06-21-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 21, 2023
Do you ever read a story in the news that you wish you would not have read? There is a satirical "news" source called the Onion, and I wished the article I had read a few days ago was in fact an article from the Onion, yet sadly it was not. The article was on BBC News Online, and it was about an underground network of folks that torture monkeys and have online subscribers to these videos. It’s big money, and people pay extra to make requests for how they’d like to see the monkeys tortured. I’m certain I have ruined your day with that news, but I have yet to get it out of my brain since reading it. I know there is a lot of really messed-up stuff in this world, and that includes violence perpetrated on both human beings and other creatures, yet how does this happen? How do we become so desensitized to the pain experienced by humans and all the amazing creatures on this planet? I’m not naive enough to think we can create some sort of pain-free world, but we’ve got to do better than this. There is also an online influencer (recently arrested overseas) who has videos that millions of people have watched in which he spreads all kinds of misogynistic garbage that includes encouraging men to be violent toward women, suggesting the men must show their dominance. You might think this is inconsequential gibberish, but schools around the world have reported teenage males acting violently toward teenage females and pointing to this online influencer as the reason.

​Anytime I report something like this, I get responses from those who want to suggest a simple explanation for why such things are happening and how we can solve them by just doing this one thing. Let’s be clear: this is nothing new for human beings. There has always been, among some groups of people, a demonic (not a word I use often) appetite for power born of insecurity and fear, often expressed in manipulation and violence. The church has too often provided cover, if not overt support, for such things. In too many places, we’ve become part of the problem. At Cypress Creek, we are far from perfect, but I believe we are offering a very different vision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We really are striving to Put Love First In All Things, trying to shift the paradigm to an understanding of a Jesus who presented the goal of love and suggested the only means to that goal is to live the life of love. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but at the end of the day, we find strength in the idea that we are all loved beyond measure by the God of the Universe.

Give me strength and wisdom, O God, for the work set before me this day. It is easy to reach for things other than love when trying to respond to hate, arrogance, mean-spiritedness, misogyny, and violence. Through your Holy Spirit, help double our efforts as a community seeking to follow Jesus. Perfection may not be our goal, but persistence in the good work of loving others is our hope. Love not only changes hearts but can also change broken and unhealthy systems in this world. May our simple grace-filled contribution be joined with others seeking a similar goal. Amen.