I Am a Better Christian Because of M***


 You probably know the "group" I'm talking about.    I'm not going to type it out because...well, I'm just not.  The group claims to be making our country better.  I'm not aligned with that.  But I can honestly say that the group and its actions have made me a better Christian.  Let me tell you why.

I've (pretty much) always considered myself a Christian.  I was baptized when I was a baby.  I attended Sunday school (occasionally) and participated (occasionally) in youth groups.  I was confirmed (and then avoided church like the plague for several years).  As a young(ish) adult, I joined the church choir.  I went to church regularly.  I served on committees.  I spent several years on a pastoral search committee.  I'm obviously a Christian, right?

But I believe within in the past year or so, I have become a BETTER Christian.  (And I'd like to think that means I've become a better person.)  And this M*** group is a big part of this.

Those who consider themselves M***, have been very vocal.  Some of them identify as Christian.  But the words coming out of their mouths do not seem to embody the teachings of Christ.   Their actions seemed in direct contradiction to his commandment.  ("Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” “: Matthew 22: 37-40).

While I'm not Biblical scholar, I've started to read more of the New Testament. (Was I missing something?)  I'm a big fan of the book of James and not just because it's really short or because that's my son's name.  (Although those two things certainly do not hurt.)  Verses such as 1:22-24 ("Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."), or 2:14-17 ("What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.") Or 3:9-12 ("With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.") Or 4:11-12 (" Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?").  The book of James speaks to me and I might not have "found" it if I were not so disturbed by what I was hearing.

 If it weren't for M***, I would not have discovered the writings of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.  (The "head" of the  M***  "movement" is NOT a fan.) I was calmed and inspired by Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love.   It was one of my favorite books that I read last year.  My review of it was simply:  A balm to soothe the soul of chaos.   I am still reading her better known book, How We Learn to Be Brave.  I think I can be just that. (I hope I can be that.) However, if it weren't for M*** I might not have ever have known her.

Finally, M*** has inspired me to act.  In the past I have tried to act as Christ has taught me.  Now, I have doubled my efforts.  Matthew 25: 34-40 ("Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’") is not just a passage in a book, but something I strive to act upon. 

I don't feed the hungry every day, but I do regularly donate to the food pantry.  I don't cloth the naked every day, but while I am volunteering in a thrift shop, I make sure those who are in need are taken care of.  While I have never visited a person in a physical prison or go to see strangers in the hospital, I DO try to help those who may be imprisoned or sick in other ways.  I'm learning to listen.  I'm trying to be more empathetic.  Because imprisonment and sickness aren't always visible and being kind, caring and compassionate never made anything worse.

The more I see M*** taunt, harass and often hurt, the more I want to help.  I don't think I'm alone in that either. I see it in my son, as he volunteers at our local food pantry whenever he is home.  He's on the church's mission committee, which has become very active.  As a proud mom I could brag that he got straight As last semester, but I'm even prouder of his dedication to following "the golden rule."  And again, I KNOW that we are not the only ones who have become more determined to make this earth a better place as a result of the the discord and disinformation.

I don’t want to say thank you to this group for pushing me to be a better Christian and a better person, but…let me end with one of the favorite prayers/poems...

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.



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