Question & Answer

 
Q: Via a Chinese server at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant
 
Would you like the menu for Chinese people?
 
A: By Rev. David M. Felten

 
At first, this question may not seem to have any bearing on theology or spirituality – but bear with me. I think it’s a great metaphor for one of the biggest challenges facing Progressive Christianity.

Not long ago, I was travelling and stopped in at a neighborhood Chinese Food restaurant in Las Vegas. It was out-of-the-way and quiet. As the server handed me the menu, I asked, “What do you do well here? What would you recommend?” He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

“Recommend this?!”, pointing at the menu. “I don’t like any of this. I’m from China – and as a Chinese person, I can’t stand any of this Americanized Chinese food: Kung Pao Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken…(he shudders).”

“Wow,” I said. “Thanks for your honesty. Can you tell me what you’d recommend out of this food that you can’t stand? Anything here close to what you’d really get in China?”

“No, no, no…” he trailed off. Then his face lit up with an idea, “Would you like the menu for Chinese people?”

I said, “There’s a separate menu for Chinese people?”

A few moments later he returned with a different colored menu emblazoned with Chinese characters. When I opened it, the selections were in Chinese with brief English translations. Among the entrees, I couldn’t find one thing that was the same as the “American” Chinese food menu. I asked again, “Anything you’d recommend from this menu?”

My server proceeded to gleefully describe his favorite dishes – one of them “just like they make in Shanghai.” His recommendations were amazing. Who knew that sautéed pickles with string beans and garlic could be so delicious?

As I was enjoying my Shanghai dumplings, it dawned on me: this whole “secret-menu-for-the-in-crowd” is exactly what goes on in many of our churches. Most of our “customers” are perfectly happy with the dumbed-down, sugared-up “American” Christianity that is on the menu at most of our conventional churches. They have no idea that there’s a completely separate menu for those who are looking for something more authentic and true to its origins.

Isn’t that what we’re trying to do by exposing people to the study of the Historical Jesus? When we engage in studying history and the critical study of the Bible, we’re trying to get back to what following Jesus looked like before the creeds sent Christianity off into a theologically high-fructose, MSG-laced coma. It might taste good in the moment, but it’s not authentic. Plus (stretching the Chinese Food metaphor to the breaking point), you may feel full when you leave the restaurant but are left feeling empty soon afterwards.

Anyone who’s eaten with me knows I’m not an insufferable foodie. But I do like to try new things, especially if it connects me with a broader appreciation for cultural differences and the varieties of the human experience. But if you’re like me, you’ve been called an arrogant elitist (and worse!) for simply trying to expose people to the reality that there’s “another menu.” Preferring their familiar sugar-laden Orange Chicken to anything more authentic, they don’t even want to know there’s an alternative menu. But for me, once you know there’s a whole new world of theological flavors and cultural insights available just for the asking, there’s no going back.

So, get out there pastors, preachers, and layfolk! If you’re at a church that is stuck clinging to the saccharine “Americanized” theological menu, start putting together an alternative menu. Start with some simple appetizers (that Genesis has two creation stories written by different authors at different times that were never meant to be sequential) and work your way up to the more sophisticated entrees (questioning the physical resurrection, opposing substitutionary atonement, etc.).

Ask people the theological equivalent of, “Would you like the menu for Chinese people?” and start walking them through the options. Remind them that this is a menu of choices, not the ultimate determination of one’s eternal salvation. They can stick with the familiar and remain blissfully content with their “Americanized” Christianity OR they can be liberated to begin a theological adventure that will expand their horizons and deepen their experience of the Divine.

So, “Would you like the menu for Chinese people?” Open up a new world of honesty, authenticity, and an appreciation for the variety of the human theological experience.
 
~ Rev. David M. Felten

This Q&A was originally published on Progressing Spirit – As a member of this online community, you’ll receive insightful weekly essays, access to all of the essay archives (including all of Bishop John Shelby Spong), and answers to your questions in our free weekly Q&A. Click here to see free sample essays.
 
About the Author
Rev. David M. Felten is a full-time pastor at The Fountains, a United Methodist Church in Fountain Hills, Arizona. David and fellow United Methodist Pastor, Jeff Procter-Murphy, are the creators of the DVD-based discussion series for Progressive Christians, “Living the Questions”.

A co-founder of the Arizona Foundation for Contemporary Theology and also a founding member of No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice, David is an outspoken voice for LGBTQ rights both in the church and in the community at large. David is active in the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church and tries to stay connected to his roots as a musician. You’ll find him playing saxophones in a variety of settings, including appearances with the Fountain Hills Saxophone Quartet.

David and his wife Laura, an administrator for a large Arizona public school district, live in Phoenix with their three often adorable children.