When I was in 9th grade, I was required to take a Speech class. As one of our assignments, we worked on Original Oratory, which expressed our opinions about a particular topic. We debated those topics in class. One smug gentleman gave his speech about how glorious and wonderful the pope was. He stood in front of us with a 4 inch silver cross dangling from his neck and recited sentence after sentence about why we should adore the pope.
Of course, the North Hills in Pittsburgh had a large Catholic population, so his speech was well received by the majority of the class. He strutted across the front of the classroom as though he thought he might be able to skip the debate part because no one would disagree with the pope. The girl in front of me stood up. She was wearing a full-length black velvet cloak and had black makeup that pronounced the features on her face, the goth look was very popular then. She declared, looking as Satanic as possible, "I think the pope is full of [insert your own word for excrement]. What gives him authority? I'm not Catholic; why should I believe the pope has any authority?"
There was a rumbling of mumbling students all shocked at her boldness, and the speaker's mouth dropped open in a mixture of shock and horror. "Yeah well," he replied, "You're the only one here who thinks that, and you'll be going straight to hell."
Um...what???
So, of course, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. "Well, I'm not Catholic either, and I don't know why I would give the pope any authority either." There was an audible gasp around the room, and the speaker and I exchanged several jabs concluding with:
Me: Yeah, well, the pope is just some crotchety old man who hates women!
Speaker: {presses cross against my forehead} The power of Christ compels you! Away with thee, Satan!
[I really wish I were exaggerating this story, but I am not. This literally happened.]
What was the result of this inane argument? Nothing. I certainly wasn't persuaded that the pope had authority over the protestant church, and he remained convinced that I was doomed to hell for all of eternity. For all of the energy expended, the shouting, the enraged tempers, the heightened emotions, this argument changed nothing except to create permanent animosity between me and the speaker.
High School Sunday School
I tell this story because yesterday in High School Sunday School we discussed the story of Jesus flipping over the tables in the temple. We talked about how the money changers were bringing injustice to the temple and the culture, about how the high prices for sacrifices kept out the poor and there was active discrimination against certain groups of people trying to worship. And we talked about Jesus' extreme reaction to this: flipping over tables, shouting, running the money changers out of the temple area, even fashioning a whip in John's gospel.
We've got extreme injustice, and we've got a loud cry on behalf of that injustice. As a class, we realized that the world is not so different today. Our youth often see kids who are bullied or treated differently for one reason or another.They know people who use the Bible as a weapon to tell them they are wrong. They experience obstacles in the accomplishment of their dreams (not making the team or the spot in band or the grade they had hoped for or the SAT score they desired). The know the opportunities that they have that others do not have. And they know Jesus took rather extreme measures to make a loud raucous in opposition to injustice in his day.
It is a natural part of the maturing process for teenagers to think that they are always right. As they begin to formulate their own opinions and understand the world in different dimensions, it is a part of coming into their own to believe that their opinions, regardless of their foundation in evidence, are always right. And frankly, we know that feeling: it is a lot more fun to call the pope crotchety than it is to agree to disagree.But another part of growing up is learning that I will be I and you will be you, and we are not the same. It takes a tremendous effort to hear the story of another person with an empathetic ear and to take a step into their shoes. I know that it can be discouraging when we hear kids say things that are insensitive, rude, and selfish. I know because I've heard it a million times. What I remind myself constantly is that the world is still so small for these youth. Experiences like Work Camp help them realize that the world is bigger than they thought, the issues are more complex than they had previously known. But even still, compared to my life experience, the world is still small to them. It's okay for youth to stubbornly proclaim how right they are; it's also okay for them to get a swift kick in the tookus, a spiritual two-by-four to the face, if you will, that opens their eyes to the reality that the earth actually rotates around the sun and not them. Friends, this is NORMAL, so so normal.
So...so having discussions that don't end in exorcisms...
So getting back to my disagreement with the Catholic that ended in me having a silver cross pressed into my forehead... as I mentioned nothing was gained from that conversation except bitterness and pride. While it is just a fabulous story I've been itching to find a place for, if I could go back in time I would change the dialogue, I would make some new effort to recover the conversation to a constructive tone. I'm sure we all have memories like that.
As I look at Jesus' reaction to the temple, I wonder if the effect of that event wasn't limited to the shock and horror experienced by those who witnessed it first hand. Real change didn't happen on that day alone; rather, it's 2,000 years later, and we are STILL talking about it, having discussions about why Jesus did this and how it can be translated into today. The change didn't happen in the violence or the crazy-town reaction of Jesus; the effect didn't occur the moment those tables were flipped. The story doesn't end, "And then everyone sold items for a fair price and allowed all people into the Temple and they just loved Jesus so much."
No the change, the effect occurred because Jesus' actions sparked civilized conversations about what was right and what was wrong. It challenged the people in authority and gave a voice to all people who entered the temple area that day.
We talked in Sunday School about how to cultivate these kinds of constructive conversations. I realize that some of our youth will have to have heated arguments that end with exorcisms in order to learn the lesson that that doesn't work; I know because I did, and I had several more conversations ending in bitterness until I realized I needed to try a different tactic. I know that had Jesus not begun with an extreme action, the silenced voices might never be heard. But in a world where Starbucks cups about world peace and unity are considered controversial and political, I feel it is my job and our calling as the church to advocate for peaceful discourse, for civil debates, and loving dialogue. Slowly, this voice of reason will begin to cut through the contentiousness of our society, both among our youth and our adults, until it makes a difference in the way we treat each other. The best thing we can do to help our youth learn that they are not always right is to learn that we ourselves are not always right.
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