UnFLAGging Jesus

I once was joined for lunch by two friends. One was head of a theological school. Our conversation was amicable enough. Although the seminary president took up much of our visit promoting a wide array of initiatives focused on leadership. Future pastors, chaplains, counselors and social service providers were being trained to be leaders! It appeared an effort to impress the other friend at the table — John McKnight.

John is one of the founders of the Asset Based Community Development approach to community organizing, (often abbreviated as ABCD). A primary assumption of ABCD is that good leaders start by listening to others and discovering gifts, passions, assumptions and assets. After lunch as we were saying our “good-byes,” John took the hand of the seminary president and kindly offered, “Maybe we should focus a little more on connector-ship and a little less on leadership.”

Connector-ship! That’s a missing ingredient in so much of human exchange. Universities, businesses, denominations and governments spend tens of millions of dollars and valuable personnel time training for leadership. This is not without merit and benefit. Still if one begins with a belief that energy and initiatives all flow from a top-down direction, a needed element for change is missing. Too often, there is the assumption that if the leader just has the right idea, program, language, skill set or practices, success will inevitably follow. McKnight, understands and teaches that human connection is a critical initial step in developing effective institutions and civil communities.

Don’t start identifying the needs of others you plan to fix without listening. First, listen to find the gifts, the capacities, the assets that folks already possess. Secondly, find that inner moral compass that must continually be developed throughout life by study, seeking fact-based reality, and interacting responsibly with others. This is a more enduring pathway forward.

I know a remarkable corporate leader who upon arriving at a troubled firm, went to folks on the picket line, the hourly workers, not just upper management and he listened. A follower of Jesus, he continued in prayer, study and worship. Leadership meant connector-ship, listening, learning and finding a moral compass. Shortly thereafter, he gathered the employees in the parking lot. Taking a copy of the company’s unfair policies and procedures manual, he dropped it into the flames of a barrel used those standing in the cold. It was not a concession; it was a modeling of connection. Hard work followed. He was saying, “We are listening, let’s talk.”

Recently I wrote a piece titled “Jesus Wrapped in a Flag.” Today’s Christian Nationalism promotes a fraudulent version of Christianity, and profoundly flawed revision of American History. Lovett Weems offered a set of counter recommendations titled Leading Amidst Christian Nationalism. While helpful, these are overly cautious words and appeared to assume there is only one paradigm for congregational life. It is a soft version of the very American Civil Religion that the author critiques. It is more of a starting point than a guide.

I thought of all the congregations and courageous religious leaders who are doing much more. They listen and share the hard truths discovered in their study and prayers about our responsibilities as Christians. They offer a more robust response to the profound dangers and misinformation widely dispensed by White Christian Nationalism and American Catholic Integralism.

The American church, Protestant and Catholic, needs to remove the American Flag from the shoulders of Jesus. It doesn’t belong there; never has. If U.S. policies and practices aren’t held under the judgement of the Gospel, why be a Christian at all? Why not just pledge primary allegiance to anything our nation does and forget Jesus? Just diminish our discipleship.

Some U.S. “leaders” have done just that. Congresswoman Laureen Boebert said, “Jesus didn’t have enough AR-15 rifles to keep the government from killing him.” What? Jesus is remolded into a grievance filled, revenge seeking and bully. What does the congresswoman do with the Sermon on the Mount, the words, “Love your enemies” or in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Nevertheless, thy will be done”? The paradox, of course, as Reinhold Niebuhr argued, while international ethics are messy, they begin with morality in human expression.

The witness of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, isn’t limited to the foolish, mean-spirited and ill-informed theologies of some in congress these days. Jesus of scripture says “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.[iv]”

The witness of Jesus is UnFlagging! It is persistent – enduring. It calls leaders to leave their C-Suite offices and learn from the folks in the parking lot. It calls on congregations to speak with and learn from folks not in the pews on Sunday.

In the mid-1980s my family lived in a low-wealth neighborhood in Evansville, Indiana. One fall, fear gripped neighbors as vicious rapes were reported. The assailant was said to be African American in our multiracial community. Soon we learned the Ku Klux Klan was sending patrols to protect our white citizens, especially the women. What should our small core-city ministry do? How might we offer a safe alternative to this violation and the hate-based response?

Someone suggested we talk with Will Campbell. Mississippi born, Baptist minister, graduate of Yale Divinity School, author, and Civil Rights advocate, Will was known for friendships with a wide range of people, including members of the Ku Klux Klan. Will took this dwelling together stuff seriously!

I called and left phone messages for Will. It took a few days, and he returned my call. Hearing of our situation, he said, “First thing you need to say to the Klan is “no, your activities are not welcome.'” That sounded good to me — We had already done that. Then, Will, stumped me, surprised me. He asked, “What are their names?”

NAMES? “What do you mean?” I responded, “Whose names? Our neighbors?” “No.” Will said, thinking I would already know the Klansmen. Their names. I confessed that I didn’t know any of those folks. He said, “Well, then, what the hell you been doing? Who are they?” Interesting, our need to limit where repentance, reconciliation and renewal might occur. Perhaps some changes, some weaving of new relationships could happen in my own life, not only in the lives of Klan members. Might there be a bridging to new relationship, even there? A renewal larger than my imagining?

South African Methodist Bishop Peter Story noted that “America’s preachers have a task more difficult, perhaps, than those faced byus under apartheid. We had obvious evils to engage; you [on the other hand] have to unwrap your culture from years of red, white and blue myth, You have to expose and confront the great disconnect between the kindness, compassion and caring of most Americans and the ruthless way American power is experienced, directly and indirectly, by the poor of the earth. You have to help people see how they have let their institutions do their sinning for them.“

@font-face
{font-family:”Cambria Math”;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;
panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:536871559 3 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:”Aptos”,sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-font-kerning:1.0pt;
mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}

[i] Weems, Lovett H. Jr. Leading Amidst Christian Nationalism, LEADING IDEAS, Lewis Center for Church Leadership, June 25, 2024).

[ii] Matthew 5:43-48.

[iii] Luke 22:42

[iv] Matthew 11:28-30.

[v] Storey, Peter, Sojourners Magazine, Oct. 18, 2006.

Will, Warren and the Klan

As best as I can recall, I met Warren in the early 1980s. Warren professed himself to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan. I met him because Will told me I should.

We lived in a core-city neighborhood in Evansville, Indiana at the time. There were reports of several rape attempts in our neighborhood. The assailant was said to be an African-American man. Soon after these reports began, we learned that the Ku Klux Klan was going to patrol the neighborhood to protect our “white women” in our racially diverse community. What to do? Our ministry, known as Patchwork Central Ministries, was located in the center of this aggression, violation and fear-filled response. What to do?

Memories of these days have come rushing back into my mind this weekend. Seeing the hate-filled actions and language of the white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia has brought back images and stories now more than thirty years old. Some things have changed over the decades but, sadly, other things have not. Without recounting all of the ways we prayed, and we made strategies, and sought to give Christian witness back then, I would share one thing that proved most helpful. Someone, perhaps it was Calvin Kimbrough, suggested I should “talk with Will.” To say “Will” was enough. He didn’t need a last name — I knew it was Will Campbell in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. We had recently read Will’s book “Brother to a Dragonfly.” He was a wonderful part of our tribe — a progressive Evangelical Christian! So I called him.

o-will-campbell-dead-facebook-1 — Will Campbell, Baptist Preacher, Author and Prophetic Voice, 1924-2013 photo by kellybbrill.wordpress.com

Mississippi born and a graduate of Yale Divinity School, Will was not only known for his engagement in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans but was also known for developing friendships with a whole range of people including members of the Ku Klux Klan. You see, Will took this Christian Gospel for ALL PEOPLE stuff seriously.

I called Will, left a message and, in a day or so, he returned the call. Explaining our situation, he replied, “The first thing you need to do, is to say to the Klan ‘NO, YOUR ACTIVITIES ARE NOT WELCOME IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.'” That sounded good — We had already done that — said “NO.”

Then, Will, stumped me, surprised me. He confused me. Will asked, “What are the names of the Klan people you know?” NAMES? Will thought I would know their names! He thought I might know THEM? I confessed that I didn’t know any of those folks. He said, “Well, then, what the hell you been doing? You better get started. It is not enough to say ‘no.’ Now, your next step is to reach out to the Klan folks as people.” There are many stories of the way Will Campbell reached out, made friendships, and shared the gospel with folks with whom he strongly disagreed. He was a radical Christian in that he didn’t set up limits to where reconciliation and renewal might occur. Will Campbell believed in the power of Christian witness and love.

I don’t remember the exact sequence of events that followed, one thing led to another and I meet some of the folks who said they were members of the Klan. I remember Warren especially. Warren and I talked on several occasions. In fact, I invited him to our Sunday evening worship — and he attended — several times. He listened, stayed and ate dinner with the group.

The story of that season in our neighborhood moves on in many directions. The rapes ended. I don’t remember that anyone was ever caught. Then there was the evening in worship when the offering was taken. After receiving communion persons might leave something in the offering plate. Sometimes it was money, sometimes a poem, sometimes a prayer request, sometimes a drawing. On this evening, I watched as Warren made his way forward and dropped something heavy in the offering basket. As soon as worship was over and dinner was about to begin, I took the offering basket to the office. There I found a few dollars, prayer requests and Warren’s membership card in the Klan. And, yes, there was also a 22 calibre revolver.

Warren disappeared shortly after this. I called his phone a few times with no response. I went to his home once in a nearby town. Knocked on the door. There was no response. I left a note for Warren. He had disappeared. Word came from one of his friends that he had gone back to his hometown in Southern Illinois. Did he leave the Klan for good? Was this a sign of a conversion? Or, just a chance to make a new start? Maybe that is what conversion meant for Warren — and for me.

For me, Will taught that I needed to “know a name — and a person” if I am also going to condemn and say “NO” to their words and behaviors.

As I have thought about Charlottesville and the evil exemplified there this past weekend, I am reminded of a sermon that Dr. William Pannell preached years ago. He began by saying that he was going to use the ugliest four letter word in the English vocabulary. It was, he said, “the word THEM.”

Let me ask you, good reader, the question that Will Campbell asked me years ago. After you have said “NO,” (something we must do as a nation), do we know their names? My conversion continues — how about you?