THOUGHTFULLY DRIVING THE PORCELAIN BUS

A Column by John S Schroeder

August 24, 2002

Nonetheless, the question itself has haunted me since I heard him raise it. The answer popped into my head immediately, but it is an answer that needs much analysis. The answer I arrived at was "Because the church blew the opportunity!" The church simply failed to rise up and take the role that it should have taken in the face of such a crisis and event.

I should explain this a little further. Just like we as individuals must be people of faith and people of God and live in a world of sin, so must the church. We are told to "be in the world, but not of the world." Personally that is going to express itself both in how we live in individuals and in the places we choose for ourselves in society. A person with the greatest devotional life in the world is going to have a hard time if they make their livelihood as a drug dealer. I have written much in these spaces about how the church has "followed society" into trouble.

One need only read the writings of the founders of this country to know that they had an expectation that this country would have a source of ethical and moral value that was different than the government. They understood that government can never truly enforce morality, that it requires something more.

One of the things I ached to hear, and still wish to hear on an almost daily basis was that the acts of mass murder committed on 9-11 were wrong and bad have then condemned. The president most certainly so proclaimed, but he was not joined by a chorus from the clergy, which he should have been. It was evil and despicable and horrible and condemnable.

Condemnation is the only acceptable response to those acts. Don’t get me wrong. God's grace is sufficient for Mohamed Atta, but it is up to God whether he chooses to exercise that grace or not. Furthermore, even if God chose to spare Mr. Atta eternal damnation, Mr. Atta's actions still must be condemned in the strongest possible language.

When the church failed to make these condemnations it failed to resonate with people. When something is so obviously and completely wrong, the first thing people need to hear is a confirmation of their perception of that wrong. People are capable of hearing the actions of the plane bombers condemned without assuming it to be a license to start beating arab-islamics in the street.

The church is the only place in society that has the moral authority to name and condemn the wrong that was committed. Many national Christian figures did name and condemn, but the average parish pastor and priest did not. Even I who goes to church quite regularly was repulsed by the lack of simple outrage I found in churches.

The church MUST reclaim its moral authority to survive.

I find it a fact of utter fascination that even the great King's of medieval Europe bowed to the power and authority of the church. The church should be doing more than simply supporting the efforts of the president, which it failed to do in the sense I just discussed; the church should be holding the president accountable!

I have said it before and I will say it again, God's grace is infinite, but it is not universally granted. Jesus did not walk through the temple and try to understand what had driven each of the moneychangers to that place -- he simply condemned their acts as evil, and set about destroying their capability to do those acts.

This is why repentance is so important. One must protect oneself from the unrepentant; or else they will hurt you again. The people behind the people that did these heinous things will do them again. The only truly moral choice is their destruction. This is not revenge; this is simple self-defense. And here is what is really important -- I have no doubt that some people want their destruction out of a sense of revenge, but it would not be the first time God has used the wrong motivation to get the right thing done.

Somehow, the church has gotten so lost in peoples motivations that it has forgotten about their actions. As a force in society, the church must care more about what people do than what they think. That does not mean that the church needs to abandon efforts to fix people's "insides" as well. Sometimes; however, it is better to get someone acting correctly and worry about the motivations later.

The church has an important role to play RIGHT NOW. Politics once again reigns supreme and this country seems to be forgoing decisive military action when it is necessary. The church should be calling for it. The church should be the leader in demanding that the government fill its role to protect us. If the government does not get its stuff together and act soon, I have no doubt that what happened then will happen again, or worse. The church, by virtue of its moral authority, can demand this action and should be.

By the way, have you noticed how we don’t see the building falling on TV anymore? We need to see it. Not all the time, but we need to be reminded of what happened. The church should be calling for this.

Is it any wonder people have not flocked to the church? They rightfully want to hear a call to destroy evil and are instead treated to words of caution.

Religion and psychology are two different things and they both have a role in our lives. They have greatly confused themselves with each other, and no place is that more apparent than in grief. You see grief is a spiritual state, not an emotional one. Think about this. Death is a result of sin and grief is a result of death. Grief is a result of sin -- the "cure" for grief is the "cure" for sin and only the church can offer that.

My personal reactions to 9-11 intellectually were the condemnation I have discussed; my spiritual reaction was deep grief. This was a highly unnatural death, not a result of illness or age, but of pure evil. 9-11 was death entirely out of place and in huge quantity, it was like getting hit in the stomach; it took my breath away. It hurt. I still picture the buildings falling and it creates tears.

The church needs to respond to that kind of grief and I think it failed. Miserably. In part, comfort comes from knowing that t was an evil act. When the church failed to condemn, it failed to comfort. There is no comfort in words of unconditional forgiveness and infinite grace, but there is comfort in knowing the power to destroy such evil is in God's hands and He will let it loose from time to time.

Comfort comes in prayer, and in this instance prayer asking specifically for comfort. Post 9-11 was very much a time for petition. In many churches, we try not to pray for our own interests, but in this case, that should have been encouraged. And prayer like this should be shared. Many churches did a great job of holding prayer services that night, but what about the next day, and what about the day after that.

And what about asking companies for a day off so that all could join in prayer. Grief requires time away from the normal; yet so many people tried to run back to it. I think it would have been entirely appropriate for church leaders to call for a national day of mourning the week after. Bring the country to a halt and allow it a collective time to focus on the Lord and catch its breath. It's too late now.

The church was too busy telling people not to hate all Arabs to give them the opportunity to grieve. I, as a member of Session, tried to write a statement for the Session to sign that captured the grief and condemned the acts. All anybody really wanted to talk about was not lynching Arabs. I don’t know anyone that actually suggested we lynch an Arab. Talk about a straw man.

The church really blew it here.

People need to be together sharing when something like 9-11 happens. The simple presence of another living soul is a great comfort and reassurance. Sharing meals, telling stories, hanging out, these things revive a person and add to their well being. I have complained before how the church is not filling this role anymore. The church is too busy building programs. When you come to church you report to the screening window, if you are sad go to room a¹, if you are grieving, then room b⁴ is for you. Once you are in the appropriate room, just follow the twelve steps to a cure and move on. Look I know that is what most people say they want these days, but in a time of crisis, in a time of great need like the immediate post 9-11, their misconceptions are stripped away and their real needs peek through.

Ever notice how well people get along on the street right after an earthquake? Post 9-11 was one of those times. People did not need a program; they needed to be together, to draw strength from each other; to feel each other's presence; to know by simple human contact that we would survive. But no, churches couldn’t figure out a program so they just let it slide. They should have opened the doors and served food. People would have flocked just to be together -- and maybe they would have developed enough of a bond that the church would grow from there.

AMEN!

With Love,