No hostages allowed.

"There's a fine line between a Sunday sermon and a hostage situation," read the Facebook meme. Ha. Amen. However, the responses to the meme were not the reason I said "Amen!" Indeed, people heard this as being along the lines of that fantastic Lyle Lovett song, Church. In that song, the preacher holds all the power; so as long as they are preaching, you are condemned to being at their mercy. In other words, you are in a hostage situation. But thankfully, in Lovett's version, God's mercy trumps all: "God knows if a preacher preaches long enough, he'll get hungry too." [If you have never heard the song, it's well worth the listen.]

The direction towards which my "Amen!" went was a little more sinister. The hostage situation I thought of was the sermons can be summed up as, "believe this, or else..." I don't mean the outright hell and brimstone veil, hiding a vicious use of power and control over the minds of people. I mean the kind of hostage situation I have felt from some theological camps. "If you don't believe like me, God will abandon you." In other words, the way the GodFather relates to us is by making us believe a theological set of ideals which ends up being "an offer we can't refuse." Of course, whose theology is God's theology is anybody bet. But all in all, that kind of relationship is much more ominous. After all, who wants to end up cut up in a dumpster for not having the right thought about the GodFather? Jeesh.

This is how it goes: "So..." I might ask, "what you are saying is that I get kicked out of God's favor (which coincidentally and quite suspiciously is synonymous with your favor) if I have any kind of autonomous thought? "No", you will reply, "it's not that at all." We will then have a conversation. But the dynamics will be not as equals before this mystery of existence-- this numinous presence who calls us each to our own full humanity. Rather, it will be you waiting for me to come to your senses, looking pityingly down on me, as if you feel sorry for me for my having suggested such a (heretical) thought in the first place. 

That's no conversation. That's a power play. You make yourself big-- after all, you are making yourself synonymous with God. And I am made to feel small, in fear of my salvation because I dared have an autonomous thought, with which you disagree. Not cool.

You know what?! If God can't handle my mind, then he can go find someone else to harass and with whom to play mind games.

But of course, God can handle me. God, I believe, can even handle my disagreeing with Her. Never has it been about right theology. It has always been about right relationship and knowledge through love. No hostage situation there.