Denominational Ice Cream
Over the years I have heard that the different Christian denominations are basically all the same. Yes, there are differences - one may use a little water to baptize while another uses a lake or one uses real wine another uses juice. One has smells and bells while another has a band - but in the end they are fundamentally the same.
Some time ago I introduced myself to someone and they had this mindset that all denominations are basically the same. This person asked me, “so what is your denominational flavor?” It was at that moment that a metaphor came to me to describe denominations. And while metaphors are not perfect, I offer up this metaphor to highlight what I mean.
Some of us might think that denominations are like ice cream. They are all made of milk, sugar and some various ingredients. You may have vanilla or you may have rocky road, but no one confuses ice cream (regardless of the flavor) as anything but ice cream. And so, in this way it makes sense that someone may ask what is your denominational “flavor”.
However, and sticking with the sweet theme here, denominations are all similar in that they are dessert but they are not all ice cream. Some are cake. Some are pie. Some are ice cream. Some are cheese trays.
I think one of the greatest dessert is tres leches cake. For the deprived souls who have not embarked on the journey of delight that is tres leches cake, image a very light cake soaked in a sweet milk and topped with fresh berries, whipped cream and cinnamon. It is amazing. If I were to seek out and order tres leches and the server brings me ice cream, I would know the difference. There are obvious differences in those two items - even as they are both dessert items. I would not say, “well all dessert are basically all the same.”
And here is the rub, some of us feel like the only way that we can speak about our dessert is to shame or tear down the other desserts. Some Christians feel like the only way to assert the beauty of their denomination is to talk about the ugliness of other denominations. And so there are misrepresentations and misinformation. Fear and hate are spat out for the sake of getting others to, if not join a preferred denomination, at least reject another.
Some of us are lactose intolerant and need to avoid ice cream. Some of us have a gluten allergy and need to avoid cake. Some of us are diabetic and need to consider sugar free options. We understand this with desserts and yet we sometimes overlook this practice in our search for a community of faith all because it is assumed that “all denominations are basically the same.”
They are not and that is a feature not a bug . It is important to find the denomination that nourishes your body, mind, spirit and soul.
Otherwise we may end up becoming very sick.
Introducing #PeddlingPreacher Channel
I am a big fan of the desert mothers and fathers of the early church. They are not perfect but they do offer up a type of wisdom for us today that I believe worth our time. The problem is that these stories are not always accessible. Since September 27, 2022 I have been offering these stories on the Instagram/Facebook platforms, called "Peddling Preacher”
Here are the most recent postings of these little videos:
Genesis of #PeddlingPreacher
Since 2014 I have been ensnared by the stories and "sayings" of the desert mothers and fathers (ammas and abbas). For the past few years I have been in a doctoral program that is exploring a model of pastoral leadership inspired by these abbas/ammas. I think that these different stories or "sayings" are remarkable and are very practical to our spiritual formation. For the past couple of years, I have thought it might be fun to have a podcast where I just tell a "saying" and then unpack it so it could be understood. Each episode would have been less than 10 minutes. However, I don't have the skill set to create a podcast at regular intervals and I never could find a partner who would join me on a podcast.
In August 2021 I was able to purchase an ebike and I was riding it to my son's cross country meet. When I arrived to the meet, my father in law jokingly called me the "pedaling preacher". It was funny and I started to share that joke with others.
After about a year of having the ebike and riding to work and around town, I cannot recall where the idea came from that I should make videos as the "pedaling preacher" and put them online. I thought that it was a silly idea because I could not think of any content that would be worth sharing. Then the sayings came to mind and I said if I were to make videos it would just be me telling those stories. I never did anything after that.
Then one day, Rev. Lauren Christenberry (an associate on staff at Keller) said, "If you are not going to create that social media account as the pedaling preacher, I will." I thought she was joking.
Two weeks later, I came into the office and Lauren said, "I did it. You are the "peddling preacher" on Instagram. So now you have no excuses."
When I logged in the first time to the Instagram account I messed it all up and Lauren had to fix it the next day. It was after it was all fixed that I realized that the account was set up as "peddling preacher" not "pedaling preaching". This was not a big deal but I chose not to change it because I had such a hard time on day one. So the idea is that I am a “UMC preacher gearing up to peddle stories of Jesus while pedaling an E bike."
Remember that time Jesus said to hate your parents?
Do you remember that time Jesus said to hate your parents? Luke 14: 25-27 reads:
25 Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Sometimes folks don’t believe that Jesus said this in the Gospels. It seems harsh at best and a violation of the “honor your father and mother” commandment at worst. How could Jesus ask any potential disciple to hate his parents, spouse, family and self?
I am unsure that Jesus is talking about one should hate a specific person so much as Jesus is asking the disciple to hate a system. The ruling family system of Jesus’ day was one called “paterfamilias”. In this system, the oldest living male was the absolute ruler over the family. He could legally exercise autocratic authority over his household. Jesus is demanding that would be disciples hate the “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life” that affirmed, supported and promoted the paterfamilias system.
Hating a system of abuse, control and enslavement is very much a Jesus thing.
However, notice that Jesus goes on. He says in the next verses:
28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.
In these two little parables, Jesus suggests that the mature disciple does not just “hate” a broken system. A mature disciple considers alternative ways of being before they embark on hating the broken system. You can hate what your parents make you for dinner, but unless you are willing to offer alternatives and help cook, then hating the meal is nothing but a tantrum.
And the only thing tantrums are capable of doing are destroying. I think the United States has bore witness to when the tantrums on the extremes act out: denial of reality, conformity culture, rejection of undesired outcomes, silencing of critique and the elevation of nihilism.
Hate the unhealthy, autocratic and enslaving systems. It is easy to tear those systems down. If we want to help usher in the Kingdom of God we have to see the conversion of hearts not just the application of rules. We cannot just decree a new reality with force without also converting the hearts of others. It is insufficient to tear down a tower without considering what will be built in it’s place. It is harmful to declare war on another unless you are able to convert the other to your cause.
The United Methodist Church has a splinter church called the Global Methodist Church that is doing a fine job at tearing down the UMC. At the same time, the GMC is doing a fine job at showing others what they want to build in place of the UMC. The UMC has to get clear on the reality that many people believe the UMC is broken, unhealthy or toxic and they want to tear it all down. And until the leaders in the UMC (myself included) are able to paint a picture of a new reality for the future of the UMC, there will be more stones cast our way.
We have got to be more direct with our ability to articulate how God’s vision for the UMC is not only faithful but vibrant and healthy. We cannot continue to have the generic messages that God loves you or that you are forgiven. These are important messages, but they cannot be the only messages. We have to be able to address what the Bible says vs. what the fundamentalists of different churches say the Bible says. We have to show in word and deed how critical Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are to the world and individual lives.
We have to offer alternatives and an imagined reality.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.