There's been a lot of diaries in the last month on trying to recapture religion on the left. A lot of it has focused on the tradition of Jesus as a radical. Most recently, it was brought into closer focus with the decision by NBC and CBS to refuse an ad by the United Church of Christ (UCC). Today, at my UCC church, I had a moment to reflect on what being a liberal Christian really means.
My UCC church took the plunge last year and declared itself an "Open and Affirming" congregation. With that step, our liberal congregation declared its doors wide open to gays, lesbians, and transgendered people. Over the years, we've had a number of same sex couples attending services and even bringing their children along. By adopting the "Open and Affirming" statement, we made it clear that we wanted them to be part of our family.
Today, I found out what that inclusiveness really means. As my family and I came into church (running late as usual), I noticed that we were having a baptism as part of the service. I looked in the bulletin and noticed that one of my Sunday school students was getting baptized along with her baby brother. I looked over at the front pew and there she was with her two moms, her brother, and tons of other family and friends. She saw me and waved. I waved back.
In our church, we invite all the kids up to the front after the first reading. They sit for a short lesson from one of the ministers, then they head off to class with their teachers. On baptism days, we skip the lesson and just have the kids sit up front to be part of the baptism. So there was my student surrounded by all her friends, her family, and the whole church being baptized. Since she's oldest she got to go first. She helped the minister out by calling out her brother's full name when it was his turn to be baptized. It was a beautiful and special moment by any stretch of the imagination.
At the end, I noticed that one of the moms was in tears as she hugged the ministers and her family. It was at that moment that I realized how important the concept of inclusiveness is and how vital it is for a church. I didn't weep at my children's baptisms - it seemed a pro forma thing. But then, I never had to worry about finding a church that would be willing to baptize my children. I never had to worry about finding a church that would accept me and my family. For her, this was clearly a watershed event - we as a congregation had said we welcome you and we love you - join our family.
Once the baptism was done, I headed off to class with all the other teachers in students. In class, I congratulated my newly baptized student and she gave me a high-five.
So what does it mean to be a Christian liberal? Today, it meant doing something truly radical - accepting and loving people for who they are. I never thought of that as radical before, but today it was. Maybe I didn't cast down Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. Maybe I haven't made a dent in the vitriolic hate of gays that spews out of those right wing so-called Christians.
But I'll take that high-five from my student as a start.