The Plank in Our Mainline Eye

Mary & Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

In Dynamics of Faith, theologian Paul Tillich argues that faith in an ultimate of one sort or another is a universal characteristic of the human race and that we are always prone to turn our ultimates into idols.  Thus, in some religions there are physical images, such as statues or pictures, which are meant to symbolize the ultimate but over time become themselves the ultimate.  Faith becomes idolatry.  All faith of every kind, every religion and secular faiths (such as humanism), are prone to idolatry.  One of the most common forms of Protestant idolatry is bibliolatry, the transformation of the Bible into an object of veneration and worship in place of God.

When our faith becomes idolatrous, it eventually leads to disappointment, disillusionment, and a dead spirituality.  It fails to nourish.  It no longer brings healing and well-being.  Tillich experienced how fearful the dangers of idolatry can become as he witnessed the rise of the false faith of nationalism embodied in European fascism.

Tillich's analysis is spot-on and very helpful—especially if we want to see the speck in someone else's eye.  Thus, from over here in the mainline we can see with painful clarity the way many evangelicals really do turn the Bible into an idol, one that forces them into denying the very nature of reality as discovered by science.  Other churches, also mostly evangelical, turn numerical growth into a god, the god of evangelism.  The Catholics tend to transform their hierarchy into a god—that's one reason we broke off from the Catholic Church in the first place.

What is more difficult for us to see is the plank(s) in our own mainline eye.  Historically, Presbyterian churches in the U.S. have been profoundly concerned to reform human society, and we have engaged in all manner of reform movements along with other mainline folks.  One of the most curious was the 19th century movement to "keep the Sabbath holy" by preventing the delivery of mail on Sundays.  We Presbyterians were deeply involved in that one.  The point here is that our search of a more righteous society, for the Kingdom of God on Earth if you will, has become a false faith for Presbyterian churches right down to the present.  The pursuit of social righteousness has become the goal for the great majority of us.  Ask us what it means to believe, and we will quickly answer that it means to do good to others.  We believe in the Golden Rule, and it has become an idol for us.  We are driven, thus, to be busy with the work of the Kingdom—endless meetings, programs, projects, and a multitude of tasks and activities.  We have lost spiritual balance and lost sight of the Christ who commended the "idle" Mary and, by implication, criticized the always busy Martha (Luke 10:38-42).

The question is, how do we regain our balance?  In and of itself, working for the Kingdom is a good thing so long as it does not become the thing.  How do we de-sacralize our constant doing?  That is the question.