at the table: come on in, the water's "fine"

Ioan Sauca, the director of Bossey, told us this would happen.

It was only a matter of time.

He warned us when we were still in our "smiling everything is wonderful" phase.

We smiled when he said it.

"Ecumenism is shocking! You Will Be Shocked!"

I know you don't believe me. You think we're just a bunch of Jesus-following, church-loving, song-singing Christians. We are. We're all of those things and more; just like our churches, our faith, and our communities. I think the Spirit is central to play, laughter, joy, and delight; but she also stirs some pretty serious waters and all of us sitting in this ecumenical boat get ROCKED .... and we rock it a little bit, too.

So, let the shocking debates begin!

They first started in our Ecumenical Theology course where we're discussing the monumental "Baptism, Eucharist & Ministry" document created by the WCC. Published in 1982, this document spent 50 years in congregational "dialogue" (aka debate) before being published, and it's still being discussed today. The debates here at Bossey have only just begun in comparison to this paper, and let's not even get started on the legacy of debates begun in the early Christian councils.

John (Presbyterian/Kenya), Martins (Catholic/Nigeria)
Grego (Reformed/Hungary) hotly debating in Bible study.

We argue because we have different doctrines, beliefs, practices, cultures, economic realities, roles, authority, philosophies, languages, genders, the list is exhaustive. We argue because we all have a relationship with God, and therefore one another. Like all families, when we gather, we have points of disagreement. This week we're debating baptism and as Duni and Perpetua, two Pentecostal women from Africa, challenged the efficacy of infant baptism, they ignited the passion of Zenoviy, Russian Orthodox. There was nothing boring here! It was like watching a tennis match, our heads shifting back and forth across the room between these two positions, these two traditions, and these three sisters and brothers in Christ. We're all paddling around these waters, clothed in our tradition, and kept a float by different cultural water wings (those arm floaty-things) - but we're still all in this together.

As Ioan has said over and over again (he's a very wise man) in our Ecumenical History course, so many of the schisms, fractures, and disagreements throughout our beloved church's history are a result of cultural, linguistic, and philosophical differences. Despite those differences, our love of God, our commitment to living as Christ did, and gratefully welcoming the Holy Spirit remain the same. Those differences caused brokenness in our church of the past; and today, those same cultural, linguistic, and philosophical differences remain. As I listen and join these debates, I can't help but also hear another stream joining this pool of thought.

Water fountains in Switzerland.

"Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard 'Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John' ... he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria"(Jn 4:1-4)

Apparently even Jesus wasn't removed from the yearbook's request to quantify the faith. More importantly, the sense of competition and "winning" is an ancient shared cultural tradition. Like this historically shared value, Jesus too encountered people who held different values than he.

"So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar ... Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her "Give me a drink. The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria"(Jn 4:5-9).

Our debates could consist of personal inquiries and questioning like Jesus and this unnamed woman; but thankfully behind all of our debates remains this question:

"Give me a drink?
You would have asked him,
and he would have given you
living water."
Jn 4: 10

We all seek this living water, but we don't always agree on how to share it. Many feminist theologians from the USA read this text showing the Samaritan woman as the first evangelist, the first disciple to declare the good news: This living water is gushing forth, and there is enough to be shared with all! Yet many African feminist theologians read this text and see colonialism; using the respect of women in the culture to gain entrance into a community for powerful exploitation and inculturation.

Same text,

different interpretations,

different lived experiences.

Same water,

different interpretations,

different lived experiences.

Culture, language, philosophy, theology continue to cause divisions; as well as diversity. We won't find one way to interpret this text, just like we won't find one way to understand baptism. I don't think we're called to one way. The "Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry" document references 6 different faithful meanings of baptism with numerous biblical references to support each meaning.

Me & Perpetua (Pentecostal/Kenya) in Bible study.

Natailia (Orthodox/Ukraine) grabbing
a drink during our bike ride.

This text, this living water creates some tense debate, but it also keeps bringing us together. So we might take small sips every now and then, as well as taking plunging dives in the Holy waters that refresh, renew, and unite us all.

We might have different practices of baptism. We might find ways to accept ways to respectfully disagree with these practices; but what we do know is that it is not a competition to see who is right, who is wrong, who has baptized more and how. We are all thirsty, and together, we come seeking a new way of living together - now that's shocking!