A week ago, a gunman opened fire in Christ Church New Zealand, killing 50 people and wounding 50 more people. I have been particularly troubled by these events. For one thing, this keeps happening, just last October we gathered with the Jewish Community in Albuquerque to mourn the loss of life perpetrated by another white supremacist. This week, we gather with our Muslim sisters and brothers to mourn after a very similar story. Perhaps what has bothered me the most about these events is that the perpetrators are always identified as far right or alt right white supremacist extremists, but we haven’t recognized another part of their identity—Christian. Now I know that the immediate response from many of you is that these people weren’t really Christian—they had perverted the word of God into hate. Your reaction is the same reaction that good Muslims have when our media drones on and on about Islamic terrorists. It is the same thing. The fact that we never identify these White Supremacists as having been influenced by bad Christian theology ought to be telling of the bias in our culture. What gives me hope in the face of all this is that I serve a church that is just as troubled by this reality as I am. I have heard from so many of you of your concern, and of a desire to do something about all of this. I have great faith in your ability, as Covenant Presbyterian Church, to discern the intense complexity of the problem we are facing. The sad fact is, that the ideals of white supremacy did grow up right alongside bad Christian Theology. The KKK grew out of White Christian American Churches. The Nazi regime created the German Christian Movement as a church-based propaganda machine to make way for the Holocaust. And today’s mass shooters may not always be overtly Christian Church-goers, but their twisted ideologies are the result of churches not speaking up as the gospel message was being perverted. We are culpable in these shootings. It is the history of our faith tradition that led to these things. Of course, we could write this off as being history that we can’t change. We could point the finger at our forefathers, (and yes that is intentionally masculine) and claim that we aren’t like that. Perhaps we are more enlightened, but this violence is happening under our watch.
Whether these atrocities have direct paths to us, or simply those that came before, it isn’t enough to absolve ourselves of these events by claiming personal enlightenment. It is our responsibility to fix this. It is our responsibility to take whatever actions that we can to change this in our community. It is our responsibility to do our part in our part of the world. Amidst all of this tragedy, I have hope because of you. The session of Covenant Presbyterian Church spent time on Wednesday night exploring ways in which we can take action in our own community. First, one thing that Christian churches (and frankly any religious institution) have not done well is to teach their people how we relate to people of other faiths. Historically, we have taught simply that they are the “other” or the “unsaved.” We have forced conversion, or we have fought crusades. We have taught that our only relationship to other faiths is superiority and our only interaction should be evangelization. That is our history of how we have related. In the 21 st century, those approaches are unacceptable. What’s more—they are absolutely not biblical and are based upon bad theology. It is the intention of the Covenant Session and myself that we are going to change this. As people become a part of our congregation, we intend to make sure that learning how to have meaningful relationships with people of other faiths is addressed. That goes for new member classes and confirmation classes. Second, as one member of session (a school teacher) pointed out, her kids know that one of the reasons that hatred happens is because people hate what they fear, and people fear the unknown. Over the years, we have often times had classes about different faith traditions. We will have more. Not only that, but it is the intention of the church leadership to have this inform our Sunday morning worship as well. Not only is it our desire to learn more about these other traditions, but also to interact and get to know the people of these other traditions. So be looking for more opportunities to get to know your neighbors in the near future. Lastly, one important role that I can play as your pastor is to point out the idolatry and heresy that have led to bad theology and hatred. This summer, it is my intention to do a sermon series on pieces of scripture and theological traditions that have contributed to the current environment of hatred and to debunk them.
The fact is, one of the most abused pieces of scripture is Jesus’ words in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.” Now, many of you will have heard this used to suggest that anyone who does not believe in Jesus will go to Hell. Problem is—that is utter garbage! When Jesus spoke those words, he was answering a question from a panicked disciple. The question was NOT, “Do Muslims go to heaven?” In fact, the question had nothing to do with afterlife. The question came from a disciple who wanted to know what they were going to do right after Jesus’ death. What were the disciples supposed to do without Jesus there to lead the way for them? Jesus’ response is not a theological treatise on salvation. Jesus’ response is a pastoral one of reassuring scared people that they are doing just fine, and they will do just fine when Jesus ascends to the Father, and they must continue on their earthly way. Let me be clear—to assert that this passage is about who gets in to heaven is not only irresponsible, but an abuse of scripture, and it is to do violence with the word of God. That kind of bad theology is what leads to events like the shooting in Christ Church. That kind of bad theology must be addressed by Christ’s disciples if we are to be Christ’s faithful church. Now that is just one example. The sad fact is, there are many more, and I intend to take those on this summer as a part of our response to the continued atmosphere of hatred that has arisen as the result of our past. We may not have been directly responsible, but if we do nothing then we are guilty of allowing the word of God to be perverted into hatred. I realize that this is a strongly worded and passionate reflection this week—it needs to be. However, if there are parts of this that trouble you, I openly invite you to give me a call and let’s set up a time to talk. I also invite you to think more about this problem and consider more ways that we can respond as people of faith, and change the current situation where hatred based on perversions of our faith runs rampant. Friends, we are the body of Christ. It is our responsibility to act like it. Let us join together as a community, and with those beyond our community to face down the demonic forces that seem so overwhelming in this age. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said as he was confronted with the perversion of the Christian message, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
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