a prophetic people project

Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants 162:1a

I've been dreaming about a constructive project for years. It's a constructive theology project that can move Community of Christ into its future.

Constructive theology doesn't happen out of thin air. It emerges out of a faith tradition. It concerns both word (theology) and practice. Constructive theology happens on the edges of institution and tradition. These are the boundaries at which faith and the world meet. Creative work needs a safe place to explore faith and prophetic imagination in its context. That is what constructive theology does. Here's the context: In the US, we live in volatile, rapidly changing, and traumatic times. I mean the changes and volitility are political, economic, technological and cultural. The practices, systems, and technologies that make late modern life possible in the US are changing significantly within generations. Society and its institutions are being reformed dramatically in the process. Identity, social connection, spirituality and human behavior are all changing in the wake of it.

What does this have to do with becoming a prophetic people? Everything.

What it means to be prophetic is contextual first. The word prophetic comes from the Greek word prophētēs, meaning "one who speaks for God." Speaking, communicating, and listening always occur in a context. Communication is always already contextual in some way. It occurs between individuals, groups, and institutions that exist in history, society, and culture. Communication occurs over space and time, therefore, requires space and time.

Biblically, prophets didn't mumble or monologue to themselves. Scripture testifies that God speaks into the world. God speaks to and through people, Israel, and nations. Prophets play a particular role in this communication between God and creation. In Community of Christ, this communication between God and faith community continues in real-time in a particular way.

Community of Christ isn't the only faith tradition that believes God is still speaking. But, our faith tradition has a particular way that the role of prophet and canonization of scripture work. This practice of revelation and common consent in our tradition is fairly well established and understood within the church. But, what it means to be not only a people with a prophet, but a prophetic people is still taking shape.

What it means to become a prophetic people is still forming. Historically, the term "prophetic people" emerged in the wider consciousness of the church in 2004 in Section 162 of the Doctrine and Covenants.* It shows up in scripture just four years after "Community of Christ" accepted its new name. The timing alone suggests that the name "Community of Christ" and "prophetic people" are interconnected. To be more specific, the two phrases are co-constitutive terms. One point to, and helps clarify, the other. Theologically, this makes clear sense.

Jesus was a messiah, mystic, revolutionary, rabbi, and a prophet. He was all these things. As the Gospel story tells, the mission of Jesus Christ was clearly prophetic. Jesus was a disciple of the prophet John the Baptist. Jesus, himself, Jesus picks up this prophetic mantle and proclaims John's prophetic message himself: repent.

Why repent? One way or another, in each of the four gospels, the reason for this prophetic proclamation is simple: the reign of God draws near. This isn't a narrow religious apocalyptic statement. The reign of God for Jesus and his time was political, economic, religious, and personal. "The reign of God is near" is an incredible, disruptive message. Israel has long been oppressed, occupied, and corrupted under the reign of Rome and its empire. In such a setting, Jesus message is prophetic. God has not abandoned Israel. In fact, God's reign is near in Jesus. This is the mystic, revolutionary, and messiah part of Jesus ministry. What it means to live "on earth as it is in heaven" is revealed in Jesus' life, teachings, death, and new life.

The faith part of all this for us is that the reign of God inaugurated in and through Jesus persists in and through the world today. So, what does this mean for a prophetic people in the US that claim this message today? That's the project.

I want to focus open a constructive space to experiment, discuss, and try on what being a prophetic people in Community of Christ in the US means in faith and practice. In many ways, it's already begun. What needs focus is what this means for Community of Christ in the US.

The US is in volatile, rapidly changing, and traumatic times. For some, this isn't new. Economic practices of work, consumption, wealth-making, and exploitation are morphing and expanding. Social systems of law enforcement, education, healthcare, and military service are being reformed in real-time by rapid-change technologies that distance human beings and connection at the same time, it multiplies them.

The rise of authoritarianism isn't new to global politics. It is also not new to the US. Native peoples, African Americans, immigrants, and the LGBTIQA+ community have experienced the religious, economic, and cultural faces of its violence for centuries. The faces of authoritarianism are white supremacy, homophobic religion, exclusionary economics, discriminatory laws and oppressive law enforcement, as well as their underlying complicit liberalism. The opening commentary to Section 164 of Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants clarifies what being a prophetic people means now.

"Being a divinely led prophetic people involves—as a necessity—reevaluating at times some existing understandings and customs to allow added insight and interpretation under the Spirit’s guidance."

This is precisely what constructive theology and practice do. They are inspired by the faith that authors the tradition itself. With them, prophetic people reevaluate the theology and practice of their tradition around the edges where faith and world meet. We find, make, and cherish safe(ish) spaces to explore spiritual practices, social action, and prophetic imagination that reveal what God is always already doing.

If this is what becoming a prophetic people in Community of Christ means, this is what we are supposed to do. So, what's next? I'm working on it.

*For those unfamiliar, the Doctrine and Covenants is a book of scripture in Community of Christ. To learn more about Community of Christ's view of scripture, click here. Community of Christ tradition holds that God still speaks today. As a faith community, we practice this belief and discern God's voice together.