Anarchy

I'm thinking about anarchy. 

Some of it is the sunshine and heat; my brain melts in such conditions.

Some of it is our recent bishop election. Lutherans gather as geographical synods once a year and this year in Alaska we elected a bishop.

When we finished this year's election, someone asked me what I thought. I love our bishop. I think she is a faithful and steady servant so my immediate response was not to critique her or the process, but I did question the nature of hierarchy. I'm just not sure out current leadership structure will see us into the future.

Finally, some of my thoughts come from an article out of the Christian Science Monitor with the sub-heading, 

Spontaneous mass protests in the former Soviet state of Armenia have ended a deceitful power play by a longtime ruler to stay in office. In throwing off their fears, Armenians showed others in repressive countries how to ‘live in the truth.

I'm fascinated by spontaneous gatherings of people who show others how to "live in the truth." 

A leader in Armenia was later raised in the midst of the protests and I want to believe that will be helpful to good order, but I can't say history has many examples of new leadership that doesn't imitate the tyranny of the old leadership.

It also made me think of a story we learned when we visited the DDR museum in Leipzig last summer. A group of students in 1956 in communist East Germany sat in silence for six minutes at the beginning of class after the Soviets crushed the revolt in Budapest. It was a spontaneous act of solidarity with the protestors in Budapest . The principal yelled at them for their silence, the head of the education department yelled at them, and finally the Stasi interrogated the students to find out who the leader was. 

But there was no leader. They all just knew it was the right thing to do. And then they all escaped to the West together. Even when they were interviewed after the threat was over, there was no leadership they could point to.

What creates the sense of trust and fellowship in a group of people that frees them to risk their lives to live in truth?

 I don't know the answer to that question, but I think it's an important one and I'm pretty sure the answer is not hierarchies (it's probably also not anarchies). 

Leadership is important for good order, but I do think in the church (and probably our nation) leaders can repress the creation of spontaneous communities who have a sense of the truth and are willing to risk witnessing to it. Leaders tend to take charge and leave folks feeling impotent and disconnected.

Confirmation youth making stoles for ministry

I'm not sure what that means for pastors. I was taught pretty early on that I'm not in charge and it's not my church, and on my good days I see myself as a trainer, observer, and student of scripture. 

Sometimes, on my not so good days, when my ego butts in, I see myself as "right" and "in charge." 

That's probably the best place for my anarchical tendencies to start dismantling hierarchies and then I'll worry about the rest of the church and world.