From Volume 3, Number 1, Summer 1996

Like a Phoenix rising...

It seems nearly every day in our local paper I read of one or two more churches destroyed by the series of arsons afflicting our country. While the great majority of these churches are primarily  African-American, there have been a few churches whose membership is mostly European-American which have been the targets of the various arsonists. No one has yet reported whether those few churches have  multi-racial memberships or have been involved in taking stands against racism, but I would not be surprised if that were the case.

In recent weeks a number of evangelical movements such as the Christian Coalition and the Promise Keepers have made public statements condemning the arsons, offering rewards and/or financial or  material assistance to the victimized churches. Their statements have frequently been met with skepticism or derision. While this may seem uncharitable to some, a spokesman for the Promise Keepers suggested that the  complacency with which the Body of Christ has accepted racism in its midst has helped create the atmosphere for such attacks. He further suggested that the Body of Christ has no moral authority to address racism  until we root out this sin from our own community. Nonetheless, the Promise Keepers were not suggesting a Christian retreat from confronting this sin. In fact, beyond the pledge of funds, that organization called  upon its members to take tools in hand for rebuilding the burned out churches and keep watch around churches at risk for such attacks during this period of assault.

It is not that these are the only Christian organizations responding to the arsons. Hundreds of local congregations of all racial makeup are sending teams of workers. The major denominations are  responding with substantial financial aid. One small ministry on the internet is raising money to replace the Bibles destroyed in the fires. It is the unanimity of the response that is worth taking note. Christian  groups long characterized by indifference or denial appear to have woken from deadly slumber. This response puts me in mind of the words of an evangelical Christian writing about racism in the church twenty years  ago. As I recall, the author, a European-American, remarked that the great shame of the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s was that any African-American ever had to march for human rights and human dignity.  Instead, he noted, it should have been Christians of European descent who poured into the streets long before, demanding justice and dignity for the oppressed peoples of the land.

Perhaps some readers, having gotten this far in my story, may be weary of the hyphenated labels placed on the various people groups. A former president has often been quoted that "there is no  such thing as a hyphenated American." Would that it were true. The original peoples of the Americas were pushed aside or enslaved by Europeans in the settling of the 'new world.' Africans were imported to a  style of slavery uniquely vicious even in the sordid history of human enslavement. Hispanics were imported to work the fields for subsistence wages. Asians, particularly the Chinese, were imported for cheap servant  labor. While slavery is gone and a number of official efforts have been made to redress the wrongs done to the various ethnic groups, the spiritual wounds inflicted on the land have never been addressed. Such wounds  can only be addressed by the Body of Christ in the strength of repentance and the power of the Spirit. Yet the Body of Christ chose to live in denial. Until the land is healed and a heavenly reconciliation begun, we  are destined to be a mixture of hyphenated Americans continually torn by jealousy, greed, lust and strife.

The current revival of interest in Celtic Christianity may have its own small but significant role to play in this reconciliation. Nearly all interest in the Celtic tradition comes from people of  European descent. For the other peoples of this land, the Celtic way is irrelevant, save by its curious way of being Christian, so unlike what these people have seen in European style Christianity. The challenge  faced by European-Americans is to approach the Christian life with the attitudes, if not the culture, of the Celtic Christians. The humility of Aidan, the gentleness of Cuthbert, the generosity of Bridget, the  evangelistic passion of Columbanus and the spiritual wisdom of Columcille all provide models of how to live a new way in Christ.

The Great Commission given by Jesus bids us go into the world making disciples. Not Europeans, not Native Americans, not Africans, not even Celts, but disciples. Celtic Christianity is a way to carry  out this mission that respects the cultures in which the Gospel is to be lived. Therein lies its true value. To seek to live the Aidan way for any other reason is to indulge in mere spiritual nostalgia. Our  discipline bids us to live and walk along side the peoples of our land, of whatever descent. It bids us carry out the work of reconciliation by reaching out, not reaching down. It bids us soil our hands with the  ordinary, to refuse isolation and denial.

Even in the midst of societal division, racial hatred, political violence and moral chaos, these are exciting times to be a Christian. As the response to the church burnings draws the Body of Christ  from its slumber, walking the Aidan way must transcend private spirituality and join in the awakening. Like the phoenix rising from its own ashes Christ bids his recalcitrant Bride rise and labor for the healing of  the land.