My Letter to Glenn Beck

From: Mr. Quincy Worthington
Temporary Supply Pastor of Maysville and New Store Presbyterian church
P.O. Box 221
Buckingham VA 23921


To: Mr. Glenn Beck
FOX News Network
New York, New York

March 14th, 2010


Dear Mr. Beck,

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. I trust this letter finds you well. We’ve never met each other nor do I believe that you’ve ever heard of me. I suppose I would be surprised if you had. I doubt you’ve ever heard of Buckingham VA. That isn’t to insult you or your knowledge of Virginia Geography. It’s just that I’ve met people who’ve lived near here in Richmond their entire life and have never heard of Buckingham. That’s neither here nor there. Just for reference, Buckingham is nestled between Charlottesville VA where Thomas Jefferson lived and Appomatox VA where the Civil War ended. In fact, Robert Lee rode right past my church and my front door on his way home. I didn’t live here then, of course, but one cannot help but feel the connection to the history of this country when living here. Many of the people in our church are involved in preserving the history of our area and thus enriching our understanding of what it means to be American. Many of the people in our churches have also served in the military and have proven a great dedication through both service and sacrifice to this country. I would say that we are a hard-working, about as american as you get group of people. We’re farmers, and teachers, and civil servants. We’re students, and parents, and grandparents, and retired. That’s why when people make comments about REAL Americans living in the midwest, I question their understanding of America. But I’m not writing to you to tell you about us. There is a more pressing issue on my mind, today.

Mr. Beck, I’ll be the first person to admit that I’m not a regular watcher of your show. I have more children than times I’ve watched a full episode. I have four children the last time I counted. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m far more of an NPR man than a FOX man and I know in your eyes I’ve already been condemned. It’s true, I’m college educated and I hold a Master’s Degree and I admit I went to a small liberal arts college in, of all places, Vermont. I also am very well aware of how you and some of your friends feel about college educated NPR listeners. Despite your bias against “those people” and my being one of those people, I urge to you to at least consider what I’m saying.

I’m concerned about comments you made this week urging Christians to leave their churches. Let me first note that as you are a member of the Latter Day Saints, a religion whose primary focus is conversion to its own faith, I find it almost opportunistic that you would propose such a thing. I also think this is a poor proposition for many reasons. One doesn’t abandon ship because of a disagreement in terms or understanding of theology, doctrine, and scriptural interpretation. We, at my church, are Presbyterians. We hold at the center of our communal life two ideals that differ us from many other walks of Christianity. The first is that we are Reformed and always being Reformed. This tells us that our lives and journeys in faith are never complete. It is always a process of growth. It is always a search to find how we better relate to God and to each other. I ask you, if we simply walk away from our churches and denominations over a disagreement or differing understandings, how do we hold to this tenet that has helped define who we are for nearly 500 years? If we do not allow ourselves to enter into dialogue with those who think differently than ourselves, do we give ourselves real chance to grow? I’m sorry that you and other people can find different points of view so threatening. Its sad too. Jesus offered a different way of thinking and people tortured him to death.

Mr. Beck, I find the reasons you told people to leave their church even more alarming. You said that Christians should leave their church if the Church espouses Social and Economic Justice. You say that this is a code word for Communism and even Naziism. I find it ironic because the mantra “No taxation without Representation” which was coined by the founders of this country is a plea for economic justice. Are they communists? At the root of the Civil War or The War of Northern Aggression as it’s called here was the issue of Social Justice, the same with Women’s sufferage, or the child labor law movement, and the civil rights movement. Does this mean that people like Martin Luther King or Jack Kennedy or Abraham Lincoln were Nazis?

These statements, Mr. Beck are even more troubling when you apply them to Christianity. After all, Jesus spoke to us more directly and much more often about things such as social and economic justice rather than how we define marriage or where life begins. You know, its funny. I heard what you said shortly after reading what the Lectionary passage for church this Sunday is. It is the story of the prodigal son. I find it ironic because I feel that it hits directly in the two areas that you condemn the church: both social and economic justice. We’re all familiar with this story. Its the one where the younger son leaves home and blows his inheritance on booze and whores and comes back just looking for a job. And his father welcomes him with open arms much to the chagrin of the hardworking, responsible older brother.

It’s a pretty popular story among Christians and I imagine that Mormons are familiar with it as well. And there are volumes upon volumes of unique and wonderful interpretations of this story. I’m not going to rehash them all for you here, Mr. Beck. What I’d like to do is convey to you what I find to be the truth of this story and this, I hope, will explain to you the second tenet that we Presbyterians hold closely to our hearts and why I find your comments so troublesome. The second tenet is this: The church must be engaged in the Mission of Jesus Christ at all times, even at the risk of its own death.

When we read this story it seems pretty unfair. If we forget that Jesus is the one saying it and it were just some person telling us this story about two brothers we’d be pretty frustrated. We’d be frustrated because it goes against our sensibilities, especially the American Ideal of working hard and being a self-made person. But, that’s just the thing. It doesn’t seem like Justice, but its the Justice that Christ is teaching us. Its a justice that isn’t based on things like “deserve” or “merit”. Rather, its a justice thats based on unconditional love. A love that is so powerful that I think it looks into the true humanity of people and it realizes that in some way and somehow we’re all broken people. We all do or think or say horrible things. None of us are righteous people. We’ve all played the role of the prodigal from time to time. But its a justice that recognizes that its a journey. It’s a justice that sees that we are people and we all need love and we all need help and we all need, dare I say, each other.

You see, Mr. Beck, Love like that, unconditional love, is a really powerful thing because it changes people. To know you are loved like that- TO KNOW IT- doesn’t leave the person loved the same way. It’s true. This son could go right back to carousing with unsavory women and boozing it up, but when someone loves you as strongly as this father loves his son, well I think it would be hard to. It changes you. It makes you want to be a better person.

I speak about this from personal experience, Mr. Beck. I wasn’t always a bed-wetting liberal arts NPR listener. At one point in my life I was a terrible drunk. I was the person no one wanted to really be around. I was the person other people would cross the street to avoid. But there were people in my life that loved me, for whatever reason, unconditionally. And once I became aware that I was loved no matter what by people and that God loved me no matter what, once I was aware of that, I was changed. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be a better person and love people in the same way because the love given to me saved my life. That’s social justice. That doesn’t sound a lick like naziism to me. That sounds like what the church should be preaching. Love people. Love God and Love your neighbor. That’s social justice. It leads to economic justice, sure. Take care of each other. Mr. Beck, What is so wrong with that? What is so threatening about it?

I know that you’re going to cringe at this next name Mr. Beck, but I think that perhaps Reinhold Niebuhr was right. He said that people in a position of power rarely if ever will voluntarily give up their power. Is that what it is? Is that what is so threatening? That if we truly loved and cared for one-another it means a giving up of power and privilege in many cases? The strange thing is most of us only have the illusion of power and privilege. And as Christians we believe that only God has true power and our power only comes through faith in God. So, really you aren’t losing any power because the real power comes to us from God to Build the kingdom. And kingdom of God is modeled on stories like this of the prodigal son. God’s kingdom is a radically equal kingdom. One could even say, gasp, that it is a Kingdom built around social justice. That is the mission of Jesus Christ- a radically equal world where people love God and each other. That is the mission our church is charged with even to the risk of its own death- a death we will surely face if people listen to what you have said. This does not makes us communists or Nazis. It makes us Christians.

I’ll be sad if people in my church listen to you and do as you ask, because with every fiber of my being I believe in social justice. I believe in Jesus Christ. It is my faith. It is what I live my life for. I cannot stop preaching the radical message of Christ’s love and our commandment to build God’s kingdom no more than I can stop the wind from blowing. God’s love has convicted my heart. If the people of my church listen to you, I will miss them dearly because I love them. They are family to me and it would be like losing a brother, a sister or an aunt and uncle or even a parent. I would hope they would no more disown me or our church than I them. Because I believe in my heart of hearts we’re a family built on love. So that even when they disagree with me, which I’m certain in cases they do, we can respect each other and discuss our disagreements. It is how we learn from one-another.

I don’t know if what I have said has changed your mind or your heart, Mr. Beck, but I hope it has. You may continue to encourage people not to come to churches such as mine or to listen to people such as me, and that is every bit your right. I will continue to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ and God’s unconditional love and encourage people not to listen to you, which is my mine.

Respectfully,

Quincy A. Worthington
Candidate for Ministry
Presbyterian Church United States of America