Rev. C. Anthony Hunt, D.Min., Ph.D.
(This is the text of a public panel response/presentation given on April 9, 2012 at the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University in response to Rev. Jim Wallis's new book, On God's Side.)
I would venture to
suggest that at the root of Protestantism is an ongoing quest for an
appropriation of the common good. Martin
Luther’s call for the reformation of the church in the 16th century
seemed to signal a call for Christian communities to address matters of
ecclesial, theological, and socio-political significance to the masses of
people. By its very nature Reformation faith and
Protestantism served as a faithful protest against what was viewed – at least
to some degree – as the perceived class abuses of the church and society –
directed primarily toward the poor. In
as much as the Protestant Reformation was to become a protest against some of
the practices of the church - as perceived by Luther and others - it would also
become a framework for reforming and reframing some of the practices of
Christianity in the search for common ground and the common good.
The quest for such common good became one of the marks of enlightenment faith that would be the hallmark of early Protestantism in America. Martin Marty intimates in his book Pilgrims in their Own Land, that although early 15th and 16th century settlers in the American colonies were largely “pilgrims of dissent,” what they shared was a common quest for freedom, and that colonists were “knit together by law, religion, and custom.”[1]
It seems that much of
the quest for an appropriation of the common good in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries can be viewed against the philosophical and
ethical backdrop of utilitarianism. Although there continues to be a great deal
of debate as to the merits of utilitarianism as a philosophical and ethical
construct, at least in some measure, it was the thinking of Jeremy Bentham and John
Stuart Mill, among others, and their notion of “utility” that provided the
framework to talk about what is good and what it is that brings about the
common good. Thus a critical question of
utilitarianism is, what is it that brings about the "the greatest possible good for the greatest
possible number of individuals?”
In the social teachings
of virtually every American Protestant denomination that has emerged there has
been an expressed concern for the common good.
In foundational documents of the Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran
churches among other Protestant denominations, there are statements which point
to these concerns for the common good within the denominations themselves, and
within the context of the churches’ ecumenical and interfaith relations.
In the Methodist churches
– which I am most familiar - the theology and practice of communality and
common good finds its primary point of reference at the place of social
holiness – where the concern for vital piety and religious practice – is
coupled to (married with) concerns for acts of charity and justice – as seen in
social witness, societal engagement and the common good. Thus, the primary theological mandate of the
Methodist Churches was and has continued to be “to reform the nation and spread
scriptural holiness.”
In much of American
Christianity, and certainly in the Protestantism of the early and mid-20th
century, there continued to be a clear quest for an appropriation of the common
good. This is seen perhaps most clearly
in an articulation of the Social Gospel by Walter Rauschenbusch. In his seminal work, A Theology of the Social Gospel, Rauschenbusch states that “we
have a social gospel.” [2]
And so the Gospel, by
its very nature is “social” and has communal implications. Rauschenbusch’s ministry and work in New York
City laid the foundation for a clear movement in many Protestant circles in the
mid-20th century toward the predominance of evangelical liberalism –
as also espoused by the likes of Howard Thurman. Like Rauschenbusch, Thurman would assert
that the Gospel by its very nature is “social” and concerned with the common
good.
In one of his works,
which he entitled, The Search of Common
Ground, Thurman argues that this search for common ground is a universal
search among all of humanity. He states
that “A person is always threatened in one’s very ground by a sense of
isolation, by feeling oneself cut off from one’s fellows. Yet, the person can never separate oneself
from one’s fellows, for mutual interdependence is characteristic of all life.”[3] Thus for Thurman, this common, universal
quest and search for common ground becomes has teleological implications, as it
essentially provides the framework for the meaning of life itself.
Thurman’s articulation
of a “search of common ground” would ultimately serve as one of the primary theoretical
precursors to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his articulation of a
vision of “beloved community” which became the theological grounding for civil
rights in America, and other subsequent human rights movements – and quest for
common ground - across the globe.
Interestingly, Jim
Wallis in On God’s Side, offers in
one of his chapters that “The Beloved Community Welcomes All Tribes.”[4] Wallis shares a quote from King that “our
goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative
change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”
It is important to note
that the singular theological and societal vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
was for the realization of Beloved
Community. Kenneth Smith and Ira
Zepp, Jr. in their seminal 1974 work entitled, Search for the Beloved Community, suggest that King’s perspective
on the Christian love-ethic provides critical insight into understanding his
persistent search for the Beloved
Community. For King, it was rooted
in the biblical notion of Agape
(God’s unconditional love), and was the ultimate goal for society.[5]
King asserted that “all
life is interrelated.” One of his
fundamental beliefs was in the kinship of all persons. He believed all life is part of a single
process; all living things are interrelated; and all persons are sisters and
brothers. All have a place in the Beloved Community. Because all are interrelated, one cannot harm
another without harming oneself. King
said:
To
the degree that I harm my brother, no matter what he is doing to me, to that
extent I am harming myself. For example,
white men often refuse federal aid to education in order to avoid giving the
Negro his rights; but because all men are brothers they cannot deny Negro
children without harming themselves. Why
is this? Because all men are
brothers. If you harm me, you harm
yourself. Love, agape, is the only cement that can hold this broken community
together. When I am commanded to love, I
am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs
of my brothers.[6]
I want to suggest here
that much of what was articulated and in-fact appropriated as the common good
through the middle of the 20th century has been obscured at the
least, and at worst has been lost and forgotten. Churches, perhaps as a reflection of society
in general, seem today to have become more inwardly focused - religion and
faith has become more privatized and insular.
As a result, forms like ecumenism, interreligious and interfaith
dialogue, and the capacity of the churches to critically engage culture and
society have, in large measure, been diminished.
And so what might be some things to consider
in a turn back toward common concern, and a common quest for common ground and
the common good?
Imperative
Howard Thurman and Martin
Luther King, Jr. were among those who spoke to the divine and moral imperative
– the calling - that Christians share in seeking common ground, the common good
and beloved community. This imperative
– this calling - is rooted and grounded in a divine commitment to advance the
appropriation of the Christian love-ethic as foundational for constructively
moving toward the realization of authentic community and common good. Thurman asserted that God’s intent is for the
human family to live in community as interrelated members. Jesus came into the
world to call persons back into community.
An imitation of the
unconditional love revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus can be helpful
in the quest for common ground and common good.
Moving toward a deeper sense of who we are as individuals and community
will enable us to live more shalom-filled lives, modeled on the life of
Christ. There is the obligation to treat
every person as Christ Himself, respecting her/his life as if it were the life
of Christ.
Inspiration
In
Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard
Thurman asserted that Jesus was acutely aware of the cultural context of his
ministry.[7] Jesus knew that his teachings regarding God’s
justice, love, mercy, forgiveness and peace would cause controversy and get him
into trouble. Yet, he remained faithful
to his mission, and sought to perpetually live the God-inspired message that he
had been given.
For
the church, the appropriation of community as a transformational
Christ-centered, Spirit-filled process needs to be understood within the
context of God’s ongoing work in salvation history. The development of common ground for the
common good thus requires God-connectedness through the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit.
Like
Christ, it has been suggested that Howard Thurman was a “God intoxicated man,” and
as such offered a paradigm of God-centered and God-inspired ministry. Perhaps, it is the case today that Christians
are beckoned to live likewise in a God-intoxicated way, as we seek to bring
about the common good among us.
Integration
The
quest of common ground and the common good is at the heart of the church’s
ministry. The church, the community of
those who confess Christ as Lord, is an embodiment of community – and common
good within history. For this reason,
the church is called must model community and must help the world to achieve common
ground, while believing that unity among human beings is possible –and
community is fully evident - only if there is real justice for all.
A
commitment to the realization of the common good offers real hope for the world
in which we live. Community – common
ground – by its very nature - is integrative. Authentic community includes persons of
different races, sexes, ages, religions, cultures, viewpoints, lifestyles, and
stages of development - and serves to integrate them into a whole that is
greater – more actualized and dynamic – than the sum of its parts. Forms of disintegration and disunity are,
therefore, to be understood as antithetical to the common good, and to the will
of God.
I
appreciate that Jim Wallis concludes his provocative work on the common good by
pointing us toward grace – and in-fact the amazing grace of God. It is my sense that this quest, this striving
for common good, as it is to be realized, must be filled with the grace of
God. For as John Newton intimated in his
great hymn, “Amazing Grace,” … “Grace has brought us safe thus far, and grace
shall lead us on.”
[1]
Martin Mary, Pilgrims in their Own Land, (New
York: Penguin Books, 1984), p.75.
[2]
Walter Rauschenbusch, A Theology of the
Social Gospel (Louisville, KY: Westminster john Knox Press, 1945), p. 1.
[3]
Howard Thurman, The Search of Common
Ground (Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 1971), pp. 2-3.
[4]
Jim Wallis, On God’s Side (Grand
Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2013), p. 109.
[5]
Kenneth
Smith and Ira Zepp, Jr., Search for the
Beloved Community (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press), see pp. 129-156.
6] Martin Luther King, Jr., “Loving Your
Enemies,” Strength to Love (New York:
York:
Harper, 1963), pp. 41-50.
[7]
Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1976), pp. 11-35.
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