Bible Study With The Bishops: Loving One Another--NOT

Reading Plan Text for May 19: John 13:31-38

The editors of the NRSV titled this section "The New Commandment,"but as Burridge points out, it is also the lead-in to Jesus' "Farewell Discourse."

Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." (v. 33-34)

We haven't done a very good job of following this commandment down through the centuries. And it is blatantly obvious that love is not important in the ongoing tempest in the Anglican teapot. The conservatives point accusing fingers at the liberals, and the liberals at the conservatives. However, some of the least loving behavior I've witnessed has been on the part of the conservatives.

Take, for instance, the recent layoffs at the Washington National Cathedral. Someone sent Stand Firm a copy of an email sent to Cathedral volunteers to let them know what was happening. Greg Griffith, of course, posted it, and, no surprises here, the comments started flying. Out of the 43 comments posted the last time I looked, one--count it ONE--comment showed any concern for the people who had lost their jobs. More important to the folks at Stand Firm is their agenda, their fight against the liberal trends of the Episcopal Church.

Then we observe many bishops of the so-called Global South who refuse to even show up at the Lambeth Conference with the bishops they label as unrepentant. Many conservative commentators see this as an act of "tough love." I might buy that argument, except that these days tough love often serves as nothing more than an excuse for abusive behavior.

And should any conservatives come back with the tired argument about the lawsuits against groups trying to take physical property out of the Episcopal Church, I suggest reading this post of Father Jake's.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when this particular passage comes up for discussion at Lambeth--if it does.

Peace,
Jeffri