Speaking Truth to Power

Barack Obama didn't call Sarah Palin a pig by using the expression "lipstick on a pig" but when the Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter, he effectively called her a dog when he said, "It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs." (Matthew 15:26) And this after Matthew reported on Jesus' own view that what goes in the mouth doesn't defile a person, but what comes out of the mouth does. Perhaps Palin and McCain would accuse Matthew of "gotcha journalism" but I think the rest of us can plainly see the contradiction in Jesus' own position. Certainly the Canaanite woman saw it as well as she pressed the issue to the point of reminding Jesus of his own understanding of his mission to serve the least, the last, and the lost (even the dogs get the scraps).

This fascinating exchange in scripture reveals a human Jesus who is in need of correction (all the more remarkable for the gospel of Matthew which more typically extols the divine nature of Jesus). It certainly gives hope to the outcast and oppressed peoples of the world who are thus empowered to argue their case before God and God's servants. It is too easy to take a theological position that supports the status quo as God's plan. At the heart of Jesus' mission was shaking the foundation of that same entrenched idea in his own day, and even he needed reminding of that from this foreign woman. Speaking truth to power is never out of order. When the one speaking this truth does so from a position of societal powerlessness all the power rests with the truth. That is what the Canaanite woman did, practically taking a chapter from Jesus' playbook (and of all the prophets who preceded him).

This past Sunday, with the promised support of the Alliance Defense Fund, 31 pastors defied the IRS regulations prohibiting partisan political speech from the pulpit. I assume that to varying degrees the 31 pastors endorsed the Republican ticket as part of their sermons. The ADF site has few details. It also offers no suggestions for why they didn't reach their goal of 50 participants. While I wholeheartedly support their right to political speech, if they want to be wedded to partisan politics they should not be asking to do so without "rendering unto Caesar." The rules that allow churches to be tax exempt ought to include limits, but just what they should be is less than clear.

I'm glad to refrain from endorsing candidates from the pulpit, and while I'm careful not to name names when critique systems and ideas, it does become difficult not to tip my hand at times. The truth of the matter is that when power is challenged by the truth, all sin and fall short of the glory of God. I can't say that I'm equally disappointed by both parties, as a progressive I'm obviously more disappointed by the Republicans. Still, when I mount the pulpit to speak truth to power I want it to be known that all politicians and parties are in the sights. When I examine Obama in the light of my understanding of scriptural truth I find him weak on the issue of ending and preventing war. I find his position on the Wall Street bailout disappointingly inconsistent with his tax plan that seems to reflect the scriptural position that to whom much has been given much is expected. Still, none of that means that I don't prefer Obama to McCain, but it does mean that I wouldn't use the pulpit to profess that conclusion. Not to mention the fact that I intend to cast my vote for the Green Party ticket of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente. But that is my personal choice, and even though I have a hard time fathoming how anyone can choose the Republicans, I refuse to say that doing so is unchristian, and I would never even hint at such a thing from the pulpit.

We would be wise to listen again to what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in “The Strength to Love”: "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority." May we progressives never cease to be the conscience, guide and critic of the state, regardless of who wins the election. I, for one, did not sign up to be a member of an irrelevant social club. No, I will never yield my spiritual authority to speak truth to power.