St. John’s United Church of Christ
January 17, 2008
A Sermon by the Rev. John Krueger
The Bubble of Safe Discourse I Corinthians 1:10-18
Whistle blowers get mixed reviews, don’t they? The ones who point out abuse or illegal practices in the workplace are sometimes thanked and rewarded, but that depends on the person being accused. Siblings who make a practice of telling on each other can drive a parent to distraction.
Here in Paul’s letter to the quarrelsome Christian community in Corinth, it is Chloe who blows the whistle on the disruptive clashes that are dividing this fragile community. Perhaps Chloe was just a busybody, stirring things up and making a mountain out of a molehill. More likely she was a believable reporter of what was going on in Corinth.
Christian communities have always been fallible places where personalities and egos and agendas get played out in front of an audience. It seems that in this small Corinthian church there are at least four competing groups, each vying for influence and dominance.
One owes its allegiance to Paul, the founder himself, and another to Apollos, the one who took over from Paul when Paul moved on to another setting for ministry. A third group claimed to be followers of Cephas, Peter, likely those of Jewish background who felt close to Peter. And another group said they belonged to Christ, admirable, perhaps, but a likely sub-group who claimed to be the true followers of Christ.
What had started as a small, beleaguered group of Christians intent on following the teachings of Jesus, had morphed into competing and warring factions, each suspicious of the others. Paul pleads with them to put aside all of their controversies, suggesting that their loyalty to the crucified and Risen Christ should unite them and minimize their differences. We can assume that Paul’s pleading was not convincing, for we have segments of three more Corinth letters, written by Paul, continuing his intent to hold together this contentious community.
Congregations, like this one, are not cloned communities. We are not all peas coming from the same pod. We each are a bundle of opinions and experiences and viewpoints, shaped by a life-time of events and attitudes. We can all agree that today is January 27, 2008, and just about everything else is open to discussion. Christian communities tend to be passionate communities. We care about our beliefs and practices. And when we are passionate about what we have come to believe, it follows that we become advocates of those beliefs, and not too bashful about sharing our conclusions. That was the case in the Corinthian Church, and so it is today.
There are a number of ways to judge a congregation, how one church stacks up against other congregations. How many members do you have? How many people were in church last week? How big is your budget? How much debt do you have? How many kids in Sunday School, or youth in youth groups? How many small groups meet during the week and how many people are on your staff? All of those statistics may be interesting, and sometimes they even resemble the truth, but I would like to propose a different type of measurement.
I think every congregation, and perhaps other groups as well, have what I call a Bubble of Safe Discourse. This is the range of ideas and opinions that can be spoken out loud. This bubble can be any where on the spectrum, and it may be in different places depending on the subject matter, but there is a range of acceptable conversation. The “insiders” know what is allowable within that bubble, and the new people soon learn that as well. Either a person coming in from the outside can conform to the acceptable range of ideas and opinions and fit in, or a person can challenge that bubble and face ridicule or silent rejection.
It is my contention that in most groups, and in most congregations, the tendency is to conform, to narrow the bubble, to block out the ideas and opinions that don’t fit for the sake of tranquility and getting along. I believe the measure of a church should be its commitment to widening and opening this Bubble of Safe Discourse.
I think it is healthy and faithful to invite into the conversation voices that are not usually heard, and ideas that do not fit, and opinions that cause people to pause and think. Instead of just reinforcing what we already think we know, invite a viewpoint that strikes a new chord, and maybe even a discordant note. Instead of protecting the group against something different, encourage a new voice to speak from a new perspective and give that voice an honest and thoughtful hearing.
There is an obvious downside to what I am proposing – the problem present in the Corinthian church. I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ, represents the competing allegiances to persons or viewpoints. That often has special disruptive power in churches, as we are prone to trot out a verse of scripture to substantiate our opinion, or try to back the other person in a corner with the strength of our argument or our voice.
When Paul pleads with them to be in agreement, that there be no division among them, and that they be united in the same mind and purpose, I don’t think he was trying to brow-beat them into a rigid conformity. I think Paul was encouraging them to find a common center, a meeting place that defined them as Christians, and to make that their central affirmation.
In the Early Christian Church, the first confession of faith was just three words, “Jesus Is Lord.” Jesus, this Jesus of Nazareth, is Lord, my primary loyalty. That was the uniting confession that made them all Christians. It was not their views on baptism, or Holy Communion, or fasting, or tithing, or scripture, or proper behavior. Jesus Is Lord was the very center of this Bubble of Safe Discourse. Around that central affirmation we can welcome diverse opinions about everything from church-state relationships, public and private behaviors, interpretation of scripture, political allegiances, economic theories, church structures and the sacraments, and ways of living out Christian discipleship.
The way into this church, or any church for that matter, is the simple confession, Jesus Is Lord. Since that brings us together, we then can invite from each other how God’s Spirit has been alive and well in your faith journey, what you have learned so far, what you have come to believe, so far, and who you are seeking to become.
There ought to be enough room in this congregation for creationists and evolutionists, neither writing off the other. There ought to be enough room for Democrats and Republicans and Independents and those who hold differing views on beginning of life and ending of life issues. We ought to welcome the new member, or the new minister, who can offer new experiences and new insights to our mix. We ought to be proud of who we are, but not so proud that we cannot learn from someone who comes late to our parade but who has a rightful place among us.
So cherish who you are, how God has led and guided you, but welcome the chance to be challenged by the new thing God is always seeking for us for our blessing. Push back our tendency to be comfortable in what we already know, our satisfaction with the persons we have already become, and be intrigued with what is still out before us Honor the Bubble of Safe Discourse that already describes this church and be open to new learnings, new opportunities to be instructed by God’s Spirit. Welcome the stranger, the new voice, and see this as our growing edge, as a church, as individuals. Hold fast to the center, Jesus Is Lord, and know that God, the creator of this world’s diversity, invites us into a world of surprise and wonder.