slaveofone’s archive for September 15th, 2009

A Prayer At Calvary Fellowship and A Mennonite Response by slaveofone

While visiting Seattle, I recently attended a service of Calvary Fellowship Mountlake Terrace. It is always enlightening to attend the services of other Christian traditions and denominations to see the particular ways that different bodies of Christ identify and define themselves in distinction with or against others, to get a taste of their unique methods and means of expression, and to learn a little about what and how they think in terms of their faith and the world.

I’ve been to a few Calvarys now so I kinda knew what was coming. For instance, I expected a strong, if not pivotal and definitive, view of eschatological Futurism. Their desire to see people accept Yeshua as their personal Lord and Savior is invigorated by an anticipation of Christ’s (soon Second) coming, a sort of end or historical resolution that will bring about what their faith proclaims. For Anabaptists, there is a present eschatology that embraces sacrifice and suffering on the part of the church and working to restore creation now more than a future one looking for the coming time when evil will be destroyed, the church redeemed, and things set right. Early Anabaptists definitely had an end times perspective, but it was their own end that they anticipated. Every time they met together, it was a very real possibility that it would be their last time doing so. They accepted the way of the cross (persecution, suffering, and death) as part of the present kingdom of God. Instead of eagerly anticipating and preparing for a future time when the world would be changed, Anabaptists saw themselves as being that change in the present among themselves and those who followed them in the way of Christ.

When worship time began, it appeared that there would be another loud Calvary rock fest, which destroyed any possibility of participation on my part. But then things suddenly changed. We sang old hymns to a single, simple, acoustic guitar. It was wonderful. Thank you, Calvary Fellowship, for your willingness to diversify for the sake of others among you.

After worship, there was an extended period of prayer led by a senior pastor of the church. During this, the pastor gave a very short, general prayer that threw me as a Mennonite into sharp distinction from that Christian body. When prayer time was over, I could not say amen when it was asked of all the people. I can’t remember the specific words of the prayer, but it went something to the effect of asking God to keep the troops safe from harm, which was perfectly acceptable, and then added that God should be with the troops or help them as they fought for the freedoms that we enjoy. I was shocked and stunned by this prayer. While it could have meant quite a number of things, one thing that was not ambiguous about it was the fact that this pastor and congregation in union with him had just prayed that God would bring violence against our perceived or unperceived enemies. As a Mennonite, I was unable to grasp how a Christian could pray any such a thing. I quote here a few short declarations from two other Peace traditions (Brethren and Quaker) that explain the grotesque and unholy contradiction I perceived.

Christ says, Love your enemies. War says, Hate them.
Christ says, Do them good. War says, Do them harm.
Christ says, Pray for them. War says, Slay them.
Christ says, I come not to destroy men’s lives but to save them. War says, I come to destroy men’s lives, and for this purpose I want the most effectual weapons that can be invented.
Paul says, If thine enemy hunger, feed him. War says, Starve him.
Paul says, If he thirst, give him drink. War says, Destroy his wells, cut off his supplies of every kind.
Paul says, We wrestle not against flesh and blood. War says, We do wrestle against flesh and blood. Crown them to the wall, and into the last ditch; utterly destroy them if they don’t submit.

Christ and War by Daniel Vaniman, 1900, taken from Biblical Pacifism: A Peace Church Perspective by Dale Brown, p. 28

Whoever can reconcile this, Resist not evil, with Resist evil by force; again, Give also thy other cheek with Spoil them, make a prey of them, pursue them with fire and sword; or Pray for those that persecute you with Persecute them with fines, imprisonment, and death itself; whoever can find a means to reconcile these things may be supposed also to have found a way to reconcile God with the Devil, Christ with Anti-Christ, light with darkness, and good with evil.

Robert Barclay, 1676, taken from Biblical Pacifism: A Peace Church Perspective by Dale Brown, p. xi

What was even more inconceivable to me as the service went on was how another pastor explained a core tenet of the church to be to love the world. I could not comprehend how loving the world meant asking God to shed its blood. This is no definition of love I ever heard, let alone any definition given by scripture. Apparently, loving the world only meant sharing the gospel message with them hoping they would choose to believe it was something true and valuable, not sharing with them the reality of what the gospel is. Calvary Fellowship was adamant in doing good for the poor in material wealth, like feeding the homeless, which was commendable, but when it came to the poor in spirit, like those who would plot evil against us or others, it seemed to feel the best thing to do was support violence and death against them! Is Satan in league with the church of God? As a Mennonite, I have to seriously question the words and intent of anyone who would say in one breath, let us do good and love the world which does not know God and in the next, let us pray for violence and destruction to come upon those who have turned away from him.