Liberation, from Egypt: Portents of Change in American Christianity

Last updated on: February 17, 2011 at 10:14 am by Jim Burklo

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Liberation, from Egypt: Portents of Change in American Christianity 2011-02-17T10:14:09+00:00 Jim Burklo

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The word for Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim, which means “narrow place”. Geographically, the name makes sense, since almost all of the Egyptian people live in a narrow band of fertile land on either side of the Nile River. The rest of the country is mostly empty desert.

Metaphorically, the word Mitzrayim has been a rich one for the Jewish people. Their Exodus from Egypt was indeed a liberation from the “narrowness” of life in slavery. Escaping toward the Promised Land was an expansive experience, both physically and spiritually.

Last week, the people of the “narrow place” went to Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo and finally got liberation from the “narrowness” of 30 years of dictatorship. It was a largely non-violent movement of mostly young people who lost their fear and claimed their freedom. The story is hardly over in Egypt, but what those young people have accomplished so far is a spectacular example for all the world’s oppressed people to emulate. The Egyptians got their own Exodus from bondage when a Red Sea tidal wave of popular resentment flooded over the Pharaoh Mubarak and his regime.

Another liberation from narrowness is underway in the United States. It is one that has barely caught the attention of the news media. But a portent of this coming upheaval got a report in the Los Angeles Times today. It happened in the idyllic setting of Montecito, California, home to Oprah Winfrey and others of the rich and famous set. On an oak-studded hillside perched above the Pacific Ocean, below the spectacular bouldered mountains of Santa Barbara, sits a small evangelical Christian college, Westmont. Among other things, “homosexual practice” is barred at this school, in a statement that all students and faculty must sign. But 31 gay and lesbian alumni of the school recently signed a letter printed in the Westmont campus newspaper decrying the “doubt, loneliness, and fear” they experienced while they were students. Over 100 alumni signed on in support, and 50 of the faculty of 92 penned a letter apologizing for “ways we might have added to your pain”. It’s an Exodus from the “narrow place” of homophobia happening inside the world of evangelical Christianity.

In the past, gays and lesbians in evangelical churches and colleges simply quit and went elsewhere, or suffered in silence. I have been involved in campus ministry at secular institutions, in one role or another, since 1980. In that time, I met many LGBT students who came from evangelical or fundamentalist backgrounds, and they were in “exodus” from their churches. There was no place for them in their tradition of origin, so they either dropped out of Christianity altogether, or joined theologically progressive congregations.

But that is changing fast. Now, LGBT people and their straight allies have achieved critical mass within the realm of theologically conservative Christianity. Rapidly, they are losing their fear. Enough of them have found their voices, and have found support from each other, so that they can challenge evangelical institutions from within. Instead of feeling compelled to leave their churches and colleges, more and more of them are standing up to their pastors and college presidents and demanding change.

Westmont has no plans to change its policy. Few evangelical pastors are ready to give up preaching homophobic doctrines, either. But neither the Pharoah of Bible times nor the Mubarak of present times were ready for change when it came bubbling up from the people and overwhelmed them.

At USC, I have met several evangelical students who, had I met them ten or even five years ago, would have quit their churches or Bible study groups over their objections to the Bronze Age doctrines taught by their pastors. Now, these students realize they are not alone in their distaste for the narrowness they feel in their churches and campus ministries. Instead of walking away from their pastors, they argue with them, or feel comfortable to openly differ with them. Gay and lesbian evangelicals feel more and more comfortable being “out” in their churches. Their straight allies in evangelical circles feel more and more comfortable being “out” about their openness and acceptance of homosexuality and even same-sex marriage.

In Scottsdale, Arizona last weekend there was another portent of Exodus from narrowness in American Christianity. “Big Tent Christianity” was an event that brought together evangelical “emergent church” leaders like Brian McLaren and Spencer Burke with “progressive Christian” leaders like Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong. The “emergent church” movement comes from the world of conservative Protestantism, uses its language, and expresses itself with contemporary worship and music forms that appeal to a younger demographic. It is abandoning the “megachurch” model, associations with the political right wing, and the focus on abortion and homosexuality that are so identified with evangelical culture. It maintains a fairly traditional theological perspective, but it is a movement that is much, much friendlier to LGBT people and others who have been marginalized in the evangelical world. The “progressive Christian” movement is dominated by gray-haired folks who like the top ten hits of the 18th century in worship, but embrace a panentheistic, non-supernaturalistic, non-literalistic view of scripture and tradition. I am told that the meeting of these converging movements in Phoenix was a rich and productive one. (Read an article about the event by editor Cynthia Astle in The Progressive Christian here.)

According to the recent book American Grace by Robert Putnam and David Campbell, “…liberal churchgoers who attend politically active congregations equal about 2% of the population.” (p 428) Progressive Christians are a tiny slice of the religious pie in America. But the same book revealed a statistic that ought to shock evangelical pastors and college presidents: “54% of evangelical Protestants believe that “people not of my faith, including non-Christians, can go to heaven”.” (p 537) Religious, social, and even sexual pluralism have infiltrated the theater seats of evangelical megachurches, and it’s hard to imagine this Red Sea tide of change turning back.

As the track of evangelical emergent pluralists connects with the track of theologically and socially progressive Christians, prepare for a trans-continental expansion of faith consciousness. The people, particularly young people, are leading, and someday soon their leaders are either going to have to follow or get out of the way.

Jim Burklo is Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California, and the author of BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS: Meditations, Prayers, and Songs for Progressive Christians. Visit his website at JIMBURKLO.COM or follow him on twitter: @jtburklo. This blog was reprinted with permission from the blog Musings.

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