06-01-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 1, 2024
How do you balance some of the incredibly challenging expectations of Jesus with the realities of daily life? First, I would suggest that we name it out loud (or, in this case, in a written document). So often, the church quotes Jesus with great fanfare but doesn’t really ask about the implications of the teaching in regard to daily life, societal structure, or even national and international decision-making. Let me be clear: I am not suggesting a theocracy, as I believe any attempt would fail before it got started. But if I believe love is truly the most powerful force in the universe, a means by which both individual hearts can change and societies can be transformed, then how do I justify the use of tactics that do not represent love? But then, how do I show love to those who are victimized by unjust powers? Do I go and give a big bear-hug to the perpetrators of the violence? I think about Rwanda, a nation that, prior to the genocide of 1994, was considered by many Evangelical Christians to be one of the great success stories of the “Christianizing” of a nation. When the violence first started, there were many who couldn’t believe it, as these were good Christian people, some of whom had recently been baptized. Yet in less than three months, between 800,000 and 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered. What does a follower of Jesus, who believes in the power of love, do in a situation like that? Pray? Write a strongly worded letter to the Editor? Provide a series of lectures on the history of violence? All three of those options might be good, but not one of them would have reduced the casualties in Rwanda. What does taking up the cross look like in such moments? I’m not looking for a specific answer to that question, and it is probably naive to think that a single answer exists, but I do believe we need to struggle with those questions, no matter where we fall. We do not need to necessarily seek agreement, but struggling in the messiness where the ideals of faith meet the brutal realities of life is, in my opinion, necessary for those who want to be faithful to the ways of Jesus.

Continue to nudge me with the ethics of the Jesus-life, O God. Challenge me when I seek to dismiss or explain away where I might be asked to follow in the ways of self-giving love. At the same time, I do not wish some syrupy-sweet understanding of love to be my excuse to ignore the real injustices happening to real people in the world. Amen.