The Uppity Laity

"No Accountability" cartoon by nakedpastor David Hayward

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After reading the frankly authoritarian Who's In Charge of the Christian Blogosphere?, it's been occupying my mind a lot lately. Basically, the frustration and zealous concern is that social media has made it possible for anybody to say anything. Even lay people, with no formal theological education, no ministry training, no official credentials from any denomination, and no accountability to anyone, can go online with an opinion. Including women! The solution I guess is to rein you all in somehow and get you educated, trained, and accountable, and then maybe we can talk about the possibility of perhaps you forming an opinion and then perchance in the unforeseeable future you might be able to teach it to someone. Starting with kids. I think of the Bible that is rife with stories about bucking authority and thinking and saying things without permission. Some might argue Jesus did have training and education, etc., but if he did it was outside the proper channels. The roots of Christianity I would dare say are anti-establishment. This certainly isn't how it ended up, but those are the roots. I'm not against education. I have one. I'm not against ministry training. I took it. I'm not against credentials. I held them. I'm not against being accountable. I tried it. But it's another thing to use these to assume power over others rather than serve them. You know, Paul had all those things but he considered them as dung. Because they did nothing to reveal the truth or help him love. In fact, they turned him into a zealot who persecuted those who did not submit to his authority and the establishment he represented. How did we come to this? Well, history repeats itself. The revolutionaries who overthrow the establishment eventually become the establishment themselves.