World Citizen Practice: Victory Tabernacle

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Oct 29th, 2009

I attended a very fascinating service at Victory Christian Church in Middlefield this last Sunday. I've always seen this church when driving by it on route 66 and have been curious as to what it's all about. I first checked the website and discovered that it seems a bit fundamentalist in orientation with their statement of beliefs. But as part of my World Citizen Practice every month, half of my fellowship is intended to take me outside my comfort zone and home base at my Buddhist sangha. 

Another reason I am more open to explore what was once considered incompatible with my spiritual orientation is the gradual realization that in going beyond surfaces, things aren't always as they appear. Even though I may attend a Buddhist sangha that is guided by the teachings of spiritual leaders such as Teitetsu Unno, Shinran Shonin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodrin, The Dalai Lama, Ekhart Tolle and even the historical Buddha himself, not everyone will agree as to what the implications of where these teachings should lead. There are Buddhists who voted for Barack Obama just as there are Buddhists who voted for John McCain. 

There are Buddhists who favor Fox News and there are Buddhists who favor CNN. And even though one of our highest aspirations is to become "food and drink during time of famine, to give assistance to the helpless and the poor," what if the poor people being assisted are illegal immigrants? It may not sit well with Buddhists who are anti-immigrant and support measures of shutting down the border between the U.S. and Mexico to keep them out. The point I am getting at here is the moral cohesion and certainty is blurry everywhere you look and this includes Eastern and Western centers of fellowship. 

Even though a Christian church may appear to have fundamentalist and dogmatic leadership, there are always members within their midst who are more liberal in their thinking. They may not rock the boat and they may not speak their mind in the presence of more conservative leaders and fellows, but they are nonetheless there and think outside the box. There may even be some members who are non believers or will later become non believers. This is just a natural course of being human and how there is often a constant shift in orientation that contradicts one side of a duality that was once deemed the standard. We hear examples of this from both sides too. 

There have been instances where rock hard atheists had conversion experiences, devoted their life to Christ and became "born again." There are also instances of steadfast missionaries who had conversion experiences that lead them to atheism. And as a rule of thumb, there is a piece of yin within yang and yang within yin. Some who may appear to be oriented on one side of the duality may display characteristics that would orient them to the other side and vice versa. 

Learning to live with this reality has been an exercise in tolerance and going deeper than the appearance of surfaces. I used to believe that those who displayed such hypocrisy were corrupt and potentially untrustworthy. What I have gradually discovered though is that these contradictions of the duality exist even within myself. I come from a family split down the middle between the atheist and theist orientations. Even if I favor the atheist orientation, it is entirely possible I may have offspring that adopt a Western theism just as my Christian grandfather gave rise to pagan children who followed a guru and favored an Eastern spirituality.


Before he died, I became one of the most loyal and trusted helpers of my grandfather, helping him go shopping, run errands and even go on trips across country with him. In helping him, I not only became an indirect supporter in the fundamentalist ministries he donated money to or bought books from, (Jessie Duplantis, Kenneth Hagin, John Hagee, Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn to name a few) I also became an indirect supporter in the election and reelection of a politician (George W. Bush) whose legacy as one of the most misguided presidents in U.S. history is being hotly debated by people around the world. Even though I didn’t approve of everything my grandfather did, I still loved the guy dearly and saw the good within him. 


The choice at hand is not how we can make war on our opposite or our hypocritical selves, but about how we can accept, integrate and create something new with the other side so as to potentially make peace with them.

In my forays into Christian fundamentalist churches, I have had to fight back fears that it will lead me into a direct confrontation with their dark side. But there is also the possibility that their side might open up to its opposite. Rather than seek a continuation of warfare, perhaps they might see the potential for wholeness where East and West unite and create lasting peace together. 

When I first arrived at Victory, the members that greeted me were friendly and outgoing. They took a genuine interest in knowing who I was and finding out why I was there. But as the sermon started, I saw some red flags go up inside my mind. The minister (Pastor Pete) began with an offhanded comment about hippies. (both my parents were hippies and I have hippy friends) Then he performed a prophetic pronouncement over a young kid in the audience, declaring that he would become a great business man and leader for the Lord. Not my kind of thing but I took it in strides and was open enough to stay, pushing the limits of what I was used to. 

Then there was the worship provided by Victory's very own rock band. People would move to the front, raising their hands towards heaven and shouting glory to their God. Afterwards the pastor told us that the purpose of praise and worship is, "to give God the glory. To let him know that you appreciate him, to express your love. I mean what can we give the Lord physically? well we can't, he owns everything. But we can give him our heart. and so we can bless him as we let him know that we love him and appreciate him."

Pastor Pete then began his sermon which was Part III of Understanding the Biblical Church. Here is a excerpt of part of the sermon I found the most compelling and took down after listening to the recording:  

"What is the local church and why is it so strategic? The local church is critical because it is the place I submit myself and my family to spiritual oversight and accountable living. If you're a parent this morning you want your children to listen to you and submit themselves into your parental leadership for their lives. Well guess what? In a pastoral sense it's the same thing. It doesn't matter how old chronologically someone is. When they come to Christ, they are an infant. That was one of Paul's issues with Timothy. 

When you read second Timothy chapter one, he says two things to Timothy. He says first of all, you need to stir up the gifts of God that are in you. The implication being, because if you don't, no one else will. You gotta stir it up. Second thing he says in verse 7, for God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and love and of sound mind. Why was he saying both of those things? Because Timothy was being harassed and beaten down and intimidated by people older than him. They were trying to leverage their age over Timothy and harass him into submission and here he is the pastor. Whether they were doing it intentionally or not is not clear in the scripture but the effect on Timothy's life was that he was shying away from his call because he was being intimidated, looking at peoples age and position. 

I remember that happening to me years and years ago early in the ministry. There were people two in a half times my age and they had to listen to me. I was always taught, you respect your elders. Mr. So and So, Ms. So and So, Mrs. So and So. Yes, ma'am, yes sir! And now God puts me in this place where I'm teaching people two in a half times my age. I tell you what, I always held that with great respect. Even though I could preach and administer to them in the Lord, and had the anointing to impart to them, I always respected them for the position they had in mind. 

But Timothy was loosing a handle on this. So, let's go again, let's look at number three and lets look at the scripture. This is what the writer of Hebrew said regarding this issue. He said, obey those who have, (to paraphrase a little bit) the spiritual rule over you, the spiritual leadership in your life, and simply learn to listen. Why? For your spiritual leaders watch out for you and those who are, must give an account for their leadership. Let them do so, let them do their job with joy and not grief. For, if they had to do it with grief, it would be unprofitable for you. 

Let's dissect a couple words. First is the word submission. What he means by that word is to yield under. So when you are being submissive, it doesn't mean you don't have a brain, it means you are choosing to yield under someone else's anointing and spiritual authority. I'll tell you what, you will never be a good leader unless you learn how to be a good follower. You will never be given your own thing unless you can be faithful to that which is called another. Who said that? Oh yeah, Jesus did in Luke 16. If you can't serve someone else's vision, you'll never be given your own. Oh, you'll get a vision but it will be a pipe dream. Understand? You'll never make a great leader unless you're a great follower. It just starts in the trenches."

What was interesting to me at this point was the use of the word "trenches" which wasn't the first time I heard this word used in the service. It evoked imagery of warfare for me and even the church name, "Victory" could refer to a game, or a battle. 

Pastor Pete's service continued...

 "I'll tell you what, this spirit of submission, here's the difference. Someone can obey on the outside, you can only submit on the inside. Jesus was submissive to the will of his father even unto the death at the cross. He submitted here because when his flesh was tempted in the garden of Gethsemane, he wanted that cup to pass from him, he took it back and said nevertheless, not my will father but yours be done. You can only submit in here."

 This was the part of the sermon that made me a bit uncomfortable. One of the many criticisms lobbed at Christianity from atheists is the story of Christ submitting to his divine Father who wants him to be executed as a sacrifice. One of the other stories that this evokes in the Old Testament is the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham thinks he hears God telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac, who obediently allows his dad to bind and prepare to have him stabbed with a knife. 

If the New Testament was supposed to be the new revelation of God, why does Christ so obediently submit to his father's will of sacrificing himself? What kind of father would send off his own son to be sacrificed even if we are told that it was for reasons of cosmic importance? Did not Abraham believe that his son being sacrificed was of cosmic importance to his God? 

It could be said that there are thousands of fathers today in this nation who have not resisted their sons being sent to be sacrificed on the battle field of Iraq and Afghanistan and we are conversely told by our leaders that the shedding of their innocent blood is the necessary ingredient for the salvation of our nation's freedom. If this is mirroring the New Testament story, how much has really changed since the Old Testament? In the New Testament, God allows the son to be sacrificed and in the Old Testament, he stops it from happening. Is this an instance of the yin being within the yang and vice versa? The Old Testament is usually known for its childish depiction of God where as the New Testament is supposed to show a wiser, more loving and evolved God who acts more like an adult. 

Pastor Pete continued...

"You can make people obey and comply on the outside but you can only submit on the inside.The reality of inside is the essence of the New Testament. And the Old Testament, what was it about? Outward sacrifices, keeping all the laws, keeping all the customs, showing up in Jerusalem for the feast. And in the New Testament, Jesus said, and now I say, you've heard it said that basically it's wrong for a person to commit adultery, that guy should be stoned, but I say to you, if a man lusts after a woman in his own heart, I consider that he has already committed adultery with her. 

What was the issue? The message was this, whatever was externally based and judged in the Old Testament, everything now is internal. everything is internally evaluated judged and assessed. Why? Because now we have the Holy Spirit in us. He dwells in us. In the Old Testament he dwells among us. So in other words, you can't have a new and better covenant without taking the responsibilities that come with it, which is, let me change you from the inside out instead of just making you a bunch of people that keep outward observances of feast and holidays and festivals. I want to change you from the inside so that you actually want to do it. So this is what it comes down to. Let us do our job with joy."

 This part of the sermon I really liked and it sent the wheels inside my head spinning. It also reminded me of the banner hanging on the wall near the church sanctuary's entrance. (pictured above) On it was the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet and symbolically, it is representative of God as the first and last revelation ending with the return of Jesus Christ to Earth. The way the Greek letters were merged together on the banner made me realize that this is the Christian version of the Yin and Yang symbol. And in Pastor Pete's assessment of the Old and New Testament, made me think about the masculine and feminine relationship as they relate to the nature of matter and spirit. 

The journey we take in life begins with the masculine side, (the material). We are preoccupied with our appearances and the superficial surfaces that surround us. We may follow rules and the crowd, not because we feel compelled from the inside, but because of what we fear from the outside. The same thing can be said about children just beginning to understand how the material world works. They don't jump off of tall buildings because they don't want to, but because they fear the consequences. Later in life our compulsions to pull off dangerous stunts that threaten to punish us by the material laws of gravity are diminished and a new will comes into place from the inside, compelling us to live in accordance with the laws of gravity because we want to and are concerned not only about ourselves but others. 

By the same token, the latter half of life is marked by connecting with the inside. We realize that our looks are impermanent and our external surfaces don't necessarily determine our identity. The Old and New Testament basically describe the internal evolution of the human race. Our early ancestors were dominated by the external compulsions of fear from a wrathful, vindictive and childish God. Then in the New Testament, a new inner sanction came into being and God became kinder, wiser and more adult like. And in the Old Testament account of Adam coming first, this would correspond to the banner and the Alpha symbol which is often placed in front of male to describe their egotistical orientation when not in touch with their feminine side. And as a Male's sex organs are external, outside the body, conversely, a female's sex organs are hidden inside the body. Paster Pete describes the New Testament revelation being guided by the Holy Spirit, that hidden and invisible force that resides inside the body rather than being external on the outside. 

The last revelation, "Omega" must come at the end of time in order for the birth of world spirit to bring peace and the beginning of a new human kind who is no longer estranged from the divine. And as Jesus stated, "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." This now makes sense in context of the masculine coming first to find itself last as the feminine becomes the only one capable of giving birth and nourishing new life to be the first of a new revelation. This new revelation; World Spirit, is the new consciousness that will unite the world and bring God's will to be done, "on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Pastor Pete ended his sermon with a great couple of sentences pointing his congregation towards the "Omega" of the Holy Spirit and the new Revelation.

"Make our job a joy. We don't rule over anyone with an iron hand. We don't rule in the flesh. We don't ever take our anointing and our position for granted. We're always one in equal living. Hallelujah. But let your heart be open in peace. That's something God will always bless."

I left Victory church feeling glad that I had explored it. The people who came up after the service to introduce themselves were very kind and genuine. I even got to meet pastor Pete and shake his hand. It felt liberating to connect with my opposite orientation in a domain I used to be intimidated by. I now seek to passionately share my gospel of coexist with Christians just as passionately as they seek to share their gospel of Jesus Christ with me. And even though my sangha feels it is a better path to be lay rather than monastic, something must also be done to break the spiritual monasticism of just remaining inside your comfort level amongst your own kind. My world citizen practice is a means for me to become a spiritual lay person, finding a relationship and learning from those outside of my orientation as well as offering whatever perspective I have from my angle that may enrich their lives.