Dear St. Peter’s Family,
Many of us are carrying grief, anger, confusion, or exhaustion as we watch events in the world unfold. Over the last few weeks, some church leaders have attempted to speak to the political and cultural divides in which we find ourselves, particularly in the wake of the tragic deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. Our own bishop, the Rt. Rev. Alex Farmer, wrote to our diocese calling us to prayer, and we, your cathedral clergy, add our voices to that call. As the weeks and news cycle have progressed, our clergy have followed that call ourselves and tried to listen to God’s leading in how we communicate to you, our St. Peter’s family.
The reality and fraught nature of the frantic news cycle is that each new story divides us more. All of us tend to see what our own assumptions and sympathetic news sources tell us. We have become so habituated to looking for the enemy that we cannot hear our brother and sister talk about these things without attacking.
As a church family, however, we are not free to ignore the world around us, nor are we free to simply be silent. We must reason well together as Christians. This church will not be discipled by outrage, but by Jesus Christ. Our mission statement is to see The Ancient Faith Engaging a Changing World, and that means that we must both be rooted in our ancient faith and engage the world around us. To that end, in addition to a continual invitation to prayer, I want to invite you to join us in three ways.
First, on Monday February 9th at 6:30PM, we will have a Cathedral Conversation at St. Peter’s. The point of that meeting is to listen well to each other, especially on the topic of scripture and immigration. In our political climate, families are torn apart because we cannot disagree in love, and that cannot be true of our church family. We will talk about how we can better pray, discuss, serve, think about, and love the world around us as Christ loved us.
Second, in the Fall we will host a class on the controversial topics of our day. I wish we could do it sooner, but I trust we will still live in a divided culture then. Sometimes the Church has rightly been criticized for avoiding the hard things, the things that people don’t want to hear. We must lean in to those things.
Third, below is a document entitled “Rules of Engagement for Christians.” We offer this not only for conversations at St. Peter’s, but because it challenges us in how we react to the conflict around us, each new disagreement, each new opportunity to show Christ to the world. I encourage you to return to it over time as we continue to engage a changing world, and we will use it to frame our conversations.
I leave you with the words of a prayer from our Book of Common Prayer, one that we prayed at St. Peter’s last week and will continue to pray, and with which Bishop Alex concluded his letter:
Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP 2019, p.659)
Yours in Christ Jesus,
The Very Rev. Marcus Kaiser, Sr.,
Dean and Rector
Rules of Engagement for Christians
Principles for how Christians react and interact with the world, and particularly those with whom they disagree, in times of conflict.
The basic attitude of the Christian must be one of humility. Jesus, James, and Peter all reference the same Proverb, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Matthew 23:12, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). Therefore, in times of conflict a Christian does the following four things:
1. Listens well. Listening well is not the absence of conviction, but the presence of love.
So often we imagine that we already know the position of another without actually hearing what they are saying. The instinct of the world is to reduce people into tribes and categories – “us” and “them.” We are quick to speak because we presume we know what they are saying. When we do this, we ignore the core truth that every person we meet is created in the image of God (the Imago Dei) and that Jesus died for them.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)
“But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” (James 3:8-9)
2. Repents. A Christian approaches the world, and even the unbeliever, knowing our own deep need for a Savior. The first command of Christ is “repent,” which means to turn from our own disordered desires, our own fears, our own ways, and admit that we cannot save ourselves, much less the world. We spend so much time decrying the wrong and even evil thought and conduct of others that we can become blind to the pride in our own hearts.
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:17)
“[Jesus said,] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8)
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
3. Prays. So often our response to difficult things is first horizontal, striking out in anxiety and anger at the things we want to change. Although our desire for things to be made right in this world can be good and godly, we must not confuse the temporary for the eternal. Before seeking to correct and perfect the things of this world, we must remember that we are first citizens of Heaven and seek first God’s Kingdom.
“[Jesus said,] but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” (Jeremiah 29:12)
4. Reflects Christ. In our words, our actions, our social media posts, and even in how we carry our bodies, the question for every Christian must be, “how am I reflecting the Christ who is in me?” When we match or even escalate the anger and outrage around us, when we denigrate and humiliate the “other,” when we gloat and seek to repay injury, how do we reflect Christ? If we truly believe that God is in charge, and that Jesus is the King, we need not be anxious. We are set free to respond in a way that is only possible through the Holy Spirit.
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:12-13)
“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9)
“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” (Psalm 37:8)
“[Jesus said,] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
