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Reclaiming the Bible’s Prophetic Voice

George Reed, Former Executive Director · September 7, 2012 · 2 Comments

Ed: This post is the first in a new series called “Reclaiming the Bible’s Prophetic Voice,” in which Council staff consider the biblical and theological roots of their work. You can read more from the series here.

Recently, I heard a powerful message from the Rev. William Barber. Many Council folks know him. He’s the President of the NC NAACP and pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) in Goldsboro. The power of his message was not in fiery delivery. It was a low-key conversation with a group of fifty or so progressive leaders, sitting in a circle in the chapel of University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. The power was in the profound thoughts he expressed and in the clear rightness of his words.

While no summary can do justice to Rev. Barber’s message, his call to these leaders, both religious and secular, was that we need to reclaim the language of morality and spirituality which undergirds our work on a host of social justice issues, from health care to creation care. For those of us in the faith community, this means unabashedly quoting our scriptures and citing the teachings of our churches.

I could resonate with his words. I grew up as a Southern Baptist and will defer to no one in my love for the Bible. I used to be able to quote extensive passages, and I made it to the state finals in the “Sword Drill” as a high schooler. But as I grew older, I also heard some religious leaders misuse the Bible – take texts out of contexts, read back into the texts ideas that weren’t there, and take the Bible as an inerrant document all of whose words apply equally to life in the 20th (now 21st) century. A strong wake-up call for me was reading a book from the mid-1800s, written by a Baptist leader in the South named Richard Furman, who used the Bible to justify slavery.

Because we didn’t want to be confused with religious figures whose reading of the Bible was very different from ours, some of us backed away from being so obvious about our faith, so verbal in our use of the Bible. Sadly, that enabled those more conservative voices to seem even more to be the only voices for people of faith, for those attempting to apply ancient sacred texts to life in a much different and more complex world.

Rev. Barber is calling us, rightly I think, to reclaim the teachings of our Bible: that God and God’s people care for those who are vulnerable and excluded; that God loves justice more than religious ritual; that Jesus came to tear down the walls of race and gender and economics that divide us. For those of us who live out of a “prophetic spirituality” (a phrase Rev. Barber used, quoting Archbishop Desmond Tutu), that means proclaiming unabashedly the reasons our faith calls us to work for quality public schools, for living wages, for equal justice, for a progressive tax structure, for social services, for reducing the impact of global warming.

Over the next months, as time permits and the Spirit moves, I’ll be writing occasional reflections on Biblical passages that call progressive, prophetic people of faith to justice, compassion, and peace. Some will be passages important to me over my adult life. Others will be ones I’ve come to appreciate more as the years have gone by.  None will be lengthy treatises, just some things that are important to me and maybe are important to you too.

–George Reed, Executive Director

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Christian Unity, Economic Justice, Equality & Reconciliation, Human Rights, Immigration, Interfaith, Living Wage, Prophetic Voice, Race/Ethnicity, Religion & Society

George Reed, Former Executive Director

About George Reed, Former Executive Director

As I had hoped, I have spent more time reading books in my retirement. One recent read was Jon Meacham’s splendid biography of Thomas Jefferson. I resonated with something TJ wrote in a letter shortly after leaving the White House in 1809: “I am here [at Monticello] enjoying the ineffable luxury of being owner of my own time.” I can’t say that I am complete owner of my time, but I am really enjoying not being controlled by clock and calendar. Well, except when there’s a deadline for Raleigh Report.

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Comments

  1. AvatarStan C Kimer says

    October 23, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Hello Chuck – I do want to reply to this post – and report that for the NC Council of Churches, it has been a leading prophetic voice within the Christian Community for equality and justice for LGBT people. I am currently the elected board president – and am an out gay man. This gathered a lot of positive publicity when I was elected. The Council has been a very welcoming place and elected me based on my skills and passion, and did not disqualify me for being gay.

    The NC Council of Churches was one of the first state councils in the entire country to admit the Metropolitan Community Churches (a denomination comprised very heavily of LGBT people) into full membership. In the 1990s the Council issued a policy statement decrying violence against LGBT people and more recently took a public stand opposing the anti-gay marriage amendment that unfortunately passed in May.

    Actually as you read this, look to the screen on your right and hopefully you see a list of link to various topics on the Council’s website and you will see “GLBT” on the list.

    Yes – I do understand that are a number of people of faith who oppress and denomize LGBT people, but the NC Council of Churches has instead been a consistent voice for the acceptance, fair treatment and civil rights for LGBT people.

    Thank you for your comment
    Best Regards
    Stan C Kimer, President, NC Council of Churches

    Reply
  2. AvatarCHUCK RICE says

    October 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    How is it that in the 21st century the “unabashedly” prophetic voice of the Spirit does not include of “the reasons our faith calls us to work for” the quality, and the equality of justice with respect to the rights and the lives of GLBT?

    Thanks,
    Chuck

    Reply

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