CBC Drama "Pure": Gift or irritant?

I watched the first episode of CBC's new mini series entitled "Pure."

Understandably the various expressions of Anabaptist/Mennonite faith will feel misrepresented. The depiction lumps them all together like a typical potluck plateful of various foods.

As anticipated there is discomfort when particular shortcomings of the 'quiet in the land' is given national profile. We like to be known for our humble service not our humiliating deviations.

The spotlight is not a comfortable place for Mennonites. But it feels better resisting praise than it does refusing blame.

I don't know of any Mennonite who would feel comfortable being called "pure". But neither do we like faults being publicly flaunted.

However, this time of discomfort might offer a gift of self reflection. I think our discomfort mirrors a common Protestant aversion to facing shortcomings. To acknowledge the need of a Saviour is not problematic. But to describe the areas of personal struggle is.  When the confessional booth was discarded, our admission of sin was driven into private, unnamed remorse. Forgiveness then has also become a private struggle of acceptance.

We feel most comfortable looking like we have it all together and avoid portraying our frayed and frazzled selves.

I wonder how our God of grace views either the hesitation of admitting guilt or the fixation of holding onto guilt. Grace has never been an easy thing to accept.

The attention could provide the watching world with a refreshing display of self comfort. A faith community that is confident in Gods grace is able to smile at its own short comings. A faith community rich in experiencing grace is able to more easily extend grace to members of its own extended family without a nervous need to distinguish itself from bad behaviour. Such a comfort with who we are could be a refreshing contrast to the marketing culture dependent on having individuals feel bad about themselves.

This might be a gift to us as Mennonite communities. And we have the next few weeks to accept and use this gift wisely.

Uncomfortable Conversations

I do not go looking for challenging conversations. But I don't run from them when they find me. I have come to realize that discomfort is an indispensable element of growth. We generally realize that being stretched is a good thing, even though few revel in the stretching.

I have been reminded of this during the Church Leaders Justice Tour this spring. Together with Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, and Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of Canadian Council of Churches, when the tour is done we will have been to ten events in five cities listening to citizen concerns and aspirations regarding poverty and climate justice.  The conversations have been reinvigorating and challenging.

I have been encouraged by the gentle but bold aspirations expressed for the church. We have been reminded that the church should be the voice in the desert. The church should not be constrained by lack of popular support. The church needs to be prophetic and should not be dissuaded by initial resistance. It is reinvigorating to hear people articulate a clear role for the church. It is challenging to hear people articulate a clear expectation for the church.

In Saskatoon we were reminded that our congregations contain those opposed to the fossil fuel industry and those dependent on the fossil fuel industry. "It becomes very uncomfortable to have any conversations," stated one participant. In Edmonton we heard a pastor push back at claims that the oil industry is globally impacting climate, stating emphatically "My people working in the tar sands do not want to kill children in Africa!”  And in the heart of mixed agriculture in Kitchener we heard a passionate call to abandon meat and dairy products to become vegan.

These are not comfortable conversations.

But the church needs to be a place where uncomfortable conversations can occur. The church is a community of people committed to one another; a commitment that does not require agreement. The church is a community expressing love to one another; a love that does not require assent.

Perhaps this is our best witness in a secular society becoming more volatile in disagreements. Showing that disagreement does not negate our love for one another may be the strongest Christian witness the church has today.

As communities of faith we must resist the temptation to shut down uncomfortable conversations. As communities of faith we must resist the impulse to avoid difficult conversations. These conversations are the context for growth. These conversations are the context for a compelling display of the love of Christ at work.

The  Justice Tour arrives in Montreal on May 12, and makes its final stop in Ottawa on May 13.