A Time of Response

King Josiah responding to the idolatry in his nation.

Over the last several weeks, we've been on a journey of exploring the way our culture idolizes certain points of view, or human constructs. In this final teaching in the series, Leah returns to the Hebrew Bible to consider how King Josiah responded when he recognized that his culture had grieved the heart of God through its idolatry. This teaching led into a time of creative response in which each participant was invited to creatively express one of the idols that they have participated in.

If you missed this Sunday and would still like to participate in this exercise, consider printing and artistically interacting with any of these images below that you find provocative, or draw your own, and write a sentence or two about how you have directly participated in that idol. Following that exercise, be thinking and praying about how you might embody something different to turn from the idol in the future. If you are coming to the Haven Retreat, bring your "idol" with you and we will symbolically destroy them together.

Review Leah's notes here or listen to the teaching below.

Idol images: Androcentrism 1 and 2, Heteronormativity 1 and 2, Whiteness 1 and 2, Evangelicalism 1 and 2, Nationalism 1 and 2, and Capitalism 1 and 2.

The Idol of Capitalism

Is Jesus a capitalist? How well does his economic vision match the economic vision of capitalism? And if they don’t align, what might any of us do about it? These are some of the questions Leah explores with the final “idol” of this teaching series.

Listen to the teaching below or read Leah’s notes here.

The Idol of Nationalism

Image Credit: AK Rockefeller

How are followers of Jesus supposed to think about our relationship to the state? What is its connection to the life of faith? Particularly for us in the United States, a nation that has often drawn on Judeo-Christian imagery in its civic life, but also codified some separation between church and state, the question can feel murky. So what do we know about how Jesus thought about our commitment to our country? These are some of the questions Leah explores in this next teaching in the “Smashing Idols” series.

Listen to Leah’s teaching below or review her notes here.

The Idol of Evangelicalism

Throughout this series, we've been considering the way that we create idols today: not through carvings and statues, but through human constructs, or ways of viewing the world. If this can be true for constructs such as androcentrism, heteronormativity, and whiteness, then it also can be true for our faith frameworks, as well. In this deeply personal teaching, Leah considers the framework her faith was formed in, evangelicalism, doing the hard work of looking at both the beautiful and ugly parts of her faith-family-of-origin's history. In doing so, she considers questions all of us, from any background, may find relevant: What happens when we find ourselves at odds with the folks we have known as family? How do we follow Jesus in that place?

Look at Leah's notes here or listen to the teaching below.

The Idol of Whiteness

One of the images from Leah's youth that she shares at the beginning of the teaching (that’s Leah in the wedding dress). Picture from “Into the Woods”, San Diego Junior Theatre, circa 1993.

What does it mean to be white? What does it mean that white people have such a hard time engaging conversations about race? And how can we, as a faith community, create safe spaces for a diverse group of people, if we aren't willing to acknowledge the ways that our socialization into Whiteness distorts the way all of us see reality, see one another, and see God? These are the tough questions Leah engages personally and invites Haven into collectively as we consider the "Idol of Whiteness".

Listen to the teaching below or read Leah's notes here.

The Idol of Heteronormativity

In this teaching, Leah examines human sexuality and the distinct categories that it includes: biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation. She begins by exploring the lens cultures, as well as faith communities, have often viewed these aspects of sexuality through: heteronormativity. Do these traditional ways of viewing sexuality in the church and the broader culture match the complexity of these topics? If not, how might our faith actually inform a change in perspective?

Listen to the teaching below or read Leah's notes here.

The Idol Behind Patriarchy

While presumably most folks attending a church pastored by a woman are not interested in upholding patriarchy (the oppression of women as a group), are we aware of what lies behind this ancient system of oppression? In this teaching, Leah explores how the way our cultures have historically thought about masculine and feminine, feeds patriarchy and shapes our understanding of many facets of reality, including God.

Listen to the teaching below or download the notes here.

Smashing Idols: An Introduction

Leah kicks off our new late spring and summer series by considering how the way we view the world, and privilege certain points of view over others, might keep us from experience authentic connection with God. In this introductory teaching, she explores how our frames and lenses for viewing the world may be understood as "idols", and what we might learn about the insidious power of idolatry by looking back at our ancient ancestors of faith.

You can listen to the the teaching below, or review her notes here. Want to take the learning further? Check out the post on our “Beyond Sunday” blog for additional reflection.

Healing is Different than Cure

Public domain.

In this teaching, Leah explores questions about healing, sharing a framework that defines healing as broader then cure. She asks questions around how this understanding might help the church do better when ministering to persons with illness or disability, and looks at the story of Jesus healing a person with leprosy. Also, our own Connie Barker shares her vulnerability story about the intersection of being queer, female, and living with a disability. (If you just want to hear Connie's story, listen beginning at minute 35.)

Listen to the teaching below or review Leah’s notes here.