c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) I would like to think the Christian movement could have a noble and life-transforming future.

Not a continuation of the holy wars that have made Christian triumphalism an ugly face of God. Not a globalization of cultural angst over trivial issues, such as sexuality, which have made Christians seem a small circle of closed minds. Not another round of anti-intellectual bullying in the supposed name of Scripture or dogma. Not another millennium of faith-as-institution, in which power, rules and festivals are the stale bread we give hungry people.

No, I mean noble, as in revealing the amazing grace of a God who died for all, not for the favored few, and of a Savior whose challenge to self-serving religion got him killed.

I mean life-transforming, as in enabling people to win their personal battles against pride, fear, greed and warfare, thereby enabling our communities to be paragons of justice and kindness, not battlegrounds for class war and violence.

Jesus didn’t die and rise again so that ambitious hierarchs could form an institution or burn books. He didn’t die so an institution could stifle science, make common cause with worldly rulers, wage wars against other faiths, or subject God’s beloved children to right-opinion.

Jesus died to give life and was raised to give hope. It is time that we Christians put aside our tragic history and embraced our founding moment.

That first Easter Day was about confusion, compassion and compliance. When we turn it into a victory dance, we drain its power.

A group of women went to anoint the body of Jesus. They found his tomb empty and were confused. They told the other disciples, and they, too, were confused. Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb, met the risen Lord, and was confused by his appearance.

Even when they began to grasp the meaning of Easter, the disciples remained in that holy confusion that allows God to be God.

We need more of that confusion. Christianity has been plagued by false certainties, by a prideful conviction that we humans can discern definitively the mind of God and then _ with no need for nuance or reconsideration _ impose our opinions on others. The faith that changed human history began in confusion, not in unquestioned certainties.

When the risen Christ saw Mary Magdalene’s grief, he called her name and sought to reassure her. His compassion cast out her fear and despair.

That compassion was a continuation of the way Jesus lived. When his disciples asked for rules and preference, he taught them about compassion. When they wanted to smite their enemies, he taught them about compassion. When fearful beings did their worst in order to still his disruptive voice, he showed compassion.

Our history of violence in the name of God is a tragic perversion of Easter compassion. Rather than cast out fear, we have used fear as a weapon. We need to hear our own story.

Finally, when Mary tried to touch Jesus, to prolong whatever relationship they had, Jesus said, no, don’t hold on to me, but go and tell others what you have seen. Mary complied, and in her compliance, the Christian movement was born.

We have been far too insistent on prolonging old ways, fitting God into our preferences, and demanding the very benefits that Jesus denied to his disciples _ namely, power, wealth, preference and a right to rule.

Charles Sabatos, who received his doctorate in comparative literature at the University of Michigan in December 2005, is teaching at Oberlin this year. Of participating in the joint program, he said, “It has been a stimulating and rewarding experience to work with such an intellectually curious and motivated group of students.

Rather than turn one more Easter into a victory dance for the institution we have created, we should walk with the disciples into confusion, compassion and compliance.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest in Durham, N.C. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)

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KRE/LF END EHRICH