Righteous in Your Generation

A response to Righteous in Your Generation

I found this fascinating post on the
Huffington News Religion page: http://www.odysseynetworks.org/news/onscripture-the-torah-righteous-in-your-generation

Righteous in Your Generation is yet another exercise in perverse perspectives.  Adam is styled as the ‘androgynous human.’  Noah ‘“in his time”’ had ‘outstanding righteousness;’ but, ‘in another era, he would not have been worthy of such a complimentary description.’  Rabbi Fendrick continues in her observations with a series of contrasts between Abraham and Noah.  All of these, along with the adjective ‘androgynous’, are without support.  They are arguments from silence.  At this point, we just want to respond, why don’t you simply stick with what the Scripture says, and stop inventing your own pseudo-biblical literature?

However, Rabbi Fendrick must have a point.  What is it?  Does it have validity, even without the support of documentary evidence?  For example, is her point?

‘In every generation, we are called to act.  Individually and collectively, our lives are an ongoing opportunity to discern a path and do work that is of genuine service, to hold fast to and act on our highest values—and to resist apathy and lethargy, avoidance and self-justification.

‘Answering that call is both heroic and human, extraordinary and ordinary.  It is holy work—and it is as simple as the core of what it means to be a human being, an ish or isha, created in God’s image.’

These are ideas that are easily supported from the rest of Scripture, if not from Gensis 6:9-11:32.  These are ideas to which most of us can readily adhere.  Is this Rabbi Fendrick’s point?  Well, No, it is not her point, it is only part of her point, because she goes on to conclude with the following introduction to a concluding poem.

‘In her 1977 poem “Natural Resources”, which connects the struggle to protect the environment with feminism, the late poet Adrienne Rich ends with these words:’

Here is Rabbi Fendrick’s point: ‘to protect the environment with feminism.’  Here is how we are to answer the noble call mentioned above, by feminism.  At this point, we see that Rabbi Fendrick is so incredibly sexist that we can hardly believe our eyes.  In reality, Rabbi Fendrick has been developing this point all along.

Adam is androgynous (an offensive, loaded sexist term), an ish, an earthling.  Woman is even lower, an isha.  All this is true enough (It is a literarily accurate report of the Biblical text.  The Bible does not teach that Eve is lower because she is isha.  That is merely Rabbi Fendrick’s false implication.  The Bible is never sexist.), but it avoids the pertinent fact that the name Eve means Life.  It is true that Adam means dirt.  Eve (Zoe) is not an earthling like Adam, even though she was taken from Adam.  Adam is without a doubt Eve’s leading head, but she alone bears the title of honor.  Why?  Because, only Eve can bear a child.  The Messiah can only come from Eve... from Mary, the second Eve.

Noah’s wife is ‘unnamed.’  Noah’s son’s wives are ‘unnamed.’  Noah is simply ish.  There is no isha.  Is Rabbi Fendrick sowing the idea that Noah is the miserable failure she paints him to be, because he failed to honor his wife, thus indicating his central character flaw.  Rabbi Fendrick would have us believe that Noah is a failure because he is ish, a man.  Women can fix that problem by feminist activism.

Besides denigrating Noah, his wife, their children, and their children’s wives.  Besides demeaning their genuine contribution to the progress and survival of the human race.  Besides belittling the fact that we are what we are by the grace of God.  Besides all this, Rabbi Fendrick promotes a solution that can never work.  Sexism is doomed to failure.  Feminism is doomed to failure.  Only when ish and isha work together cooperatively can the human race find favor with God in obedience to Him.

Am I, as a man, delighted to continue honoring Eve (Zoe) for what she is: namely, Life?  You bet I am!  “Rejoice Mary, full of grace, you are blessed among women (Luke 1:28-45).”

The Necessity of Limited Church Size

No, not harder, impossible. There is a finite number for which one can pray every day.

In a healthy functioning Christian church, a thriving complex of multidimensional relationships exists.  The Triune God alone maintains these without limits of quantity.  He alone fills the dimensions of worship, witness, and works.

We are limited in all of these capacities.  When we come together to be what we are, the Body of Christ in worship, there is a limit to the number of brothers and sisters for whom we can:

·        Exercise the fruit and gifts of the Spirit

·        Effectively pray with and for

·        Earnestly be accountable to

When we go forth to be what we are, the Body of Christ witnessing to a dying world, there is a limit to the number of people that we are able to:

·        Serve bodily, Luke 4:18, James 2:16

·        Supplicate and intercede for realistically

·        Share Christ with honestly and lovingly

When we take up our work to be what we are, the Body of Christ serving all creation, there is a limit to the number of tasks that we are able to:

·        Do correctly and reliably

·        Direct intelligently and wisely

·        Discharge promptly and effectively

That limit varies from person to person, as the Spirit provides strength and direction.

·        I can only be accountable to around seven close friends

·        I can only pray for around one hundred people a day

·        I can minister to many more, randomly on the internet, but the number I actually reach and help is very small.  I would be overwhelmed to know that one person a month came to Christ and started living for Him alone, as a direct result of my ministry to that person.

·        Only in our choral hymnology and liturgical service do we experience anything where size is not a formidable obstacle to serving Christ honestly.

Christ limited Himself to:

·        An inner circle of three

·        A core team of thirteen Apostles, it always was a baker’s dozen

·        A new Sanhedrin of seventy

·        A handful of other faithful men and women friends

When Christ was tempted to receive the mega-church, He repeatedly turned it down (Matthew 4).  He said, “My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).”  Only the Heavenly Church (Hebrews 12:22-24), of which we believers are all members, can tolerate unbridled size.  Even that Church is currently less than seven trillion humans strong.

Body Life only functions interactively and dynamically.  We function as a body; we only influence the cells with which we make contact.  Even a red blood cell only contacts one other cell at a time.  When numbers become excessive in size, the genuineness of relationships begin to break down into that which is fake and unreal.  Fake, unreal relationships spawn “said” Christians, not real ones, they spawn cancer cells.

Covenants are not written, they are cut.  The Holy Scripture must be cut into our sinful flesh, so that we are carved into little Christs by the Spirit of the Living God.  If Christ has not bloodied us with His Word, we are none of His.  There are many fraudulent, pretend Christians running around.  However, when Christ lays hold of us, He marks us indelibly.

 

When Christ lays hold of us, He marks us indelibly.

 

It is simply impossible to do this on a mega-scale.

Large churches like First Baptist, Dallas, accomplish this through smaller social groups, these are the real churches.  In this sense churches like First Baptist, Dallas, are not churches at all, but assemblies of many small churches.  I’m using First Baptist, Dallas, as a good example of a large church.

Nevertheless, the mega-church defect is more than one of size.  I have lived long enough to hear every heresy under the sun spouted forth in so-called Christian churches.  The defect is more than one of size.  We are creatures, we are limited.

Yours in Christ,

Herb Swanson aka Augie

Poems Without Which I Can't Live

Daniel Defoe Poems

 

"Wherever God erects, a house of prayer,

The Devil always builds a chapel there:

And 'twill be found upon examination;

The latter has the largest congregation. "

 

 

"Bad as he is, the Devil may be abused,
Be falsely charged, and causelessly accused;
When men, unwilling to be blamed alone,
Shift off the crimes on him,
which are their own."