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Which is Which? and Who is Who? |
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Which is Which? and Who
is Who? A personal analysis by Katy Kiser The Rev. Barbara Lundblad’s 2002 UMW Assembly talk was titled, “Singing in the Window: Rahab’s Subversive Song.” Subversive is a good word choice for Ms. Lundblad’s version of the story of Rahab from Joshua 2, for it is anything but traditional. She began by apologizing for bringing a prostitute to our meeting of fine upstanding United Methodist women but that it had not been her idea. She claimed that it had been Jesus’ idea. For he had invited the “prostitutes and sinners” and, after all, Rehab was his great, great, great grandmother. Ms. Lundblad asked the question, “If you are Joshua, what do you do when you arrive at the Promised Land and discover that people already live there? Joshua sent out spies. But, which is which and who is who depends on where you stand. Ms. Lundblad compared Joshua entering the Promised Land to Columbus discovering America and finding indigenous Indians, and the British dividing Palestine to create the state of Israel. But in fairness, she stated that in the case of Israel, it was not simple, for they had been driven out of their homes by a tragic holocaust that claimed the lives of 6 million. What is her point? Does Ms. Lundblad believe that God promised the Israelites the land they were entering with Joshua? Does Israel today have the right to be recognized as a nation? How are we as Christians to respond after the events of September 11? Ms. Lundblad interpreted the story of Rahab as one of insiders and outsiders, a story of those promised the land and those who have lived there for centuries. Rahab was portrayed as a woman who saw all men as human beings, who lived on the wall literally between those “in”-- the people of Jericho and those “out”-- the Israelites. She chose to lie to the king when asked about the spies coming to her house because she valued all life, not just the lives of her people. Ms. Lundblad stated that the “red thread” draws us to the margins, to the wall, and pleads with those who will conquer any land in the name of God. Otherwise, she stated some might view the Bible as only a story of conquest and holy war. She begs us to listen to the victims of war, the suicide bombers and their victims. It would be easy, Lundblad passionately states, to reduce them to fanatical terrorist and see them as monsters rather than martyrs. To do this, she claims, is to dehumanize all Arab people in the tradition of Nazi Germany’s treatment of the Jews, and of certain scholars' attempt to compare African slaves to apes. Gone was the clear teaching of this passage, that Rahab knew that the Lord had given the land to the Hebrews (Joshua 2:8). Rahab had heard that the Lord had dried up the Red Sea and caused the inhabitants of the land to melt away before the Israelites. Rahab’s profession of faith, “for the Lord your God is he who is God in Heaven above and earth beneath” clearly tells of her understanding of what was about to happen, and her desire to align with God himself and his people. This faith in the one true God and a willingness to be on “God’s side” is that which earns Rahab a place in the distinguished lineage of Jesus, and not as Ms. Lundblad taught, her indiscriminate love of all life and condemnation of any war. Hebrews 11:30-31 confirms that it was Rahab’s faith: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” But Ms. Lundblad does not see Rahab’s statement as a statement of faith or an indication that Rahab had believed the reports that had come to her and the people of Jericho. Instead, Lundblad plants the idea that God had spoken independently to Rehab and the people of Jericho. Lundblad asks, “How did she know this? Or could it be that the God of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar had also spoken to Rahab? Could God have been places we have never visited?” Ms. Lundblad interpreted this entire passage to fit her agenda. Take Ms. Lundblad’s version of the second verse of Joshua 2, “they came into the house and lay there.” At this, she raised her eyebrows looking out over the whole audience and made quite a point of the spies lying with Rahab. Laughter went up from many of the women as she titillated the audience with the possibility of the men with the prostitute. She teasingly asks had the king himself been to the house of the prostitute. Again, women laughed at the carnal possibilities. Never mind that most translations say the spies “lodged there” and that verse 8 tells us that “before they lay down” she came to them on the roof of her house where she had hidden them. After professing her faith in the one true God and asking them to save her and her family, she lets them down by a rope in the window. It is true that the verb used here is the Hebrew word shakab. The verb means to lie down, lodge, ravish, take rest, sleep, stay. The Hebrew verb would allow Ms. Lundblad’s steamy, lured interpretation, but it is not one found in most translations and does not fit given the context of the entire passage. But this is not surprising. When approaching this story, Ms. Lundblad applies her own standard, what she called “the courage to lie.” She encouraged the women to lie to advance their agenda in the tradition of Rahab lying to the king to save the lives of the spies. She went on to add the examples in Exodus 2 of Shiphrah and Puah lying to the King of Egypt to save the lives of the Hebrew children. She spoke of those who told lies told to save slaves on the underground railroad, and finally of those who lied to the Gestapo to save the lives of Jews in WWII. She proclaimed, “Sometimes it is necessary to bear false witness to save our neighbor.” Of course, in the examples she gave, we see that the greater good, not to mention the purposes of God, being served by women and men who lied in situations that saved lives in the face of real evil. The examples she gives should not be confused or equated to lying in general or twisting the scripture for the sake of advancing one’s political agenda. This is quite another matter. The commandment that we should not bear false witness still stands, and, the New Testament reiterates, "Lie not to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self…." One might question Ms. Lundblad's perception of “evil.” She states the conflict in both ancient and modern time as one between “insiders and outsiders." She conveys that it is only a matter of perspective whether one is in or out. This only serves to confuse the real issues, for all of us have been on the inside and outside at various times in various situations. This is particularly true of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Did God take sides between the people of Jericho and the Hebrew people? It would seem Ms. Lundblad would say "no." The Bible simply does not support this conclusion. Evidently, she had not read, or chose to ignore, Deuteronomy 20 where God had given very specific instructions about just how the Israelites were to take the land He had promised them. Sometimes they were to kill everyone and destroy everything. At other times they were not to destroy everything. God knew which tribes would present the temptations of other gods and which could coexist with them. God is clear all through the Bible where He stands. The question becomes, where do we stand? Larger issues are raised by her talk; issues of just war, Christian response to unsolicited attack on innocent life, and more. United Methodist Women would be well served if they were to ask the same questions as Ms. Lundblad. “Who is who?” Who is Barbara Lundblad? Are United Methodist women aware that Ms. Lundblad was also a speaker at the 1993 and 1998 Re-Iimagining conferences, where she voiced support for the acceptance of homosexual practice and was an advocate for radical feminist theology. “Which is which?” What is Ms. Lundblad’s agenda? While voicing thoughts about war and conquest, she also cast aspersions upon the establishment of several of the nations of the world. Barbara Lundblad's presentation would cause one to question her sense of nationalism, and particularly so when she sang her new song, "God Bless the World" to the tune of "God Bless America."
God bless the world we love! While we are aware that we are world citizens, it is a good thing to be thankful citizens of the United States, a country to which millions have fled for refuge and opportunity. Barbara Lundblad focused the conclusion of her message back upon the subversive nature of Rahab's actions, and those of other women who have "conspired" to "erase those boundaries between 'insider' and outsider.'" However, no focus was placed upon the position of "insider" and "outsider" as defined by God, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Should not our primary goal be to break down the dividing wall between God and humankind so that we are not outside, nor living in the wall, as was Rahab, but inside the place where God's grace is found for all--in Jesus Christ. Rev. Barbara Lundblad's failure to articulate this understanding may be the essential element of truth-telling missing from her presentations. |
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