[aron]

Curious,

Thanks for the comments. Amen on both counts:

#1. If we fear being "contaminated" and "dirty" we may hole up, literally or figuratively, congratulating ourselves on our ritualistic purity, our washings and fringes and tassels... when I met there the "separation" motif was so strong: don't meet with "fallen Christianity". We'd gather in our exclusive little club, circle our chairs and read the "proper" ministry. Any association with the supposed impurity of "Babylon" was avoided. And then there's the "World"!! No televisions. No sports. The first time (after Lee passed, natch) that I saw an elder's daughter sitting in their living room watching sports on the telly I surely did a double-take. That was "contamination"! No!!

And yet, where's one's heart in all of this? Safe and snug? And superior to others, who aren't so sequestered as oneself? And then we'd look at each other as the same 8 or 10 gathered every Saturday morning, to rehearse the "ministry outlines"... where were all the "new ones"? Our community impact was zilch. Where's the faith? Where's the vulnerability, the fragility, the trust in God's saving power? Instead we'd build our walls...

#2 Regarding the "do not critique leadership" and its cultural component. I read a story some time back that, even though Chairman Mao has been gone 40 years, nobody there can question his leadership. If you openly critique Mao you're unpatriotic and must be dealt with - public order and stability depends on it. Mao can critique the Chinese but they can't critique him. I read that and went, Gee, that seems so familiar. Repackaged in spiritual garb... "even when he's wrong he's right" was the mantra in my day. And everyone knew who "he" was. But Paul critiqued Peter. Martin Luther critiqued the Roman Catholic 'indulgences' and so forth. If something is in need of sunlight, God will shine.

Now, Western culture has its own challenges and instabilities. And the Eastern way of acculturation and socialization has millennia of history behind it and is not inferior. But it is not "divine and mystical" it is human like any other, or what Jesus called "the way of the gentiles" (Matt 6:32; 20:25; Mark 10:42; Luke 12:30) It's not the kingdom of God.