Being the Body

By Tony Robinson, St. Thomas, Chesapeake

I must admit that I have been struggling with what to write for this blog ever since I was asked to do so in December.  I wasn’t sure why I found it so difficult, but in the end I guess it was because I was asking the wrong questions.  Just as I think many in this debate are answering the wrong question.

One side defends their position as a matter of absolute Biblical interpretation, the other as a matter of absolute grace.  One side berates the other as unfaithful to the Word of God; the other as unfaithful to the ministry of Jesus.

Oh, it’s all done with civility (for the most part), but the underlying tone is still there.  The explanations of positions do little.  Minds are unchanged; hearts are unmoved; and the road toward anger and schism is built with the paving stones of misunderstanding.

But what is being misunderstood?

Each side interprets Scripture and knows that if they just use the right method to explain it, the other side will see the error of their ways and correct their way of thinking.  But I think that this makes an erroneous and potentially dangerous assumption; i.e. that the Holy Spirit is not working in that other person.

People on both sides of this issue approach Scripture prayerfully and spiritually and come to different conclusions.  Why?

Is it because one side is filled entirely with bigots, and the other side’s only interest is in political expedience?  Or is it possible that the interpretation of Scripture and the awakening to the movement of the Holy Spirit is not an either/or situation.  Perhaps, the Holy Spirit reveals things differently to different people so that they are prepared to minister differently in different situations.

My wife and I disagree on some things, yet we still are able to come to meals together, share the same food and drink, commune with each other.  In anticipation of the responses below, I will ask myself this question, “but what if I found my wife had been unfaithful?”  As I know many feel that the opposition is in exactly that position.

Well that is where my metaphor breaks down because my wife and I share facilities: house, cars, finances, etc.  So let’s adjust the metaphor.  One would be hard-pressed to find two people more different than my brother and me.  Our belief structures, lifestyles, goals and desires are diametrically opposed.  He does what he does in his house and I in mine.  But in our lives we dine together, grieve and celebrate together.  And when the time comes we will minister to our parents together.  And through it all we still share the same name.

And that is the beauty of the Episcopal Church.  We have different houses, different ways of doing ministry, but we still commune together.  Still support each other, and lift each other up.  

We still share the name Christian. 

“If all were a single member, where would the body be?” (I Corinthians 12:19)