From the editor A

s a member of the Mennonite Brethren community, a few things are essential to living out our faith. Firstly, we must prioritize our relationship with God above all else. This means praying, reading the Bible, and seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our lives.

Secondly, we must prioritize our relationships with others. This includes our family, friends, fellow believers, and those outside of our community. We are called to love our neighbours as ourselves, which means intentionally building relationships with those around us.

Finally, we must prioritize our commitment to living out our faith in practical ways. This means serving others, seeking justice and peace, and being good stewards of the resources God has given us.

As Mennonite Brethren, we have a rich heritage of faith and practice that can help guide us in living out these priorities. However, we must also be willing to adapt and change as needed to effectively share the love and grace of Jesus with those around us.

Let us commit ourselves to these priorities, and may God use us to be a light in the world around us.

Wait! The above was “written” by an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. With a simple prompt, “Write an editorial for a Mennonite Brethren magazine,” a bot spit out five complete paragraphs that tie together and tell a story (of sorts). It was almost inspiring and challenging, even if it didn’t present anything new to chew on.

AI is a convenient tool, but where is its heart and soul? Let’s hope we never find out.

This little exercise teaches me that one must actively participate in gospel witness, pouring one’s whole self into the challenge and call of Christ. It’s too easy to phone it in: I’ve done it from the platform while leading worship on numerous occasions.

Do we shy away from doing hard things? Afraid of asking difficult questions and engaging in tough decisions? You may have noticed that MB Herald Digest has been digging deeper into theological subject matter that we may have ignored in years past. It’s about time we do so. It’s our responsibility. The following articles continue in that direction. Please read carefully and with discernment. How do these words sit with you? What can you add to the conversations?

To borrow from my AI friend...Let us commit ourselves to these priorities, and may God use us to be a light in the world around us.

With respect,

Carson

CARSON SAMSON Communications director

We sent Brian Cooper some of the comments we received about his article “All in the Family?” and he kindly gave us responses. We’re happy to share them with you.

L FROM THE MB HERALD WEBSITE: I appreciate your call to not “anathematize those who differ.” I’m curious, would you consider your affirming Anglican Church of Canada friends [I mentioned them in an earlier response] to be false teachers?

BC: Insofar as any of my Christian friends might teach what I am convinced is theologically false, I suppose I would have to confess that they are false teachers, by definition. It is not an appellation I would throw about casually. It is, however, something that is a necessary corollary of truth. If there is such a thing as truth, then there have to be some things that are false. Or else nothing is true. It also does not necessarily mean the end of the friendship. But it would affect our ability to have Christian fellowship.

G FROM FACEBOOK:

My daughter is part of the LGBTQ+ community, she is also Mennonite. She loves Jesus with all her heart and walks as close to him as you or I. Jesus would call her his sister according to Matthew 3, yet you are throwing her out of the church.

Jesus calls us to love and not to judge; the MB church seems to have that backwards. The fact is Jesus called us to love one another and never said a thing about LGBTQ+.

BC: I don’t know your daughter, so I cannot speak to her level of commitment to Jesus. But here is what I do know about discipleship according to Jesus’ own words. Jesus’ call to follow him necessitates a total commitment to Jesus’ lordship. This means absolute allegiance – absolute obedience -- ahead of loyalty to parents, siblings, or one’s own interests or feelings (Matthew 10:37-38).

Luke 14:26-27 puts matters slightly differently to make the point. Luke uses comparative language to indicate the radical nature of the commitment to Jesus. Compared to the commitment to Christ, relationships to others (even oneself) seem like hatred.

This means that everything is negotiable in light of the call to follow Jesus. One’s career, family, sexuality – everything. Coupled with the way Jesus affirmed the sexual ethics in the Torah, it is easy to understand what is required.

Of course, no one meets this standard. We are all in need of God’s grace. But that does not mean that the ethics of discipleship are optional in any area, for anyone.

I am not sure who is throwing your daughter, or any other LGBTQ+ person, out of the church. The invitation to participate in the life of the community remains. The demands of covenanting into the body in membership are an obstacle for some, for different reasons. Each person has issues to surrender in order to follow fully. Sexuality is just one kind of issue.

To hold a high standard for membership is a reflection of Jesus’ high call to discipleship. To discern that some are not prepared to commit is not judgment. Rather, it is discernment. Judgment condemns and makes decisions that are for God alone to make. Discernment differentiates in a way that Christians are called to do, in not only self-evaluation but also in mutual exhortation. It is sometimes hard, but it is necessary.

D FROM FACEBOOK: I’ve done the theological work here, and so did my late husband, and others in our community, and I continue to “do theology.” To be judged on “faithfulness” if we disagree simply closes the conversational door.

BC: Christians are called to discern, together, the implications of Christian faith for words, thoughts, and actions. This is what I mean when I talk about doing theology. At times, we are going to disagree about certain things. That should not surprise us.

Christians living in community are called to rigorous self-examination intended to help us remain faithfully committed to the life, teaching, and example of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be in the faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:5-6). We are also called to lovingly examine one another for the same purpose, assuredly because we know we cannot rely completely on our own self-assessments.

Paul spoke with great candour about others, and sometimes, rather than calling people back to faithfulness, he advised believers to allow some people to experience the consequences of their faithlessness. He mentioned the immoral brother who he commanded to be expelled in 1 Corinthians 5. He also mentioned unrepentant people in 2 Corinthians 12:21, going on to advise in 13:2 that he would not spare them.

But Paul is not talking about condemning people to eternal punishment. 1 Corinthians 5:5, talking about the immoral brother to be expelled (v. 13), talks about what expulsion actually entails. The Corinthian believers are called to “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”

Even measures seen as harsh, judgmental, or exclusionary are intended to be redemptive. Allowing a beloved person to experience the consequences of personal decisions is a loving act when it is accompanied by an open invitation to turn away from sinful behaviour and return to fellowship.

But people who turn away need to want to return. And, sadly, sometimes conversations that can facilitate a return to fellowship cannot happen. In such situations, we simply commend people into the care of our loving heavenly Father.