping is to invite the person to change the offending behavior or attitude, repent and return to full communion.
Chad Pecknold, an assistant professor of theology at Catholic University of America, explained that the pope's remarks were not in themselves an official excommunication, because excommunication is "only for individuals," and not entire organizations. But, said Pecknold, what Francis was doing was describing the "self-excommunication" the 'Ndrangheta is already experiencing because of their "serious sin."
About this news, TWW team member Frank Ramirez said, "The story about Pope Francis struck me because he is not only speaking out against an obvious evil; he is also taking a risk that many churches shy from, which is confronting money. The Mafia are not only a crime concern, but they 'atone' by contributing large amounts of cash -- hush money really -- to churches. Crime families also build huge churches and contribute to their parishes. They build private churches. When the local congregation addresses an issue that might directly confront businesses that some of the richer members of a congregation might profit from, those richer members might leave."
In his homily, the pope also spoke about the evils that can occur when the adoration of God is replaced by the adoration of money.
"Your land, which [is] so beautiful, knows the signs of the consequences of this sin," the pope said. "This evil must be fought, must be expelled." He called on the local church to expend itself even more "so that good can prevail."
"When you do not worship the Lord, you become worshipers of evil, as are those who live in the underworld. ... The 'Ndrangheta is this: worship of evil and contempt for the common good," the pope said.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Pope Francis Says Italian Mafia Members Are 'Excommunicated.' New York Daily News
Pope: Mafiosi Are Excommunicated, Not in Communion With God. Official Vatican Network
No, Pope Francis Did Not Officially Excommunicate the Mafia. Vox
Excommunication. New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
The Big Questions
1. Should congregations make regular use of such practices as excommunication or disfellowshipping? Should we make occasional use of such practices? Why or why not? Is it a good thing that some congregations never use such practices? Explain your answer.
2. What unholy things does your church tolerate because to oppose them could have financial penalties for the congregation? What unholy things do you or your church financially support, perhaps because you don't want to make a scene or be perceived as using money to influence things?
3. In what ways do our attitudes and actions toward other people reveal our true spiritual condition?
4. How should Christ's instruction to love our neighbor as ourselves play out when our neighbor behaves in ways that are clearly not God's ways? How do we engage real evil?
5. What is the meaning of "cheap grace"? What's wrong with it? What is "costly grace"?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
1 John 4:20-21
Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (For context, read 4:7-21.)
The meaning of these two verses is so clear that they hardly need commentary, but they provide a strong basis for the pope's comments about how crime against others renders the offender out of communion not only with the church, but also with God.
Questions: In what ways is it harder to love a brother or sister than to love God? In what ways do these verses provide a challenge for you? In what ways are you difficult to love? Are there hot-button issues that are hard for you to listen to and that might make you unapproachable?
Mark 10:25
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (For context, read 10:17-27.)
Commentators sometimes try to "soften" Jesus' eye-of-the-needle remark by saying that "the eye of a needle" was actually a reference to a Jerusalem gate that camels had to kneel to move through -- meaning it was difficult but not impossible to get through. But there's no indication that Jesus was referring to such a gate.
In any case, Jesus was at least saying that wealth makes it more difficult for someone to experience God's saving power. In the context leading to this comment, a rich man asks Jesus what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus' answer is not that the man should give a lot to charity but keep plenty for himself. Clearly, Jesus views this man's riches as an impediment to his salvation.
Note too that in telling the man to give to the poor all he possessed, Jesus wasn't suggesting that by so doing, the man could "buy" salvation. Rather, Jesus was pointing out the entirety of commitment necessary and how this young man, who had kept all the commandments from the time of his youth, still didn't understand the need to focus on those things that would last rather than on those things that were of value for only a short time.
Questions: What are some ways we try to buy or earn our salvation? Why don't they work? When have you tried to "soften" a scripture text for fear or concern about how it might affect another? Which scriptures do you soften or negate because of the way you live your life?
Matthew 18:15-17
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (For context, read 18:15-20.)
Actually, according to biblical researchers, it's perhaps not just if that person sins "against you," for those two words are missing from some of the oldest manuscripts of Matthew. So what Jesus may have said was, "If another member of the church sins, go and point out the fault ...." In that reading, Jesus was speaking of behaviors and speech that hurt not just one other person, but the church itself.
What we should note here is that Jesus speaks of a procedure for dealing with the offending person. Confronting the offender is not left merely to the judgment of one individual. If the initial one-on-one conversation does not bring healing, then one or two others in the congregation are to be asked to assist. The next step is to bring the matter to the church. Only if all those processes fail to restore the offender to the fellowship (or bring the offender into fellowship to begin with) is the person to be cut off or expelled from the church.
Questions: These words of Jesus call us to accountability to and responsibility for each other in the church. What is the meaning of these words? How should they be interpreted when the offender is a dangerous person showing no hesitation to do wrong? Have you experienced or offered this pattern of accountability? What was the result?
Have you ever been on the receiving end of a procedure like that described in Matthew 18? Do you listen as well as you would like others to listen to you? When has your mind been changed about your life, your choices and your finances because of a sermon or a "word to the wise"?
Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. (For context, read 23:23-28.)
Unlike the mobsters Pope Francis condemned, the scribes and Pharisees did not seem to most people to be evil. But Jesus condemned them for their hypocrisy. In the verse above, he decries them specifically for giving tithes to the temple of even minor things such as the spices they used to flavor their meals while neglecting "the weightier matters of the law."
Questions: Is this another way of saying that we cannot purchase salvation? Why or why not? When has this text spoken directly to you or your congregation? What was your response?
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (For context, read 9:1-12.)
The apostle Paul wrote the words above to the Christians in Corinth to encourage them to give generously to the first recorded church-wide collection for the poor. Paul says that giving "bountifully" will result in receiving bountifully from God.
The problem with what Paul said here, however, is that some people have taken it out of the context of a faithful life and treated it as a promise of God's bountiful care toward those who give generously even while remaining committed to deeply sinful and unrighteous living. That's a serious misreading of Paul's words; he never intended generous giving to be separated from righteous living.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor executed by the Nazis for resisting Hitler, gave us another way to think about this. He wrote that one of the deadliest enemies of the church was "cheap grace" -- such as preaching that an intellectual acknowledgment of God is sufficient for salvation, or such as telling people they are okay without demanding any real dedication or holy living. Bonhoeffer wrote, "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession ... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross."
The opposite of cheap grace, said Bonhoeffer, is "costly grace," which, though it justifies the sinner, also condemns his or her sin and demands that he or she follow Christ.
Questions: When have you sought absolution without personal confession and repentance? In what ways do you now let your life reflect costly grace? Do we categorize sins and not demand costly grace for those we consider "lesser" sins (murder vs. anger, adultery vs. lust, etc.)?
For Further Discussion
1. Have you ever threatened to leave your church or to stop giving to your church if things didn't go the way you thought they should? What do you think about that threat now? Have you ever not left a congregation or not stopped giving -- perhaps to avoid making a scene, or because you were too comfortable and habituated to your current location -- when, in your view, it was starting to cooperate with sin or evil? What do you think about your choice now?
2. People who threaten to leave congregations over issues/sins are often welcomed in another congregation. Do we have a duty to warn the other congregation or should we let those who have left us have a fresh start elsewhere? Why? How do we, in humility, recognize the possibility -- as unlikely as that may be! -- that those of us staying may have been in the wrong?
3. Does your congregation or denomination practice a form of disfellowshipping which might be called excommunication or shunning? What are the steps involved? How may one be restored to the fellowship?
4. When have you felt very uncomfortable about your church's lack of witness to a pertinent problem because of over-concern for what the financial consequences might be?
5. Have a volunteer read aloud 1 John 3:10-17 and then discuss as a group how the passage applies to today's topic.
Responding to the News
This is a good time to remind ourselves that giving to the church is a part of being a responsible Christian and that giving ought not to be used as a tool of manipulation in the church.
Closing Prayer

O Lord, help the church in all its forms to be faithful in calling people to true righteousness. And let us not turn a blind eye to sin because of financial considerations. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Hoarder Buried Beneath Debris

 © 2014 The Wired Word

www.thewiredword.com

Police located the body of Beverly Mitchell, 66, under debris in the basement of her home in Cheshire, Connecticut, 25 miles southwest of Hartford, last Saturday, two days after responding to a postal worker's report of mail piling up outside.
Patrol Sergeant Kevin O'Donnell, one of the first officers on the scene, said Mitchell was buried alive when the floor of the one-story dwelling gave way under the weight of "a waist-high layer" of "mail, packages, bottles, lots of papers, newspapers, magazines ... piled to the ceiling in most rooms."
Finding the woman's body was initially delayed by the dangerous condition of the dilapidated building. Authorities say it appears Mitchell had been dead for about a week before they were notified. The cause of death seems to have been an accident; no evidence of criminal activity has been uncovered.
O'Donnell indicated that social service personnel had been aware of the woman's hoarding tendencies and tried to help, but she declined assistance.
While many people collect things or have trouble keeping their living quarters tidy, hoarders take the behavior to extremes, which can progress to a form of the mental illness known as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). They have a "Citizen Kane"-like need to accumulate more and more useless junk, paired with an inability to throw anything away, even when their obsession jeopardizes their physical and mental health and safety and that of others.
Hoarding behavior may manifest itself in unsanitary and unsafe living conditions, social isolation, financial ruin and tense relations with authorities, neighbors, family and friends. Hoarders may not eat nutritiously, sleep well or bathe sufficiently because all the stuff they have accumulated prevents them from using areas of their living quarters for their intended purpose. Yet they believe they can't survive without the cocoon of stuff they have spun around themselves and cling to like Linus with his security blanket.
It has been suggested that hoarders may act out of deep-seated psychic pain caused by a traumatic experience such as physical or sexual abuse, rape, robbery or losses sustained during natural disasters. Persons who cling to tangible things may have problems trusting God and feeling safe and secure. They may feel shame or embarrassment over their inability to function normally or to change their behavior, and withdraw even further from human interaction as a result. They may even "create" a hoarding problem to avoid dealing with the real source of their anxiety, which may be too painful to face.
More research is needed to understand the causes of hoarding and discover effective treatments. To say that hoarding is just a manifestation of materialism, greed or selfishness without acknowledging the underlying fears and anxieties that may prompt the behavior would be to oversimplify the disorder. Treatment of symptoms without addressing the root causes of the hoarding compulsion has not generally resulted in long-term, lasting improvement. Hoarders desperately need to experience the grace of God to liberate them from the grip of material things that can never satisfy their deepest need for security, acceptance, love and righteousness.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Connecticut Hoarder Killed by Floor Collapse: Police. Reuters
Hoarding Signs and How to Get Help. How Stuff Works
Compulsive Hoarding. Wikipedia
Hoarding Disorder. Mayo Clinic
The Big Questions
1. What is the difference between a hoarder and a collector? What do the items mean to a collector, and what significance do they have to a hoarder? Do you agree with the statement "We all have a little hoarder in us"?
2. What beliefs, ideas, emotions or experiences might be at the root of hoarding behavior? What are some reasons people hang on to things that have no immediate, intrinsic or lasting value? What might be missing in a person's spiritual life that could lead to hoarding?
3. Have you ever known a hoarder? How was that person affected by the condition? How were others around the hoarder affected?
4. Have you ever been aware of tendencies within yourself to cling to things you really didn't need or that were potentially harmful to you or those around you? Where might such tendencies originate? What, if anything, have you done about them?
5. How comfortable are you letting others touch or borrow your "stuff"? Share about a time you regretted keeping something rather than throwing or giving it away. Share about a time you did not regret throwing something out or giving it away.
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 12:43-45
[Jesus said,] "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation." (No context needed.)
Jesus might have been talking about a hoarder when he gave this illustration. Those who attempt to help a hoarder by hauling piles of junk mail out of the house or by removing animals the individual can't care for adequately may be frustrated when they return to find the house filled with more junk or animals than ever, which the person acquired to try to fill the terrible void within, the "God-shaped vacuum" that only God can fill.
Questions: When attempting to gain the victory over sin, how can you be sure to get at its root causes, rather than tinkering with its symptoms alone? How can you be sure you aren't just "rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic"? What needs to happen to ensure that "the last state" of a person doesn't become worse than the first?
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 5-6
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ... a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; ... a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away .... (For context, read 3:1-8.)
Question: How do you determine when it is time to gather, when it is time to keep and when it is time to throw or give things away?
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (No context needed.)
This passage follows the great chapter recounting stories of historical men and women of faith, whose lives and witness are meant to motivate us to reach for the finish line where Christ Jesus waits to welcome us. In order that we might run the race of faith effectively, the writer urges us to lay aside (fling aside, get rid of, throw off, leave behind) every weight (encumbrance that hinders us or slows us down), especially sin that so easily entangles (clings so closely to, ensnares, distracts or surrounds) us. While an athlete may use weights in training to build muscle and endurance, those weights are left behind during competition. Weights are not in and of themselves evil; in the right context, they can even be helpful. But there is a time and a place for them. Sin, on the other hand, always hinders our progress and may even disqualify us in the end.
Note that we are not equating hoarding with sin but recognizing that anything we cling to, other than Christ, has the potential to get in the way of our experience of the abundant life that only Christ can give.
Questions: At what point does a weight become a hindrance or even lead us into sin? Give an example of something that was once helpful to you that in another context became a hindrance to you spiritually. Besides physical things, what else might we grasp too tightly at times, refusing to let go? What unhealthy attachments, feelings, resentments, regrets, rituals, good works, preferences, ways of living may be preventing you from clinging "simply to the cross"? How do we "fling aside" such weights?
Luke 12:15, 23, 31, 33
And [Jesus] said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. ... For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ... Instead, strive for [your Father's] kingdom ... Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. (For context, read 12:13-34; cf. Romans 14:17.)
When a man came to Jesus asking for help in getting half of the inheritance left to his brother, Jesus told a parable about a man who had so much stuff that he had no place to put it all. He decided to stash it all away for a rainy day, sit back and enjoy the ride, but God told him that his life would be required of him that very night (that is, he would die); then what good would all his possessions do him? Jesus points to God's provision and loving care for creation, our inability to control our own destiny and our subsequent need to trust in God's faithful care.
Jesus offers freedom from our dependence upon material things, which are ultimately not life-saving at all. Indeed, giving things we treasure away may in the end save us: "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25).
Questions: What material things do we "hoard" at the expense of storing up treasures in heaven? What non-material stuff or "baggage" might we cling to that has a deleterious effect on us spiritually? Instead of planning to build bigger barns, how might the rich man have answered his own question, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" (v. 17). What else could he have done with the surplus?
For Further Discussion
1. In 1 Samuel 25:1-42, we learn about a wealthy, mean, surly man named Nabal, who had benefited from the protection David's armies provided his assets, but who refused to give them even a meal for their efforts. "Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?" Nabal sneered (v. 11; emphasis ours). David was ready to attack Nabal and all his household, but word came to Nabal's clever wife Abigail, who hurried to load donkeys up with 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep prepared for a feast and additional supplies of grain, raisins and figs for David's men. Her quick action prevented a bloodbath. She told David, "When the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant" (vv. 30-31). Her selfless words reveal a concern for David's well-being, when she might well have focused on her own fear and anxiety. Ten days later, Nabal died of heart failure. Then David wooed Abigail, and she became his wife.
    How does the story of Nabal and Abigail relate to the problem of hoarding and the spiritual gift of generosity?
2. What other biblical examples of hoarders or of those who were liberated from the need to hoard can you think of? What can we learn from them?
3. Comment on this from Frederick Buechner, who writes in his book Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC: "Avarice, greed, concupiscence and so forth are all based on the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have. The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive (cf. Acts 20:35) is based on the human truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are. It is not just for the sake of other people that Jesus tells us to give rather than get, but for our own sakes too." (Emphasis ours.)
4. What value might giving a tithe of what you possess have for you as a giver?
Responding to the News
What might you and your church do to help someone like "Utah Girl," who posted the following comment to the website of the reality television show Hoarding: Buried Alive? "My soon-to-be ex-husband has a bad case of OCD with compulsive shopping and hoarding tendencies. He has filled the garage and the office and other rooms with boxes and garbage. He has put us in a lot of debt and has managed to cash out his retirement money to keep shopping. He is in complete denial and lies to cover up his shopping. He doesn't see reality anymore. I love him and I would do anything to have him back and us be a family again but I think our little kids need a safe environment to live."
Closing Prayer

Creator God, help us to recognize that created things can never take your place. You alone are worthy of our worship. You are the Rock on which we can build our lives with confidence, the Refuge to which we may flee in times of distress. Empower us to face our greatest fears with the courage of the Spirit of Christ. Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus, casting aside every weight and sin that so easily trip us up, that we may finish the race laid out for us in victory. Amen.

Backlash Follows Release of POW Bergdahl

© 2014 The Wired Word

www.thewiredword.com

On May 31, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier held by the Taliban since June 2009, was released by his captors as part of a prisoner swap brokered with the Taliban by the governments of the United States, Qatar and Afghanistan. In exchange for Bergdahl, the United States released five Taliban detainees who'd been incarcerated in the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were sent to Qatar, where they are free to move about the country but are not supposed to leave it for a year.
Bergdahl is currently being debriefed and treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany. It is projected that he will eventually return to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, for further recovery.
While the deal has brought relief to Bergdahl's family, the celebrations planned in his hometown were canceled in the wake of considerable backlash to his release. That backlash is based on three objections:
First, those of his former comrades in arms who have spoken say Bergdahl wasn't captured while doing his duty, but rather that he walked away from his post, and there does appear to be evidence of this.
Second, some observers say that at least six American soldiers died trying to rescue Bergdahl. The deaths of those six are not directly tied in a cause-and-effect chain to attempts to rescue Bergdahl, but people familiar with the specific missions say that those soldiers would not have been where they were at the time of their deaths had Bergdahl not left his post and been captured.
Third, some think it likely that the five Taliban prisoners released in exchange will cause problems for the United States again. All five were top Taliban commanders before their capture, and one has reportedly already said he will fight the United States again.
Some members of Congress have criticized the White House for how it executed the swap. The exchange was negotiated without informing Congress, despite a 2013 law that says the administration must give at least 30 days' notice before transferring anyone from the Guantanamo Bay facility. However, when President Obama signed the bill, he issued a signing statement saying that the restriction interfered with the president's executive power as commander-in-chief. Signing statements have been used by previous presidents as well.
In response to the criticism, the president reiterated the American practice of not leaving a serviceman or servicewoman behind. "We don't condition whether or not we make the effort to try to get them back," President Obama said.
A senior U.S. official says that Bergdahl has told military officials that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors after he tried to escape.
More on this story can be found at these links:
The Bergdahl Exchange: Catch Up on the Latest Developments. CNN
Obama: No Apology for Bergdahl Prisoner Exchange. Yahoo! News
How Did 6 Die After Bowe Bergdahl's Disappearance? CNN
Taliban: We Found Bergdahl Alone, Cursing Americans. Newser
Freed Taliban Commander Tells Relative He'll Fight Americans Again. NBC News
Bowe Bergdahl and the Impossible Choices Families of Hostages Face. The Atlantic
The Big Questions
1. To what degree, if any, is God's rescue of us from sin based on our deservedness? If God saves only those who deserve it, who can be saved? Are there any ways in which your answer affects your view of the Bergdahl release? Why or why not?
2. If the reports of Bergdahl's behavior leading to his capture are true, it at minimum can be described as "dumb" or "ill-considered." What does our faith have to say about the dumb stuff we have done that has resulted in harm to ourselves and/or others? Does God hold our foolish actions against us?
3. To what degree, if any, does our salvation depend on our not walking away from the church? Is walking away from church the same as walking away from God? Explain your answer.
4. Regarding the Christian teaching of final judgment, does such judgment determine our salvation/damnation, or are we saved by grace and still judged for our actions? If the latter, what are the consequences of our actions?
5. To what degree, if any, does God's saving us depend on us?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. (For context, read 10:26-31.)
This is a statement by Jesus about human worth.
Questions: How would you apply this statement to the Taliban prisoners who were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl? What worth do you assign to them? What worth, do you suppose, does Jesus assign to them?
If you were the one captured by the Taliban, what price would you want your country to be willing to pay for your return? What is the actual price, not in the abstract, but in terms of the consequences, and who all will pay it?
Romans 3:22-24
For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ... (For context, read 3:21-26.)
This statement from the apostle Paul answers the question about who deserves rescue from God, and that answer is "no one." Thus, grace is a gift, not a reward.
Questions: To receive rescue from sin, is it necessary that we feel sinful? Is it necessary that we be able to point to obvious sinful behavior in our lives? Why or why not? Do you agree with Paul's "no one" answer? Why or why not?
The fourth-century African theologian Augustine often railed against what he considered the heresy of the Pelagians, who did not share Paul's formulation about original sin and insisted that humanity was basically good. What is your view of humanity and its so-called sinful nature? In your experience, are there people who seem pretty good at the core? Why do people, in the case of the current controversy, always seem to look for the worst in others? Does this say more about them or the people they criticize? Consider the popular t-shirt that displays a child with the words "God don't make junk." What does this say to the Romans text?
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost. (For context, read 19:1-10.)
John 6:44
No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me ... (For context, read 6:41-51.)
Both of these verses point out that God acts to enable us to receive salvation through Jesus before we make a decision to seek him. In fact, as the verse from John indicates, even our impulse to seek Christ is God-given.
Some Christian denominations use the term "prevenient grace" to describe this divine action that precedes human decision (as distinguished from divine "saving grace" that results in salvation). But whether or not that term is used, many Christians recognize after the fact that God was actively wooing them before they were even aware of their need for him.
Questions: Where have you been aware of God awakening your need for Christ before you moved toward him? What made you ready to hear the gospel?
Acts 13:13
Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem ... (For context, read 12:25--13:5, 13.)
The "John" in this verse is also known as "Mark" (Acts 12:25), and he was a cousin of Paul's co-worker Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). When Paul and Barnabas set out on a journey to evangelize parts of the Roman Empire, they took John Mark with them, only to have him pull out of the venture after they were on their way. The reason he walked away from the trip is not known, but Bible scholars speculate that it may have been the hardships of the journey, homesickness or even displeasure that Paul had displaced his cousin as the group leader.
In any case, when Paul and Barnabas later were planning a second journey to spread the gospel, Barnabas again wanted to take his cousin John Mark, but Paul objected because of the man's desertion of them on the previous trip. When Barnabas and Paul could not agree on this, the pair separated, with Paul taking Silas instead and Barnabas taking John Mark on an evangelistic trip of their own (Acts 15:36-41).
Given a second chance, John Mark must have grown into his call, for later, Paul describes him as a "fellow worker" (Philemon 24). Also, in 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul specifically asks Timothy to bring John Mark to him "for he is useful in my ministry."
Questions: How much energy should we put into getting people who have walked away from the church to come back? Should we seek to reconcile them, or judge them, or both? Why? What offense are you holding onto? Should there be a shelf date on some of our grudges?
Luke 15:4-5
Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. (For context, read 15:1-7.)
Good shepherds go looking for their sheep that wander off, and bring them back to the flock. Jesus told this story to make a point about God seeking us.
Questions: Consider these words from the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing": "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/Prone to leave the God I love." To what degree do these words describe your experience? In what specific ways have you been aware of the Divine Shepherd looking for you?
For Further Discussion
1. What might be the effect of rating POWs to decide which ones "deserve" rescue attempts?
2. If it's decided that Bergdahl committed a chargeable offense in walking away from his post, what should his punishment be? Have his five years of captivity by the Taliban been sufficient suffering? Who should decide, and why?
3. How might it affect your view of this prisoner exchange if more U.S. personnel are captured for purposes of swapping them for Taliban detainees?
4. Should this prisoner exchange be measured in mathematical terms of the value of a human life? Why or why not? What biblical perspectives help answer this question?
5. Respond to this, from a TWW team member: "Some walk away from a church after years of faithful membership and serving in leadership roles due to a change in pastors, church leadership, the atmosphere, church bullies and busybodies and for their own needs. Millennials are walking away for a variety of reasons, including their views about premarital sex, inclusion of homosexuals, not being provided meaningful roles in church ministries, noisy members and a host of reasons.
     "I walked away in fourth grade after watching how some church bullies treated a friend of mine while we were on a church-sponsored trip. I decided I did not want to attend a church where people were mean to other people. This was difficult for my grandmother and grandfather, an associate minister in our church and the son of a minister. I found my own way back to my home church after visiting the Baptist church my best friend attended in seventh grade. After visiting my friend's church a few times, I asked my grandmother if our home church had some of the ministries I saw at my friend's church. I returned to my home church in seventh grade and avoided that particular group of church bullies through high school."
Responding to the News
This is a good time to remind ourselves that all people -- including those with whose lifestyle and values we disagree -- are valued in God's eyes, and to consider how that should affect our treatment of such persons.
This is also a good time to review what efforts we make as individuals and as a congregation to bring those who have wandered from the church back into the fellowship.
Closing Prayer

Thank you, O Lord, that you seek us even before we think to seek you, and that you offer saving grace. We pray that you will help those in a position to bring an end to the conflict in Afghanistan to do all they peaceably can to bring that about. In Jesus' name. Amen.

When Religious Conscientiousness Goes Into Overdrive, Anxiety and Dysfunction May Follow

© 2014 The Wired Word 

www.thewiredword.com

In the News
Last week, the CNN website published an article titled "Religious OCD: 'I'm Going to Hell,'" a description of a condition present in some religious people that keeps them from the joys of their faith and causes them to dwell in fear of personal sin and punishment from God.
The condition, called both "religious obsessive-compulsive disorder" (religious OCD) and "scrupulosity," is a subset of the more general obsessive-compulsive disorder. The article's author, Elizabeth Landau, explained that OCD "involves unwanted thoughts ('obsessions') and accompanying behaviors called compulsions that patients use to reduce anxiety." In the scrupulosity form of OCD, Landau said, "the obsessions have a religious or moral underpinning."

Wikipedia describes scrupulosity as "a psychological disorder characterized by pathological guilt about moral or religious issues. It is personally distressing, objectively dysfunctional and often accompanied by significant impairment in social functioning. It is typically conceptualized as a moral or religious form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ...."
Landau cities Jonathan Abramowitz, a psychology professor from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He pointed out that people with religious OCD often believe their thoughts are "morally equivalent to actions." He noted that "scrupulosity [effectively] means 'fearing sin where there is none.'" And, he said, scrupulosity sufferers are "walking around with this black cloud of 'I'm going to hell.'"
Landau also tells the stories of two women, one Jewish and one Christian, who became obsessed in childhood with fears about religious shortcomings and developed compulsive religious rituals in unsuccessful attempts to counter those fears. Their compulsions interfered with their family and other relationships, and they were frequently ridden with anxiety. Later, as adults, both sought and received therapy that helped them deal with their religious OCD in healthier ways, thus improving their lives, their outlooks and their ability to experience the blessings of their religious faith.
One of the things they had to confront was their fear of uncertainty. Abramowitz believes that "faith is about being comfortable with your beliefs even if you can't have a 100 percent guarantee about things like hell, whether there is really a God or what it means to be faithful enough. You're taught to have faith, even though you cannot have scientific proof."
For purposes of today's lesson, we think it is important to move beyond the discussion of scrupulosity as a diagnosis. It is, perhaps, an extreme form of religious conscientiousness, but many Christians, without reaching such dysfunctional extremes, still wrestle with matters of a tender conscience and seek to know at what point devotion to God goes beyond what God asks of us.
In her article, Landau mentioned that some historians have suggested that certain giants of Christian history, including John Climacus, St. Ignatius of Loyola and Martin Luther might have been afflicted with religious OCD.
But, at least regarding Luther, TWW team member James Gruetzner comments, "As I recall his history, the times when he might've been what we consider excessive today were when he was in his late teens and his 20s -- more reflective of the emotional and spiritual development of a person becoming an adult than of any significant psychological (or mental) problem. Certainly it did not interfere with his functioning in society. I don't think it's at all uncommon -- or particularly worthy of labeling as a mental problem -- for adolescents and younger adults to be rather intense in some aspects of life. ... some of the examples in the article were of teens who seemed to have outgrown it."
Gruetzner added, "I tend to see a lot of the pop psychology as forgetting that people are on a continuum and, in most cases, not necessarily stuck on one place. Those who do get stuck at an extreme would need to seek special help, while most people, as part of growing up, are better helped by Christian friends, especially the older-and-wiser. How to do each as required -- identifying and encouraging special (professional) help when needed, or just providing help as a friend -- may not be clear at all times.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Religious OCD: 'I'm Going to Hell.' CNN
Scrupulosity. International OCD Foundation
The Big Questions
1. To what degree -- if any -- is Christianity a matter of dos and don'ts? How hard should we work to stay within those boundaries? What should we do, if anything, about inadvertent failures to observe the dos and don'ts?
2. Is "pious devotion" another term for OCD behavior? Defend your answer. If you are disciplined in your devotional life, might others interpret this as OCD behavior? Is this a fair characterization?
3. In terms of practicing our faith, is it possible to be obsessively conscientious? If not, why not? If so, can the matter of being saved by grace be, in addition to redemption, a deliverance from obsessive conscientiousness?
4. How should the expression "Let your conscience be your guide" be adapted, if at all, for people who are following Jesus? When you let your conscience be your guide, whom should you rely on to test your conscience?
5. Who should decide whether a person's fervent prayer and devotional life is normal or obsessive-compulsive? How can the church help in this decision?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Psalm 119:1
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. (For context, read 119:1-8.)
Psalm 119 is in praise of God's law (Torah). The psalm is a good example of how important a certain -- and dare we say {ITALIC}healthy -- level of scrupulosity can be: It helps provide order in a chaotic world. Psalm 119 is an acrostic of acrostics -- 22 stanzas of eight lines each, each stanza in turn beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet -- in alphabetical order -- and each of the eight lines in each stanza begins with the same letter of the alphabet. (Not surprisingly, this is more apparent in the original Hebrew, but if you look at Psalm 119 in the NIV, CEB or NASB Bible, you'll see the actual Hebrew letter as a heading over each eight-verse block.)
Additionally, each of the 176 lines in this psalm (except for vv. 2, 37, 90 and 122) uses one of the eight synonyms for God's Torah: law, decrees, precepts, statutes, commandments, ordinances, word, promise. In that regard, although we have chosen to quote verse 1 above, we could have chosen almost any verse from this psalm as a sample.
Questions: When have you found the repeating or habitual religious structures, such as rituals, formulaic prayers, daily devotions, weekly church attendance, etc., helpful in maintaining spiritual order and blessings in your life? When have such things gotten in the way of hearing God's new word for you?
How meticulous are you in your life of prayer and devotion? Do you use a printed guide? Do you follow an outline from a book or other source? What do you think are the advantages to the way you approach prayer?
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (For context, read 11:25-30.)
Many of the common people who heard Jesus carried the burden of an uneasy conscience. Many of them had been taught by the Pharisees and some rabbis a strict and legalistic interpretation of the 613 commandments stated in God's laws given through Moses. These interpretations created a body of requirements much larger than the original laws themselves. It was such a formidable mass of regulation that only a full-time legal specialist could hope to know -- and fulfill -- them all.
The result was that the common people often unknowingly violated one of these interpretations. For the most sincere and devout in their attempts to be faithful to the laws, a guilty conscience must have been a common experience. Some people may have been exhausted in their efforts to satisfy the demands of legalism.
Perhaps it was to such people that Jesus addressed the words above. We who are overwhelmed with responsibilities may hear these words as a call to find relaxation in Jesus. But in the original setting, Jesus' invitation was not addressing the work-burdened. For that matter, he was not addressing the sin-burdened either. He was speaking to those who were trying to live holy lives under the enormous burden of keeping all of those rules the Pharisees had laid on them. They were the "law-burdened."
In comparison to that, Jesus' burden is light. He didn't come to do away with God's laws given through Moses, but to fulfill them by giving them the ultimate interpretation. In fact, his interpretation could be boiled down to two: "Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus didn't mean that God's laws had no value. But he likely meant that the scrupulous attempt to reduce every law to a restrictive set of behaviors missed the point.
He was addressing those who had felt inward moral disapproval, not because they were intentionally doing wrong, but because they were trying to do right but were under constant judgment by an impossible -- and man-made -- standard. To paraphrase Jesus, he was saying, "Come to me, all you whose consciences bleed because you cannot achieve everything you believe is expected of you. And I will give you healing and inward peace."
Note that Jesus did not offer a life with no yoke at all. Freedom is preserved within protective boundaries, and a {ITALIC}healthy conscience is one such boundary.
The yoke of Jesus' day was a wooden collar made for two animals so that they could pull together as a team. The yoke of Jesus is not one he imposes on us, but one he wears with us. His words might be rephrased as "Become my yoke-mate, and learn how to pull the load by working beside me and watching how I do it. The heavy labor of life will seem lighter when you allow me to help you with it."
Questions: In what ways do you find Jesus' "yoke" hard to carry? In what ways do you find it light? In what ways do you feel that Jesus is helping you "pull" your load? Whom besides Jesus do you rely on to help bear this burden or yoke?
Luke 22:19
Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (For context, read 22:14-20.)
Luke 24:30
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. (For context, read 24:28-35.)
In the Luke 22 reference above, the gospel writer describes Jesus' actions at the Last Supper, in what became for his followers the institution of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion. In the Luke 24 verse, the gospel writer uses some of the same vocabulary to describe the resurrected Jesus sharing a meal with the two disciples he had joined on the road to Emmaus.
We suspect that Luke uses the same words deliberately, for he understood that in the presence of Jesus, certain actions and words (i.e., "rituals") become the markers of our spiritual lives. Luke says as much, for he says that after the meal with Jesus, the two believers sought out the 11 disciples and "told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (v. 35).
Questions: How can we be faithful in our worship so as to recognize Jesus' presence, without fixating on ritualistic acts for our salvation? What litanies or religious practices have been most helpful to you? Where do you see Jesus in the midst of your church's practices?
Galatians 2:16
... yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. (For context, read 2:15-21.)
For those of us who want a guarantee that if we just do certain things perfectly correctly, all will be well with us spiritually, it's good to hear these words from Paul. We are justified by faith, not by works.
Questions: Apply this verse to your own life. What does it mean to you? How do faith and works come together? Where do you draw the line between faith and works in your life of faith? Where do you observe others drawing that line?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (For context, read 5:11-22.)
When Paul advised that we should pray without ceasing, we doubt that he meant we should fixate on praying to the point of compulsion. Rather, he likely meant that being in touch with God regularly is important to the spiritual life and for discovering God's will.
Questions: How can we tell what is a sign from God and what is not? How does salvation come into play? How practical is it to seek to pray without ceasing? Do you tell people you are praying for them all the time whether you are or not? What form does prayer take when it is a constant presence in your life? What are the markers (that others might mistake for OCD behaviors) in your prayer life?
For Further Discussion
1. Respond to this, from a TWW team member: "[Until] reading the [scrupulosity] article, I have never considered that one's religious fervor could be considered OCD. Yet, I know in my own journey as a younger Christian that, while I do not see it as OCD, legalism and expectation from the evangelical subculture made me feel that I was not spiritual enough because of my personal struggles. It did produce anxiety, and I guess I was 50 years old before I could ever relax in grace."
2. Respond to this, heard in a sermon: "Faith is not synonymous with certainty; it is synonymous with commitment. Christian faith is not saying, 'I know the truth'; rather it is saying, 'I am entrusting myself to Christ.'"
3. Discuss this, from a TWW team member: "I have had a chance to work with two individuals with religious OCD or scrupulosity, as it is called. These have been hard conversations, and I have actually had to encourage these two to attend church less and help them think that not everything is spiritual. Many moments in their lives were taken as spiritual signs, and the overarching focus was typically on hell and sin. Tough conversations, so this topic hits a few ministry moments for me."
4. Comment on this, from TWW team member James Gruetzner, as quoted in the "In the News" section above: "Those who do get stuck at an extreme would need to seek special help, while most people, as part of growing up, are better helped by Christian friends, especially the older-and-wiser. How to do each as required -- identifying and encouraging special (professional) help when needed, or just providing help as a friend -- may not be clear at all times."
5. In the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, that old statesman tells of living at a boarding house in England in his younger years. There was another boarder, a single woman of 70, who lived up in the garret. As a young woman, she had lived in a convent somewhere in Europe and intended to become a nun, but for some reason, the country did not agree with her, and she returned to England. But she vowed to live as much like a nun as she could. Accordingly, she had given all her estate to charity, keeping only a small amount to live on, and then she regularly gave away even much of that, living on a watery gruel. She was so saintly that the owners of the house let her live there for free, actually deeming it a blessing to have her in the house. Every day, a priest came to hear her confession. Her landlady wondered how the old woman could possibly have anything to confess daily, and asked her about it. The woman said, "Oh, it is impossible to avoid vain thoughts." What observations would you make about this woman?
Responding to the News
It may be that the uneasy conscience is more prevalent among those who attend church regularly than among the population at large, for we are people who really try to understand what it means to live righteously. The burden of undeserved guilt often comes to those who really try to do what they understand as right.
It would be good for us to consider how we use the words "must," "should," "ought" and the like, both with ourselves and when speaking to other Christians, as in statements that start, "To please God, you must ..." or "As a Christian, you ought to ...."
Of course, there are some things that Christians must, should and ought to do, but our reliance on such words to describe our religion may be a cue that we have allowed things to get out of balance in our spiritual lives, and that we have forgotten about grace, mercy and "come unto me, all you that are weary ...."
Closing Prayer

O God, help us to grasp that the yoke Jesus invites us to share is not an intimidating list of dos and don'ts, and that you do not wish to relate to us primarily as a judge. Let our gift to you be not a guilty conscience but a joyful acceptance of your mercy and love. Thank you for giving us, through Jesus, ready admission into your presence. In Jesus' name. Amen.