No Experts Allowed

As Target learned the hard way, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is the way forward. It's also the way of God in the world as evidenced at Pentecost. So, Seth and Jonathan talk about DEI. While we've occasionally spoken around it, referenced it, or advocated for an inclusive Church, this episode tackles DEI head-on. Why do we need DEI? What are its limits? How can we go further than DEI initiatives? And how does the multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual story of Pentecost inform diversity efforts today? This episode is not political charged, unless you find any mention of diversity inherently political. It is, however, faithful.

We're glad you're with us. This episode was particularly fun to record because we could confront an issue that has been widely politicized. We hope our joy and our commitment to inclusion shine through because if you have a problem with inclusion, your problem is not with, but with God.

Situated between Jesus' ascension and Pentecost, this is an odd Sunday. One of the oddities, at least for modern readers, is that a whole household is baptized together in the appointed Acts reading. When the patriarch of the family, a jailor, decides to be baptized, he decides for his entire family. Is this merely patriarchy at play? Could it tell us something about how households functioned in the ancient world and, perhaps, something about how people can walk along with us toward our baptism? Jonathan and Seth try to sort out what's happening in this story through a lens of grace.

We're glad you're with us! As the Easter season ends, we hope you'll continue living in the joy of Christ's resurrection.

When and how do we tell difficult-to-hear truths? In this Sunday's gospel text, Jesus heals on the Sabbath. In doing so, he does what isn't expected or accepted. Speaking difficult truths can be similar. Others may expect us to "toe the line" by parroting what others in authority have said. Likewise, our truths may not be accepted or could be viewed as harsh. Jonathan and Seth discuss how this applies to the war in Gaza. It also has applications in our personal lives. As we wrestle with these, we hope it stirs questions and insights into how to break the rules, just as the water in the pool of Beth-zatha is stirred up (John 5:7).

We're glad you're with us. In this episode, they reference the book One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. I (Seth, here) would recommend it to anyone.

The seer John watches an entire city, a new Jerusalem, descend from heaven. While cities in the ancient world were much smaller than cities today, they were still hubs of economic and civic engagement. People lived closer to one another, interacted more frequently, and likely got into more spats. What do cities offer us that suburbs do not? What are some of their challenges? Can we develop a theology of cities? And what lessons might we take from cities to apply to our lives outside of them? After all, both Jonathan and Seth live in the suburbs now.

We're glad you're with us! As mentioned, cities were smaller in Jesus' time. Scholars estimated that roughly 20,000 people lived in Jerusalem. That's half the size of York City, so if you're unsure where or how large York is, you're close to understanding how small Jerusalem was then! Jerusalem's population, however, would swell for religious holidays.

Do you know that God cares about you? We hope so! We also hope that you'll reflect that care by caring for others. That's much easier said than done, however. What does that care look like? How can it be concrete? What is so enticing about online activism that keeps others at arm's length? What are a few concrete ways to care? In this episode, Jonathan and Seth discuss how we care for others "up close." We touch on all four appointed readings for this Sunday, too.

We're glad you're with us! This episode was recorded in person. We hope that joy is evident in the recording. It may also mean, unfortunately, the sound quality is a little different. Thanks for bearing with us. We'd love to hear about how someone concretely cared for you or how you've decided what your caring priorities are at noexpertsallowed@gmail.com

Saul’s conversion, or maybe more accurately his call, is full of power imbalances and power reversals. Jonathan and Seth look at this well known story through this lens to ask: how does God use and confuse power? What might that say about who has power today? Who should we be listening to because they have power in God’s kin-don, but have been overlooked, drowned out, or outright disparaged? 

Thanks for joining us! We hope your Easter season continues to be full of resurrections, an awareness of God’s unconditional love for you, and the awe of Jesus rising from the dead.

The same reading follows Easter Sunday each year, the story of "Doubting Thomas" (John 20:19-31). In previous episodes, we've discussed how Thomas' reputation suffers despite being logical. When has someone risen from the dead, after all? In this episode, we explore how we might react. Do we lean into change quickly? Are we resistant to change? What makes change easier to stomach? Easter changes how we think about death, the forces of evil, and how we can live in light of them, so this episode sets the stage for the rest of this Easter Season.

In this episode, Jonathan and Seth discuss the Change Adoption Continuum; it features prominently in their What Would You Do In This Particular Situation question. You can see the graphic here and read more about how to lead others through change.

We hope you had a joyous Easter filled with the power of Jesus' resurrection. As always, we're glad you're with us too.

Vulnerability exists in different forms. Scholars identify physical, social, economic, and environmental as the four main types. What makes being vulnerable so tricky? Why do we feel that way when we might embarrass ourselves or not get what we want? In this episode, Jonathan and Seth talk about those feelings of vulnerability. Jonathan leads an exercise that mimics it and may help us become more accustomed to the feeling; we hope you'll participate in the exercise with us. Finally, they talk about the vulnerability surrounding the entirety of the Easter story.

Since this episode releases Monday of Holy Week, we hope this mini-season is a blessing. Try to take it all in. Sit in Good Friday's pain and confusion (even if you feel vulnerable). And, we hope, you experience the joy of Easter.  We're glad you're with us.

"Hosana," people cry as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. Hosana means "save us."  This reading, including the dramatic entrance and allusions to Caesar entering a city, bursts with political imagery. And politics is dominating the news again. This past weekend, potentially millions marched in the Hands Off protests. People on the opposite side of the aisle have seen Donald Trump as a sort of savior, even a quasi-religious one. So, what does it mean to cry "Hosana" today? What or who needs saving?

This episode focuses primarily on the palms portion of this Sunday. Frankly, we thought there was enough passion, enough suffering in the news, enough death and destruction that an episode on that portion of the day seemed redundant. We're glad you're with us! We hope you'll turn into next week's Easter episode, too.

After Mary anointed Jesus' feet and Judas hypocritically complained about the price of the perfume not going to the poor, Jesus says, "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me" (Jn. 12:8). Unfortunately, this statement has been used to justify not helping those in need. Jonathan and Seth talk about that history briefly but also about spending money on what matters. It's a discussion about how our priorities are shaped by problems we did not cause yet still influence us.

Seth quotes from Lucas Bessire's Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains. The majority of the book is Bessire and his dad driving through rural Kansas, meeting with farmers who pump aquifer water and people trying to limit that water use. The afterword is particularly compelling, however, in its connection to broader societal problems and what Bessire calls "the widdening of acceptable disregard."

This episode leads directly into next week's Palm Sunday reading. John's Gospel, too, looks forward to next week's lectionary reading as if to say, "Come back next week for more."  We hope you'll do that! Until then, we're glad you're with us.