"Rebuilding the Presbyterian Establishment"...have y'all read this???

[Stephen Baldwin]

came across this paper, "Rebuilding the Presbyterian Establishment", from the Office of Theology & Worship:

http://www.pcusa.org/re-formingministry/papers/rebuilding.pdf

will rebuilding the Presbyterian Establishment of the 50's grow our church deep and wide? the author thinks so. i anticipate our community here may disagree. thoughts on the paper?

[Uncle Max Bialystock]

What a nice surprise, to find out that I'm talking to the author of the paper under discussion. What you just wrote above makes too much sense to me to argue with, except one thing.

You wrote: "But I don't think that idea will fly...... beyond its competence. (See political correctness.)"

(WHAT is wrong with the cut-and-paste protocol on this stupid computer today?!)

I want to reply this way: The church doesn't need to be "competent" in the field of economics in order to make distributive-justice statements about the the country's or the world's economy, any more than Jesus himself was. The same goes for medical insurance or nuclear weapons. Everyone deserves health care, just because we are HERE. And as for nuclear arms: we want those ---ideally--- eradicated. Our standard in making pronouncements about these and other issues is the gospel we seek to live by, not any claim to be experts in this discipline or that discipline. You see what I mean. ---"Uncle Max Bialystock."

[Beau Weston]

I mostly agree. Still, compassion in distributive justice coupled with incompetence in productive economics leads nothing to distribute.

[Uncle Max Bialystock]

Sure, but we'll leave the "how-to" to the ones who can get it done. We just want to stand up for and promote what's good, decent, right and ethical. ---"Uncle Max."

[Beau Weston]

Perhaps we should stop sponsoring boycotts, then.

[Uncle Max Bialystock]

Hee hee hee. You just wanna bust my chops, dontcha? OK, I'll "bite." Actually, a boycott is a matter of NOT doing something, i.e. BUYING. Anyway, your reply is a half-step removed from the sort of thing both you and I know that I had in mind. Shall we actually talk seriously, or play verbal volleyball?

I repeat: "Sure, but we'll leave the "how-to" to the ones who can get it done. We just want to stand up for and promote what's good, decent, right and ethical."

A boycott, since you brought it up, is a rather good example of standing up for and promoting what is good, decent, right and ethical: in this case, the ethical thing to do is to avoid Vendor X, because they treat their employees like scum, or are directly benefiting from such practices, through their suppliers or whatever. Is the kingdom of God a fantasy, or something REAL that we have a calling to contribute to?

To undertake a boycott is one thing. When I speak of the "how-to" guys, I'm talking about the Big-Time Movers and Shakers who make policy decisions, set the economy in motion, and generally run the Thing. At every level, it is part of our Christian Mandate to make the kingdom of God visible. We see evidence of it where justice is done, rather than to have naked greed as the Operating Principle. Economies and Markets have no conscience. It's up to people to see that the economic system works for human beings, not the other way around... What's that, you say? We have a helluva long way to go? Or were you just muttering about how naive I am? If I am naive, so be it. I'm in good company with the prophets and another fellow I ran into a while ago, from Nazareth.

It grieves me most when I run up against counter-productive attitudes even among "the faithful." What has the church and Jesus Christ and the gospel got to do with actual, real-life living? EVERYTHING. ---"Uncle Max Bialystock."