Create Tension, Get Attention; Heresy & P’kudey
Oh, God, do I love heretics!
I think it takes great strength and courage to be one openly.
This week I heard the amazing story of an Evangelical Christian preacher turned heretic.
Carlton Pearson, an African American minister and Bishop of his church, rose to great prominence in the 1980’s and ‘90’s.
And of course, he preached about hell.
This is the biggest draw for Evangelicals; the fear instilled in people of hell.
Images of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
If you don’t take accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is where you’ll end up.
I think Jews can relate to this, too.
My grandmother refused to say she didn’t believe in God for fear of punishment simply for doubting.
For Jews, it’s more about punishment while still living on this Earth—a kind of personal hell on Earth.
For Carlton Pearson, he had a moment of enlightenment when he saw images of starving babies in Rwanda on television.
In that moment, he began to accuse God.
“I don’t know how you can call yourself a loving, sovereign God and allow these people to suffer this way, and suck them into hell,” he said.
“Well,” responded God, “how are you gonna save them?”
“I can’t save this whole world,” said Pearson.
“Precisely,” answered God. “You think we’re sucking them into hell? They’re already there.”
God told him, “You’ve been teaching the wrong thing about me; that’s why people turn away from me.”
For the first time, Pearson understood that God was not the inventor of hell.
He began to understand that humans not only invented the idea of hell, but in our very actions, we create it for ourselves.
But he was afraid of what would happen if he said so publicly.
God said, “In order to get attention, you’re going to have to create some tension.”
So Pearson found his courage and began preaching about a God of inclusion and love.
And was declared a heretic.
He lost the millions of dollars that had poured into his church monthly.
He suffered the rejection of his community.
But he saw lives healed, and lives saved with love, as opposed to damaged by fear and hate.
As if a cloud had lifted from in front of him, he now saw things clearly, and moved forward with confidence, despite the consequences.
This week’s Parsha begins with accounts taken of the gold, silver, and copper used in the building of the portable house for God.
It ends with a cloud covering God’s sanctuary.
And the Israelites could not move forward into action until the cloud lifted.
We, like the Israelites, need to take accounting of our actions.
We need to see the hell we are creating and imposing on others: the starving babies.
This week I saw images of Israeli protestors blocking aid into Gaza by throwing themselves across the road in front of trucks.
I can’t get the voice out of my head of a “religious” Jewish woman being asked, “Don’t you have at least a little compassion for the babies that are starving?”
“Why should I have compassion for future terrorists?” she replied coldly.
Is this what Judaism teaches us?
Is this what God wants of us?
While antisemitism rises around the world, should we use it as an excuse to justify our own criminal actions?
Are we to become the “animals” we accuse others of being?
Every time I write such things as I’m writing here, I feel a tension around the possible backlash—the hatred and anger of fellow Jews who may accuse me heresy.
But, as God said to Pearson, we have to create tension to get attention.
We must notice and challenge ourselves if we are preaching about a God of hatred and punishment—-lest we become the hatred we hate.
We don’t need God’s help to create hell. We’re doing just fine all by ourselves.
May the cloud lift from before us so we may see a way forward in a loving, inclusive way—whether others do or not.
We can’t save the whole world.
No.
Not by ourselves.
But together we might.
(Note: You can find “Heretics” and learn about Carlton Pearson on This American Life. You can also see the Netflix movie, Come Sunday, for a dramatization of his life.)
