Multiple Christian denominations were fractured during the time leading up to the Civil War. The moral issue of slavery was at the center of these splits. Most notably, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists tore in two. As you might suspect, the denominational splits occurred along geographical lines, with northern churches opposing slavery, and southern churches supporting it.
The Episcopal Church did not split.
For many years I liked this about my religious tradition. How beautiful it is, I thought to myself, that the differing of opinions and beliefs – no matter how strong – could not split us up. We found the middle and held it. How great is that?
It’s likely you already see the problem with this and are shaking your head at me. That’s ok. I shake my head at me a lot too. If you’re not there yet, that’s ok too. I’m going to explain.
Here’s the problem: The Episcopal Church held together by refusing to take a stand on slavery. American slavery – the institutionalized, racist, systemic kidnapping, trafficking, rape, imprisonment, and forced labor of a whole segment of the population upon which much the American economy and infrastructure had been built – was not a dealbreaker for my denomination. Who are we to say where Jesus would stand on this issue?
I’m not done talking about the Middle – as I have been over the last couple weeks – about what it means to try to locate oneself in the middle or in a moderate position in our current social circumstances. In particular, I am a Christian who is also American. Even more particularly, I am a priest in the Episcopal Church who serves a specific congregation. It is often expected for people in my position to present a middle ground in political discourse – holding space for people and opinions across the political spectrum. That’s my context.
I am seeking to foster and lead a community where your political leanings and ideological identities are not your primary identity: First and foremost, you were made in God’s image, you belong to God, your very existence in this world is a blessing, and your life is meant to be lived as a blessing to others.
It is often assumed that the most effective way for me to foster such a community is either to be utterly non-political, or to present myself (and the church) as sitting squarely and comfortably in the middle on the issues of the day. That is a position I held for a long time, and if I am honest, I have to say I liked it. I’m a pretty square, comfortable guy, and I really enjoy not alienating or even offending anyone.
And that brings me back to slavery. I know I said this briefly in a recent podcast/blog, but it deserves more of our time: What was, for many years in our country, the moderate position on slavery? What was the middle? The middle ground was that it was ok for some states to kidnap and own humans, just not all states. The abolition of slavery was considered extreme. Let’s stay here for a moment. Now if you are a Christian, please try to imagine a God who is neutral on the issue of slavery. A God who reacts with a shrug of the divine shoulders. A God who thinks, “At least the Episcopalians are still getting along with each other.”
There are some cases when the middle does not hold.
Maybe you’ve heard the story before that Jesus told about what is often called the Judgment of the world. In this story, God separates people into two groups, then looks at one group and says, “Come inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
The people in this group respond to God, asking, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”
God’s response is simple. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
But of course, that is not the whole story. There is a second group. God looks then to them and says, “Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
This group’s response is just like that of the first group: “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?”
And God’s answer is just as swift and clear: “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
Sadly for me there is no middle group in the story.
We can set questions about Heaven and Hell and our eternal souls aside for a moment so that they do not distract us from the point where Jesus places the most value: And that is how we treat one another, especially how we treat the people among us who are the most vulnerable. In Jesus’ eyes, how we treat each other is how we treat God. How we love one another is how we love God. And the most challenging to most of us – how we treat the most vulnerable people in our communities, that is how we are treating God.
We can have differences of opinion about the proper amount of immigration in our country. We can have differences of opinion about what it takes to become a naturalized citizen. We can have differences of opinion about best practices for handling undocumented immigrants. There are genuinely moderate opinions on all these questions. There is genuine middle ground to be found. There is no middle when it comes to the campaign of terror, torture, and tyranny that our federal government is currently undertaking against our immigrant population and those who support them. There is no middle.
Especially not for the Christian. Not even the Episcopalian.
