Disciple: Our Particular Gifts

By the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman

“In Christ there is no East or West, in him no South or North,
But one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

The familiar hymn has always been a favorite of mine. The simple vision of unity it conveys is at the center of what I understand the vocation of the Church to be. We are to be the unified body of Christ. Of course, in this we have struggled mightily, and some would argue we have failed miserably, particularly if we look through the lens of denominationalism. We see the lines of division that have undercut this vision of unified fellowship for centuries. Instead of a unified body, we have divided into factions of Catholic and Protestant, of orthodox and apostolic, of Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Congregationalists… the list goes on and on.

That is one way to view our history: as a series of splits and divisions that have left the Church fragmented and its witness to unity compromised. If that is true, then we are perhaps the least qualified, and likely the last, institution one would imagine being effective in healing the political, economic and racial divisions that plague our state and country.

But there is another way of looking at our history. Rather than seeing it as a study in fragmentation or a series of fractures, divisions and discord, imagine the Church instead as a large, majestic tree with a canopy of limbs and branches spreading in every direction, reaching out in a glorious diversity of shape, color and size from a common trunk. When I think of what it means to be the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, it is this image of the tree that seems to capture a more hopeful vision for the life of the Church.

In this view, we are all organically connected to the same source of water and nutrition, passing from the roots through the trunk to each of the branches. Each branch and every leaf is a receptor of sunlight; the sugar that comes from the subsequent process of photosynthesis then strengthens the central core of the tree of which we are all a part.

There is a Biblical version of this image for the Church that comes from one of Jesus’ parables. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

Living out this more hopeful vision of unity in diversity, of common roots with a variety of expression, holds more promise for our role as leaders of a movement that calls us to value the different expressions of faith and answers to the call of discipleship. In doing so, our witness as an organization with actual experience holding together different kinds of people across a spectrum of political beliefs, socio-economic strata and racial and ethnic heritage, begins to gain some credibility and traction.

This summer’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, brought our divisions more sharply into focus and, let’s face it, closer to home. We are shifting from the philosophical realm to a reality of pressing and immediate concern. The necessity of the Church to become a leading voice in the healing of these divisions has grown urgent. Perhaps we could we add a line to the hymn, “In Christ there is no Left or Right”?

The racial and class dynamics sometimes connected to our political divisions make the conversation more complicated. The recent movement to tear down or remove confederate monuments is an example of this and has heighted the tension for all of us.

I recently met with a seminarian, and we talked about some of the divisions that plague us within and outside of the Church. He said, “That is why the moment when people come forward for communion continues to be the most meaningful part of the service for me. I know the deep differences people carry as they make their way to the rail. I see people from opposite ends of the political and theological spectrum come forward to the same table, and as they kneel down, sometimes side by side, none of that matters. They are all here for the same things: to be close to Jesus, to feel the grace of his love and to be reminded how deeply connected we are to each other, in him.”

CONVERGENCE

There is an old saying in leadership that we must never allow the urgent to distract us from the necessary, but occasionally, the urgent and the necessary converge. This is one such moment. It is time to begin, again, these conversations about unity, about our dividedness, about the need for deeper understanding, about justice, and about what true reconciliation might look like. As a colleague pointed out to me, it is not one conversation; there are many conversations we need to have, and the work is complex and even risky. Yet the Church is not only called, it may have some unique gifts to offer in convening such conversations.

As I wrote this column, I received a text from my cousin in Indiana. She is much more conservative than I am, both politically and theologically, but everyday she texts me some verses from scripture. That day’s verse was “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

At our Diocesan Convention this fall and throughout the coming year, we will lean into these conversations with integrity, with openness, with vulnerability, with prayer and with a deep desire for healing. I hope you will be a part of these conversations. Please bring to them your own experience, your particular point of view, your deep commitment to Jesus and your hopes for our state, our nation and our world. Conversation alone will not bring about healing. But these conversations will begin a process of healing that calls us as members of one body back to the reality that we all are connected, we all share common roots, and we all have the gift of our particular experience and perspective to share.

The Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman is the XII Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.