Resistance Is Necessary

I just attended a Bible Study on the book of Acts , particularly as it apples to LGBTQ+ people and the expanse of Christianity from being an exclusive sect of Judaism to being an inclusive religion all its own. I was struck by the concept of citizenship and how it applies today, with all its rights and privileges for no particular reason but that you’re already here.

Suddenly I’m stuck remembering playing a game where kids run between bases and if they make it to the base without being tagged, they are called “safe”, simply because you were quick enough or tricky enough to make to the “home” position. Then we would have said “No takesy backsies”. Unless you left the base, you couldn’t be out.

It occurs to me that American citizenship is rooted in the concepts of rights an privileges as well. The idea being in all of these things, “If God has done it, who are we to argue?”. If America is a special place endowed by God with a majestic holiness, then that is why we consider citizenship to be so important.

Revelation from God (not the book, the actual experience of having something revealed) is not something to be argued with, especially if it’s already happened.

In Acts 8:17. Peter realizes, “So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

Clergy are ordained because it has been revealed to people that God is with them in some way or another. They can be “defrocked” but it’s very seldom done, and even if the church won’t recognize your call again (aka, you can’t preach because you’ve done something so offensive, you’re a liability to the community), no one can say “God didn’t call you” or “you have no ministry left”. We mortals know the difference between what God calls for, what humans need, and which power supercedes which. If you’re alive, God can work through you. God is bigger than we are, and humility says we shouldn’t claim that we know better than God.

The long and short of this is “once you’re in, you’re in” and God doesn’t revoke your call, even if humans don’t know what to do with it. Furthermore, the community of believers can, will, and should make you a better person. That’s part of citizenship in the kingdom of God: you can’t be under the sway of God’s Spirit, and not change for the better.

Okay, let’s apply this to other forms of citizenship in the kingdom of God — simply being a Christian (by tradition, anyway) can’t be undone. This, oddly, is why judges (especially on the Supreme Court) are elected for life. There’s supposed to be something special about their wisdom that puts them above ordinary citizens. You have to be a citizen to be a judge, but among citizens there are only so many people that wise as to get the job as long as they live. In the same way, you have to be a Christian to receive ordination, but among Christians, only a few are seen as called to preach or teach or do the sacraments or simply just being a Christian. There must be something different about the person that suggests God’s presence is with them.

Among Christians, we never want to say we know better than the living God about anything. For Christians, the attitude about a person or group preaching or being ordained has to be “Who are we to step in the way of God’s plan”? Once we’ve agreed on that specialness, God can do anything God wants — even if we don’t understand it.

The answer, then, to the question, “Can a woman preach?” should be “I don’t know. Let’s see”. If she seems to be led, the church should give her the chance and once she’s been successful, the question is answered for all time. Once the mold has been broken, anything’s possible.

In American history, then, if we want to say God is a part of it, once a right has been established by God, it can not, or should not, ever be undone. So in American citizenship, once a woman can vote, all women can vote. If they have proven they can do it, they can. Asked and answered.

Can a gay person become a Christian? If one exists, they can and do exist. Their rights cannot be taken away. Can they be ordained? See above.

If a slave can become a citizen, all slaves can be citizens. That’s why there was such a fuss about it for so long. People realized that If Black people can be citizens, they have rights, and they are equal. As citizens, they can even be President of the United States. What was a “theory” in 1870 became a reality in 2008. This is why the Supreme Court couldn’t argue with Birthright Citizenship. This is why Donald refused to believe that Obama had citizenship. Once you’re a citizen, you have rights. Obama’s tenure proved that a Black person had the ability to do the job. Can they be? Of course they can. We cannot undo that history, nor should we. There is no turning back.

Comedian George Carlin — one of the wisest philosophers of our age — pointed out just before he died that “they can’t be called ‘rights’ if you can take them away”. Thus, the Supreme Court can’t take away an actual right, as in the Dobbs decision that took away the right to an abortion. In God’s world, you can’t do that. No takesy-backsies.

So this is what I propose: all citizens of this country get all the rights that they were entitled to at the peak of their rights. Reconstruction cannot be undone. The Civil Rights movement cannot be undone. The ERA cannot be undone. It is not possible to undo a right. Rights are given to citizens. They just are.

What makes a person a citizen? They had the good luck to be born here and they want to stay. This is the link between citizenship in the Kingdom of God and citizenship in a country. Once something has become real, in cannot be made unreal. Once something has been proven to be true, you can’t make it untrue.

So let’s consider changing our policy: not only can’t you deport a citizen, but there are more citizens than you know. “Dreamers”, born here are — by definition — citizens. If during their lifetime, they have proven they can handle the job, no one should take it away. That also goes for migrants and asylum seekers and anyone else who wants to be here.

Who are we to say they can’t if they can prove they can?

Peace,

John