Tragedy once again dominates our headlines. Such news is becoming too common for us, as the cultural hysteria seems to confirm. There are those who, in a rush to push their political agendas, trample over the victims in their anger-driven vitriol. And then there are those who will be "shocked" by the news, but will quickly move about their day as though nothing was really going on.
One Christian writer recently connected the divisions and animosity towards one another to the Twitter habits of President Trump. A secular commentator referred to America's "culture of violence" as the reason for mass shootings. And a hundred more voices are already buzzing about the lack of gun control as the primary cause for violence in our country.
I am looking for the reassuring voices that echo the words of Christ: take courage – I have conquered the world. My present post is not directed to those who stand outside of the kingdom of God, who do not consider themselves serious disciples of Jesus. This one is for the church, and for one very good reason: there are matters of faith that those who are not receptive to the Spirit will not understand. When Jesus said, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13), he was speaking about the ability to hear and understand his message. And coming to understand and accept the gospel — every part of it — is difficult and demanding. Living in the gospel is impossible without the presence of the Spirit, and so is having a mind to understand it.
My concern for the church in this hour is that we are looking at tragedies, especially acts of terrorism against the gathered assemblies of believers in our country, and we are too quick to follow worldly cues in searching for answers. At this point, I should make it clear that we will now have to further limit our discussion to the church in America, as we are so unaccustomed to having our churches come under such attack. Our dialogue must be limited here, because there are believers throughout the world who suffer tremendous tragedy and horrific evil as an ongoing reality of their commitment to Christ. In such places, the church is doing a tremendous work and the work of the Spirit is active and vibrant, and they never get stuck on the question of Why us?
These suffering believers throughout the world already know the problem and the answer: Jesus.
For many years I have heard pastors and church leaders talk about the potential for backlash and violence that can come upon their congregations with a smug, "Well, if we are attacked then we must be doing something right." That overconfidence is quickly reduced to rubble at the slightest sign of trouble, and it is utter theological chaos when a bona fide tragedy arrives. It seems to me, in the words of our songwriting friend, Rich, that "we are not as strong as we think we are."
We say that a person's faith commitment will be evident in the things that they say and do (see Matthew 15:11). We believe that if a person is devoted to the gospel that this will have an effect on their thoughts, their words, their behavior. We say that prayer is essential to the life of the Christian, and that it will form us into the believers Christ has called us to be, and that this will give us the words of Spirit when they are needed most. These are central convictions of spiritual growth and maturity in the faith, and yet so many things are said that do not sound like the gospel.
Perhaps it is true that we are not called to judge anyone for their words or behavior. This is reserved for Almighty God. But perhaps there is enough in scripture to show us that we are indeed called to be fruit inspectors, those who can hear and evaluate one another and speak in ways that sharpen the sword of truth in our lives. Perhaps this means that we can read and hear responses to evil that comes against the Church and know whether the Spirit is present or not.
My current concern is that there are many churchgoers who do not study the Word of truth, do not pray and listen to the Spirit, and are thus sharing a belief that is shaped more by the world than by Christ, and that such messages are readily accepted by others who cannot evaluate from the Word or Spirit.
How can I know these things?
If you believe that hatred is a byproduct of the election of a particular president, then you have not understood the gospel.
If you think that abolishing firearms will put an end to violence (or take a dramatic step in that direction), then you have misunderstood the gospel.
If you consider a church community to be inherently at fault for an act of terrorism against them, then you most likely have not comprehended the gospel.
Specifically to that last point: let me quickly say that I understand that certain religious groups and organizations can say or do things that cause difficulty for themselves. But at no point does this provide justification for shootings and acts of hatred to this degree. To those who suffer as a result of their faith, for the work they are doing to live out the gospel in environments hostile to the message of Christ, again I submit that this is not justification for the work of evil to come upon them. When we consider the "culture of violence" that so many wish to cite, it is important to note that the gospel — by its very nature — works to strip all violence of its power, through the sacrificial service of the Lamb, to be followed by each of his followers. For these reasons, I submit that my last point stands, for there is no justification, even within the gospel, for such evil to come upon the church. What we have instead, is a reason for those who follow Jesus to know that such things will occur.
The promise that Christ gives to his disciples is that he has conquered the world, and evil's fury will not have the final word. In the past number of years those who have modeled this as believers — the demonstration of faith to degrees more shocking than the violence they faced — were those in the Amish community near Nickel Mines in 2006. For so many churchgoers who would consider the Amish faith to be no more than a humorous novelty, when life became deadly serious it was them who showed us the power of the gospel in acts of love and forgiveness. And they showed us courage to walk forward in their faith, with the eyes of the world upon them, unhindered in their devotion.
Such a contrast to the blaming and shaming and shouting that dominates our mainstream culture so much that it dictates the way in which most churchgoers will even begin to process such tragic events. And therein lies the greater tragedy of all, perhaps the very reason why our nation rages in this hour: we have ignored the Spirit's leading, and have now lost our ability to hear.
I mean, just listen to everything that is being said from within the church today ...
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