Organic Jesus

by Sarah Segal McCaslin

Last August, my husband, 6 month-old daughter Claire and I took a trip to Santa Cruz, California, to introduce our young daughter to my husband’s family for the first time. Remarkably, the entire family still lives within a few miles of one another, making the commute between homes easy. Up and down Soquel Avenue we drove, every day, strapping Claire in to the car seat, enjoying our freedom from the tyranny of the subway, and feeling very… suburban. It was a nice change of pace for us, to temporarily relinquish our gritty Brooklyn neighborhood for the beachside cottages and coffee shops of Northern California.

One afternoon, after finishing a late breakfast with one relative and heading to lunch with another, I glanced out of the window of our rented car and noticed a small church. It was a quaint, modern structure, unassuming and pleasant. By the side of the road stood a huge welcome sign for the church with the words “Organic Jesus” printed underneath the name of the congregation. We drove by so fast, I was sure I had misread, but later that day, heading back from lunch for an early dinner, we passed it again. Sure enough, the sign read as I had first thought — Organic Jesus. Well, this is Santa Cruz, California, after all; the birthplace of the New Age movement, as my husband likes to say, but this was too much. Organic Jesus.

I did a little research and discovered that Organic Jesus is the name of a curriculum for small group study which targets people who are new to Christianity. The intent, from what I can gather, is to strip away everything that is artificial or enhanced about Christianity, leaving only that which is most pure and perfect, Organic. The Organic Jesus curriculum seems to be capitalizing on the success of the latest trends in food consumption- the Michael Pollan-loving, locavore, everything organic food craze.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in purchasing the garlic grown in upstate New York rather than the garlic shipped from China. I feed my daughter organic, prepared baby food when I don’t make it myself (which is most of the time, I’m proud to say), and I proudly serve a free-range, ‘happy’ turkey at Thanksgiving that I purchase from DePaulo Farms at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City.

In addition, as a committed Christian (and pastor to boot), I am intrigued by and drawn to new methods in church evangelism to reach out to people who have been harmed by or turned off to the ‘traditional’ church. Though I am a born and bred Presbyterian, deeply in love with the traditions of my church and denomination, I have met enough amazing people, and heard enough powerful stories, to understand the often painful complications associated with denominationalism and church organization (read: exclusivity). It is hard, if not impossible and fruitless, to generalize about Christianity, and it is also impossible and harmful to rationalize or explain away the truly awful things that people, pastors and congregations have done ‘for the sake of the Lord.’ I am grateful to Christian leadership who have the imagination, creativity and love to rework the way we ‘do church,’ with an eye to those who feel excluded.

My concern about organicizing (can I coin the term?) Jesus is the risk that our attempts to ‘strip away’ will have the opposite effect of ‘watering down’ Christ and the Gospel beyond recognition. I am wary of efforts that seem to dumb-down theology and reduce the Christian life to nothing other than one’s personal relationship with Jesus. Without denying the importance of having such a personal relationship, I see a danger in candy-coating the unsavory reality of a savior who was executed by a power-hungry Empire or offering the Good News as if it is obligation-free and without consequences. These low-threshold efforts give rise to my less-than-compassionate self, and they also make me feel sad. The superficiality of some of the Christian marketing I’ve seen can not sustain a soul through a lifetime, especially a lifetime that invariably includes deep loss and inexplicable tragedy. Life and God and salvation cannot be calculated in simple equations- if you do this, you will be saved; if you don’t do this; you will be cast off. Who of us can calculate a lifetime’s worth of faith and doubt in such a way?

In January, my congregation celebrated the date on our church calendar known as Baptism of the Lord Sunday. We read together the story of Jesus’ baptism. We were reminded that in the waters of baptism, we are claimed by God, called forth into a new life, retrieved from the brink of death and reborn to unending life with God. In the waters of baptism we are set upon the path of Christ- a path that leads against the world order and refuses to compromise when justice or love is at stake. Though infant baptism (part of my tradition) can turn even the sternest frown upside down, the joy we experience is held in tension with the gravity of what the sacrament entails.

Sally Brown, a professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, suggests that there is a rigor in the sacraments: “Peering into a couple of inches of water in a lovely silver font instead of stepping into a powerful river current, we can quickly lose sight of something the ancients knew well: water can save your life but it can also take your life” (Sally Brown, “Water, Wine, Word.” Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary, Fall 2009).

On the same day that we celebrated Jesus’ Baptism, a group of young adults in my congregation launched a new ministry called First Forward. This group of 20s/30s members has created a model for reaching out to the hundreds of young adults who walk through our doors each year. The leadership team spent countless hours discerning and planning for this day. They met regularly to discuss their mission and articulate their purpose. In what would typically be described as an urban, intellectual and progressive congregation (as either a compliment or a critique!), these young people worked with the fervor of evangelicals, throwing themselves into their work, firing up the congregation along with them.

The leadership of First Forward is stepping firmly into the powerful current of the baptismal waters, well aware that they could be easily swept away. They have been anointed by the Holy Spirit, baptized with fire, empowered to fulfill the ministry to which God calls them.

With full disclosure about what it means to be a follower of Christ, these young adults have accepted the call. They aren’t about reducing or watering down the Gospel for the sake of those for whom the message is new. They are about the business of creating disciples, about passing out life vests and whistles to those about to jump headfirst into the rushing waters. They are about sharing the message of God that the prophet Isaiah shared with the people: Thus said the Lord, “I have called you by name; you are mine.” For the excitement of their ministry, and for their commitment to the fullness of the Gospel, I am so very grateful.

The Reverend Sarah Segal McCaslin is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and currently serves as the Associate Pastor for Congregational Care and Mission at The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. She graduated from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in 2006 with dual masters degrees in divinity and social work. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and young daughter.