I See Things Upside Down

Have you ever argued for the superority of a (band/tv show/sports team/brand name/friend), then been put off when you won?

Is it just me, or does it feel ‘good’ to be in the secret minority sometimes?  This happens all the time to me.  I intentionally cultivate a taste for weird or obscure things, find out they are truly awesome - then argue with friends (or not friends) that what I (like/use/watch/listen to/cheer for/hang out with) is way better than whatever dreck they are substituting.  Really, it’s just an excuse to argue with people - I really don’t care if you use an Apple computer or listen to Death Cab.  In fact, I’d prefer you not.

What I really want is to prove my point, and we keep listening to the same music/watching the same movies/doing the same activities..  I don’t want you to start liking and actually DOING what I am doing.  There’s something inside me that really needs to fly solo with things - get to be the lone ranger.  The one bastion of truth amidst the sea of unwashed masses clamoring to suck the dregs from every cup of offerings to the dollar-steeped idols and market gods.

But instead, people freshly showered with revelations of excellence keep climbing over the walls of my little keep - eager to prostelytize this new gospel of cultural revelation.  How about you just champion Jesus and let me have my self-medication of media and existential bandages?  Cool?  Cool.

FM History And Polity
Andrew Spangler
Submitted October 2008

Mankind has been championing freedom since the beginning of time.  From the Divine gift of free will, the captivity and liberation of Israel, the popular recounting of William Wallace and the Scots and abolitionist movements in the last 200 years.  The constitution of the United States speaks to liberty and the freedom to pursue happiness and fight to overthrow unjust oppression. 

Perhaps one of the most significant misunderstandings of the religious world is that adherence to any particular religion (especially the World religions) results in restriction and even removal of personal liberties.  It seems that as humans, our nature is to believe that any kind of organization or submission absolutely equals oppression or the absence of freedom. 

Theologically and philosophically, this idea of an intentional submission to a greater authority is encouraged and supported - even mandated.  One of my favorite philosophers, Soren Kierkegaard, speaks to the resignation of our lives in order to gain true freedom:

“Infinite resignation is the last stage before faith, so that anyone who has not made this movement does not have faith, for only in infinite resignation do I become conscious of my eternal validity, and only then can one speak of grasping existence by virtue of faith…. Precisely because resignation is antecedent, faith is no esthetic emotion but something far higher; it is not the spontaneous inclination of the heart but the paradox of existence (Fear and Trembling, p. 46).”

Within the Free Methodist church, the position on freedom is part of the foundation of who we are as a denomination.  When the denomination was founded by B.T. Roberts in 1860, the tenants of the ‘free’ methodist church were:

-freedom from paying for pew seats (church ought to be free from monetary cost)
-freedom from slavery (man ought to be free from slavery)
-freedom of worship (affirmation of multiple worship styles and encounters)
-freedom from secret societies (a holy life is one lived transparently)

These defining freedoms have helped grow and shape the Free Methodist church for almost 150 years.  Through our embrace of submission and a focused pursuit of holiness (a defining characteristic of Wesley-Arminian theology), the Free Methodist church has the potential to become a breeding ground for mountain moving disciples of Christ. 
I have been learning about submission and interdependence in my own life.  Our American culture and human nature coupled together form a powerful force for independence and isolation from others.  If we are seen as dependent and/or submissive to authority, it is perceived as weakness or a personal deficiency.  The drive for self-sufficency and the ability to prove oneself able to function as a single isolated unit is huge - but I would suggest that it is this very mentality that is the bane of the church. 

Acts chapter two functions as one of the primary sources for modern ecclesiology, often cited for it’s emphasis on communal living and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to move in the lives of new believers.  As we examine definitions of the church within the scriptures, independence is never mentioned -  and a lack of total submission to proper authority (human or Divine) is repulsive and likened to witchcraft (1 Sam. 15.23) or a nauseating feeling that causes vomiting (Rev. 3.16). 

I like the idea of monastic communities - a sort of neo-commune living and engaging our culture, but focusing intently on discipleship and the freedom from being ‘possessed by your possessions’.  Acts 2.42-46 defines this kind of church:

“42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper[i]), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”  (NLT)

I am consciously moving towards this mentality and lifestyle myself, intentionally looking for opportunities to engage with my culture - yet model a different kind of lifestyle.  A lifestyle that engages Jesus and comes away changed.  A life that is appropriately submitted to authority and experiencing a greater freedom because of it.  A life that is pursuing holiness and missionally interacting with the world in a way that brings people to a greater understanding of the true nature of Christ. 

British revivalist Henry Varley once said “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated [submitted] to Him.”  These words serve as a challenge to all in this generation - who will be this fully submitted person, willing to be doused in the fire of Heaven for the mission of the King?