“After having once made the mistake of watching television news, I had worried for a while about an asteroid hitting the earth and wiping out human civilization. The anchorwoman had said it was not merely possible but probable. At the end of the report, she smiled.
“I worried about that asteroid until I realized I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I am not Superman. I am a short order cook on a leave of absence from his grill and griddle.
“For a longer while, I worried about the TV news lady. What kind of person can deliver such terrifying news—and then smile?”
- Dean Koontz, Forever Odd
I worry about the same thing in regard to some people of faith. They seem so eager to condemn, so jubilant in their pronunciation of doom, that it is more than a little alarming. I am reminded of a song we sang at the church I grew up in. It sounded like a vaudeville tune, upbeat and catchy. The lyrics included these uplifting lines:
“Troublesome times are here,
Filling men’s heart with fear,
Freedom we all hold dear,
Now is at stake…
“Jesus is coming soon,
Morning or night or noon,
Many will meet their doom,
Trumpets will sound!”
Nice.
Too often, I don’t hear in the voice of the church a sadness at the broken state of the world. Instead, there seems to be a proud assertion that we have it right, we have the truth. We’re on the inside, among the chosen. We do not join Jesus in weeping for the lost. We’d rather taunt them.
I know this seems like a harsh criticism, but I’ve been around far too few Christians who seemed to actually like people and want to help them without agenda. Most of the struggles within churches are within the church—battles for political power, bizarre ministerial hostile takeovers, weird holier-than-thou contests. Where is the fight for the poor and starving of the world? The forgotten? The suffering? The widow and the orphan? The (oh boy, this is a sticky one right now) foreigner?
God, we need an Old Testament prophet right now. Someone to remind us that God cares, not about political clout, but about justice, especially for the forgotten and the oppressed. How can it be that there is still racism, sexism, social class favoritism and seething judgmentalism within the church? How is it that God’s people have allowed themselves to become hosts for these destructive viruses, these social cancers?
There is a part of me that hates criticizing the church like this. It’s too easy, for one thing, and I’m a part of the church (and so partly responsible) for another. But it’s a fair criticism. In fact, it’s a criticism that needs to be voiced because a change needs to occur. (This is one of the reasons the emergent church movement resonates with me: within it, there is a very real call to these issues of social justice.)
I believe that one of the biggest issues is that we simply forget those we should be ministering to. Recently, in response to a post I wrote right here, I got all kinds of criticism from fellow Christians concerned that I would offend other Christians and in so doing limit my target audience. Let me get one thing straight: I do what I do, in writing here and in the rest of my web ministry, for the sake of anyone, Christian or not, who can benefit from it. This is an agenda-free zone, save the agenda of getting a little closer to Jesus. I really don’t care if you agree with me or not. And if you are the average church-goer, there’s quite a bit we’re likely to disagree on.
Okay, so I’m ranting now. A little ranting is good for the soul from time to time, but back to my point: justice.
We need to be concerned more about the peace, the health (body, mind and spirit) of others than we are with touting our own position within the Kingdom. That means we will weep for the hurting and oppressed, we will practice service to the poor (in more direct ways than trickle-down economics) and we will remember that we who live in this, the richest country in the world, are wildly blessed (and cursed) materially.
It is, I humbly submit to you, time for a change.
man, i hate that song, and for the exact same reason. it sounds like something the muppets would sing while the rockettes high-kicked in the background.
and it talks about doom. man, i just do not get that song.
of course, we also go the other route and sing “how sweet, how heavenly” like some sort of dirge.
now i’m tempted towards an all-out hymn rant. i love these.
have you noticed that you can tell how someone feels about unity depending upon how they sing “bind us together”?
i always sing “with cords that cannot be broken”
some people sing “chains” instead of “cords”
i find this image to be one of the most unappealing pictures of unity ever expressed in hymnody.
good article.
left by kester on 03.21.2007 at 3:29 pm