A Defining Moment...

How we define things pretty much sets the parameters as to how we view that which we define, how we will treat it, and how we will relate to it. Some examples:

I relate to one named "Dara" differently because she is defined as my partner in life, the mother of our children, and my best friend. I treat her like no other human with whom I relate, because of this specific definition. She is also a practicing Christian (and she's really GOOD at it!), and therefore I also treat her like a sibling in Jesus Christ. It gets complicated, because she is also a member of the church I serve, so technically, I am also her pastor, but the earlier definition severely clouds how I can relate to her as "pastor." I am able to teach her in a Bible Study, but if she needs to talk to a pastor about deep, personal issues (especially if any of them involves her husband), she would be better served by meeting with my colleague. (If we were serving in a solo appointment, she would have to seek out another counselor, though.)

Racism results when a person defines someone as another race as not just different, but inferior in some way, or as being a source of fear or anxiety. While irrational, unethical, and inhuman, racism demonstrates the power of definition, when we are the ones doing the defining.

Sexual harassment (or worse) may result when a person defines another as "object." It may manifest itself out of an affectation one develops for another, or out of a sense of dominance or entitlement, but the result is always a type of violence against the unsuspecting other. Ultimately, it stems from a perceived position of power one has over another.

We really struggle when our definitions vary greatly from the "norm." I define all snakes as dangerous, threatening, and repulsive, while a herpetologist would see things quite differently. In terms of the societal "norms," snakes have their place, and should stay in it, but the wider view is that they serve an important function in the animal kingdom. But the defining power of the individual is pretty strong: I hate snakes, even though I am intellectually fully aware of their value to the planet.

So, what is my point here? Well, there are two of them, actually. I believe that an important role of religion and spirituality is to help us with our definitions. Where they are so narrow as to cause us to shut out other people from our world, even to the point of anger or violence, our faith may use biblical values or teachings to assuage our fear of "the other" and alter our definition of them so as to form healthy relationships with them. Our religious teachings and values may also help us to enhance our definition of "spouse," "parent," "child," or "neighbor," thus altering our behaviors and our thoughts, with an aim toward deepening our appreciation of these persons and their roles, as well as adding compassion and empathy to our roles. Our religion goes afoul when it feeds our hurtful, divisive definitions of "the other." Jesus taught and modeled much broader definitions of "the other" while he was among us, and challenged us to "sacrifice" our flawed, harmful definitions, for the good of the Realm of God, and the human community. Perhaps only the cross is able to heal us and take away our "right" to define "the other," and to cleanse us from using the power to define to marginalize those not like us?

Let me go one step further. We get to define God. The writers of the Bible did this, from their own context and history, and in recording what they saw, heard, and experienced, they colored our view of the divine. That we believe the Bible is a "living book," and "God-breathed," its view of the divine is subject to review and re-definition. Our context is quite different from that of two-millennia ago, when the last verses were penned, and the faith communities described in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran, for that matter, have grown, changed, and adapted. It is impossible to "take the texts literally" in light of these facts. Hence, we are not only free to redefine how we understand a given scripture, but we must if we are to be true to what its purpose is in offering us guidance. Likewise, we must redefine God, from age to age. If we understand God to be the divine creator, parent to us all, like any parent whose role must change as "the kids" grow and mature, we must understand God differently. And as the divine, God "grows," in this sense, able to meet the needs and offer compassion to a larger, more diverse "family." Only harmful family systems are perpetuated if we parent only the way we were parented, keeping our minds closed to new information, and new ways to define the challenges we face.

Moses redefined God, argued with God, and won. The prophets redefined God in each era of Israel. Jesus redefined much of what we "knew" of the divine, and represented a God who related with God's people based on love rather than law. Then, the Gospels redefined Jesus! Paul pretty much wrote the definition of what the church would look like. Tillich redefined God as the ground of being, itself. Barth redefined God as The Word. Process Theology redefined God as being wholly present in all the structures and "occasions" of existence, from the atomic to the cosmic. Liberation Theology redefined God as aligned with the poor and the oppressed, and opposed to the power elites that oppress. Millennials are redefining God apart from doctrine, and forging deep relationships with the divine and without the church, in many cases. Have you ever thought that when the writer of Hebrews wrote, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever," she was not saying Jesus is the "same," but that Christ is able to be redefined in each era in such a way that redemption, reconciliation, and a life-changing relationship with the divine are offered to each generation in a way they can grasp it?

And did you ever think that when Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" that he may not have been talking about just the "little children," chronologically? We are living in an age when many new definitions of life and faith are being written. If God is the God we profess to believe in, God is up to the task, and encouraged these acts of redefining, as we reinterpret scripture, love others according to the teachings of Jesus, and know that we have no right to be "right," if it denies anyone full access to the divine.

But I still hate snakes...