thinking out loud

Monie said, “As an African American lesbian I feel like I’m in exile from the church. I miss it sometimes but I just don’t feel like I would be welcome.”

This statement hit a little too close to home. To be in exile is to be banished from one’s home or native land. To be in exile from the church is to be excommunicated. To be excommunicated means that one is cut off from communion with a church. Well, thanks Reverend Dictionary, but what does that have to do with the topic at hand? In short, everything. In the end, nothing. Make no sense? Let me explain.

In seminary, we are trained to take a text and break it down into its smallest parts. We are taught to look at all sides of the text. There are two things that are found in every line of scripture. There is good news. There is bad news. Huh? Think there is no bad news in the Bible? Let me put it this way, in every line of scripture, in every piece of the text, there are both positive and negative implications for our lives. Good news and bad news.

Example, Matthew 11:28 (NIV), Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The good news is that Jesus is inviting us to come to Him and there is a promise that we will find rest. The bad news is that this life we live will burden us and those burdens will make us weary. See my point? Good news, bad news. So, why am I telling you all this? Let’s continue on our journey.

Our thought for the moment is, “As a African American lesbian I feel like I'm in exile from church. I miss it sometimes but I just don't feel like I would be welcome.” If we take our definitions and put them up against our crash course in basic exegesis, we find that Monie has said a lot more than I think she meant to say. Here is where our definitions have everything to do with the topic at hand.

For my girl to feel like she is in exile from the church means that she considers church to be her home. One can not be in exile from a place where one has no ties. I can not be in exile from South Dakota. I have no ties there. I am not from there. I have no desire or reason to go there. I can, however, be in exile from Georgia. My family is there. I grew up there. I have plenty of reasons to go visit. The thought of not being able to go to Georgia brings me pain. So the fact that someone feels exiled from the church, lets me know that someone is hurting because of the inability to go to church. But everyone can just go to a church and walk through the doors, right? Well…

Let’s think about this excommunication business. I think the church is the only place from which one can be excommunicated. Why is it that the church, a place where all are welcomed, has its own category and form of exile? Hmmm, that’s a thought for another day! Okay, to be excommunicated is to be cut off from communion with a church. Communion in this sense means participation, association, and fellowship.

This tells me that the modern day church has excommunicated people who fill the pews every week. Notice, that communion is not defined by attendance. Modern day excommunication is not a kicking out of the church but rather an exclusion by a systematic means of pushing certain individuals to the margins in order that one might keep them content yet silent. Sound familiar? Hmmm, moving on.

Here is where our definitions mean nothing. In reality, the church is not a building. The church is those true believers who seek to embrace all of God’s children. Jesus knew that all would not welcome Him or His Disciples. When Jesus sent them out, He gave the specific instructions. In Luke 9, Jesus says, “If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them."

Jesus did not tell them to give up or to stop searching. Jesus said shake it off and keep moving. It’s a shame that we are still fighting this battle. So to Monie, there is place for you. Keep searching. Shake the dust off your feet and keep moving. Notice, it is a testimony against them, not against you. We are out there. We are waiting love you and accept you. There is a reason for your battle, even though right now, it

Makes. No. Sense.