PEA RIDGE — As I, like so many other people watch this tragedy unfold in Aurora, Colo., I am grateful for the outpouring of grief, prayers and support. I am also grateful that President Barak Obama and Governor Mitt Romney set aside (at least for one day) politics to call our nation into a time of reflection and prayer. The usual hate-filled discourse that often accompanies such events only compounds the problem at hand, so my gratitude goes out to these two leaders for their patriotic leadership calling for mourning and respect.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families during this time. By the time this article reaches its audience, no doubt, we will have unfortunately moved on to the vitriolic mudslinging within the political arena. We ministers often feel compelled to respond to such tragedies in a theological context, to provide in our humble way a framework of responding, not only in physical ways, but spiritual ways as well, and this is my effort to do so.
One of the tenets of my faith is the premise that “God acts and we as humans respond” which is actually opposite of how I was raised in my Christian home. I remember a little song we were taught as very young kids in church that goes like this: “If I had a little white box to put my Jesus in, I’d take him out and (make three kissing noises), and put him back again. If I had a little black box to put the devil in, I’d take him out and (make three punching noises), and put him back again.”
Therein lies the problem with this theology, being able to put God and evil in a box, to take out at our pleasure and do with what we want, and place them back on a shelf.
Unfortunately one politician has already tried to manipulate these events to serve his on pursuits. Rep.
Louie Gohmert of Texas was on the radio today and invoked his theory that this senseless tragedy is a symptom of “ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.” The ridiculousness of that statement is quite obvious. What is really troubling is what Gohmert says later in the interview.
He goes on to claim that God has been pushed out of national life and ask, “What have we done with God?”
What is troubling is the image of God Gohmert and so many others promote.
Gohmert invokes the name of God in reference to his narrative about world events. Gohmert fears that God has been somehow banished from public life.
According to this narrative, a generically Judeo-Christian God wills that this be a Christian nation, however the evil forces of secularism have sidelined all things religious and banished God from the scene.
Is this the same God who parted the seas and let the people of Israel pass from Pharaoh’s hands? Is this the same God who, when the people strayed, sentprophet after prophet after prophet to call them back even in the midst of captivity? Is this the same God who, in love and devotion, sent God’s only Son into the world to live and die as one of us only to defeat death and rise again on the third day?
This image of God as victim may be politically convenient but it is hardly Biblical. God’s covenant is not negated because no one particular understanding of the divine is forced on our public life. God is not a victim of secularism.
God is God no matter what happens or what the world may do. It is no wonder that so many people view the church as irrelevant and seek other venues to receive support.
In truth, the narrative of Jesus Christ is more powerful than any politically expedient pseudo-theology can ever be.
Jesus Christ says, “I am with you always.” In the beauty, in joy, in sorrow, in hope, in despair and, yes, in a crowded midnight movie where human brokenness takes a deadly turn. Christ is with the victims, their families, those who care for and treat their wounds and those who are charged with bringing a measure of safety and normalcy back to the city of Aurora and to us all. Christ promises to be with us always and Christ is as good as His word.
The God made known in Jesus Christ is not a weakwilled generic deity hoping to be found worthy of political and social acceptance.
And God is not a petulant child who storms away because we do not do just as God expects us to. No, the God made known in Jesus Christ is a God who, when floods, commandments, exile and prophets do not work, sends his only Son to live, die and rise for us all.
That is the story of Christ and the story of Christ is the story of the church. Christ does not wait for permission to love us or give himself for us.
And nothing, Congressman Gohmert, can relegate that story to the background.
Editor’s note: John Gibson is the pastor of Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church, Pea Ridge. He can be contacted through this newspaper at [email protected].
Church, Pages 2 on 07/25/2012