Thoughts on the Aftermath: “This Is Not Who We Are”

Jacinda Ardern

re-blogged from Random Thoughts from Lorne

Thoughts on the Aftermath

by Lorne Anderson

“This is not who we are,” she said. “This act was not a reflection of who we are as a nation.”

How many times have you heard that? The speaker changes, the message is the same. This time it was New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern

“They (the victims) are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was.”

Friday it was killings of worshippers at mosques in New Zealand. There was shock, outrage and horror. (Considerably more than for attacks on churches in the Middle East, but I guess no-one gets excited about violence in the Middle East any more.) There was that phrase about how this is not a reflection of who we are.

I’ve heard those words used so many times before. They come after mass shootings of school children in the US, by politicians who can’t see the cracks in the American psyche. The words are spoken by Muslims, insisting Islam is a religion of peace as ISIS uses the Koran to justify beheading those of different faiths. The fanatics of ISIS are not Islam, they say. That Mohammed liked to behead others is something they prefer not to talk about. They don’t want to believe that, like it or not, such violence against “infidels” is very much a part of who they are.

We all have constructed a mental image of what we look like. We don’t check that image in the mirror. We are kind, we are caring, we help others, we are good people. When something bad happens, it shocks us. Even when the bad things happen time and time again. Each time there is shock. We don’t want to face the truth, which is that we are deluding ourselves as to who we are.

When unthinkable violence happens, we shouldn’t be surprised. We are rooted in violence and disobedience, though we may not want to admit it. They are in our spiritual DNA, going back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve disobeyed, Cain killed Abel. From the beginning of our race we have been less than perfect. All of us. What differentiates us from the killers is that we have not given in to those sin impulses.

It is who we are – we just don’t want to face that fact. We tell ourselves that terrorists and mass murderers are an aberration when the truth is, they are the norm.

If this is indeed who we are, do we have to stay that way? Can we learn from past mistakes? Can we turn things around? Or are we doomed to stay on the treadmill of violence?

When I was reading about Friday’s events in New Zealand, I had a portion of the New Testament book of James running through my mind, especially the fourth chapter with its words about both inner and outer conflict. I won’t quote it all, but I thought these verses were especially applicable, a guide for those who want the violence to stop.

 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

For most people, those words, and the rest of The Bible, are not taken seriously. Which is sad, because Jesus offers hope for this broken world. Admitting we are all fallen people changes the narrative. Authentic Christianity brings new life, and as individuals change, so too will nations.

Friday’s terror attack in New Zealand was very much a reflection of the nation. But it wasn’t a reflection on the nation. The attack could have taken place anywhere. I doubt there is more evil in New Zealand than any other place.

We don’t want to see ourselves that way. Terrorists and criminals try to justify their actions. Cain, the first murderer, asked “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

How can we stop the cycle of violence? Only through changes in the hearts of individuals. Is that really possible? The Bible says it is.

But are people willing to go that route that would bring about an end to terrorism and mass murder? Are you? Do we really want to change? If not, there will be more attacks like the ones in New Zealand Friday, because this really is who we are.

Wednesday Link List

Wednesday List Lynx

Insert skillfully written intro here.

• Kickin’ it off with a strange report that — literally — gets under the skin of atheists and reveals the potential, no make that the probability for beliefs in God they would never acknowledge.
• “…no one had ever done research to determine if international child sponsorship really works…” Well, now they have, and it looks good on Compassion International.
  
• Add Marcus Mumford of the band Mumford and Sons to the “They like Jesus but not Christianity” list, at least that’s what he told Rolling Stone.
  
• The petition calling for the release of Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran is nearing 500,000 signatures. 
• What happens when creative worship-leader types lock horns with linear-thinking pastor types? Innovative ideas are often given the “no” treatment. Why can’t we all just get along?
  
• Got Roman Catholic friends who believe the wafer and the wine actually become the body and blood of Christ? Here are some reasons for rejecting transubstantiation.
  
• Now you can get a personalized Bible with your name inserted in 7,000 different places. Will you accept the Personal Promise edition as your personal Bible?
• Know a teen dealing with self-image issues or some kind of physical trait that erodes self confidence? Check out the story of 19-year old country music singer Chelsea Musick.
• On a similar theme: Here’s a refreshing post from an 11-year old blogger who reminds us that God made us just as we are.
• 

  Click the cover for Time’s feature story

  600,000 Americans have a 90 minute commute time … to church!  Is there nothing good closer to home?
  
• Some of Garry Wills best friends are priests. So it’s a bit of surprise that his new book is titled Why Priests? A Failed Tradition. 
• An article reflecting on Chuck Fromm’s writing in Worship Leader magazine parallels the new technology to the elevation of worship leaders in the ecclesiastic hierarchy.
  
• Are you a church mutt? These days many of us borrow what we consider to be the best elements from a variety of denominational streams.  A classic post from 2010.
  
• There is now some finality to the Canadian side of the story involving the then co-hosts of Canada’s national daily Christian talk show and money investors lost in a Ponzi scheme, in the form of a March 15th ruling by the Ontario Securities Commission.
  
• Really got into this song this week, though I first heard it a year ago: The Altar by Tricia Brock.
• Or for something more recent, here’s another new song by Josh Garrels.
  
• When the number crunching at your annual church business meeting is over, be sure to close with a hymn.
• Do we too many music links? Maybe it’s because I haven’t heard quartet music in a long time, but this two-verse hymn seems to have a barbershop harmony quality.
  
• Find yourself potentially engaging a controversy? Here’s ten questions to check yourself before you dive in. Or don’t. 
• In the weeks leading up to Easter, BBC’s Radio 4 series, “Lent Talk,” is broadcasting six lectures on abandonment, in which a journalist compares the gay community’s experience to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
• No, President Obama is not Satan, but in the Bible mini-series, there is a physical resemblance. 
• Remember to have your link list suggestions in by Monday evening
  

Anne Jackson Redfines “Earning The Right To Be Heard”

I thought the service where we were guest worship leaders had gone rather well.   I had mixed some pieces this congregation knew with some extra verses that would be new to them, and had arranged the 20 minute worship set so that the songs would really flow from one to the other.   Frankly, I was looking to relocate to be able to continue leading worship in a church like this, where I felt the musical assistance would be truly needed.

Afterward, the pastor invited us out for lunch, but it seemed like an hour before we were finally eating a restaurant that seemed unnecessarily distant.   My oldest started wandering back and forth into the lobby which had chocolate bars and other confectionery items to tempt him.   I told him firmly, “no;” but my wife didn’t hear that and minutes later he came back enjoying a large sugar treat.   Furthermore, we were wanting to press on in our journey to visit my father, who was in hospital recovering from a heart attack.

So, it’s no surprise that we didn’t make a good impression.   A week later, our honorarium arrived with a multi-page letter, written in southern U.S. drawl, informing us, “Y’all shouldn’t be doing ministry; y’all are needing ministry.”

…I took several weeks to prayerfully consider everything he said in that letter, and finally I wrote back to say that life is not perfect and we’re not perfect; we’re a young couple with a couple of really young kids who were under a great deal of stress on the day we met; but that we felt the worship service had gone extremely well, and felt that once it ended, with just him and us in the restaurant, we could be completely transparent.   We felt at that point we were no longer “on the clock” in terms of public ministry.

# # #

There are going to be people who read Anne Jackson’s Permission to Speak Freely and say, “Anne, y’all shouldn’t be doing ministry; y’all should be getting ministry.”     There are ways in which they’d be right, but absent a book like this, the world would be a poorer place.   In fact, to make such a suggestion would be to miss the point of the book entirely.

This is a book about honestly and transparency and being willing to stick your neck out and say the things that nobody is willing to say in church.   It’s about being the one person in the small group who breaks the endless silence and is willing to be the first one to be totally vulnerable and thereby, in Anne’s words, give everyone else “permission to be second.”

After getting a very early copy of Anne’s first book, Mad Church Disease (Zondervan), I got a review copy of Permission to Speak Freely (Thomas Nelson) after most bloggers had finished covering this title.   In a way that’s rather appropriate, because this is a book that we need to be reminded of from time to time, that is going to be part of the help and healing of many who are broken.

I think it’s significant that Anne has found her writing to be a redemptive work for the things in her past.   It’s significant that she has been able to get two books (so far) out of those experiences.   It’s significant that two of our industry’s largest publishers have been willing to take a chance on her brutal honesty and openness.

Here’s what I mean (italics added):

I find it interesting that in our current culture we identify the church as a safe place for broken people to find refuge.  Church is a place for us to claim the right of a modern day sanctuary where we can name our sins and ask our questions and be protected and sheltered while we search for grace, forgiveness and answers.

Yet as history shows us, for hundreds of years churches have been sacrificing the beauty of confession and brokenness for religious trappings and the malady of perfectionism. In some cases if we don’t measure up to a man-made cocktail of moral codes and checklists — if we aren’t “good enough” — we no longer feel welcomed in a church or around other Christians.

The full title is: Permission to Speak Freely: Essays and Art on Fear, Confession and Grace (Thomas Nelson, paperback $16.99 U.S)   This isn’t about someone living an exemplary life and thereby earning the right to write a book about it.   It’s very much the opposite.

It’s a very messy story, which we so very desperately need to hear.

Related at this blog:   Here’s an early reference I made to the book last month in connection with a breaking news story.

Related elsewhere:   Here’s the link to Donald Miller’s blog, which is stop number one on a seven stop blog tour containing chapters from Anne’s book.   Each essay concludes with a link to the next sample chapter.

Here’s the link to Anne’s blog and also the link to the special Facebook page set up in connection of the book. (Must be logged in to Facebook; on arrival select “slideshows.”)

Blessed Are

This is a combination of two blog posts from July 2008…

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3)

Author and theologian Monika Hellwig gives us the following:

1. The poor in spirit know they are in need and can’t help themselves.
2. The poor in spirit know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with others.
3. The poor in spirit rest their security not on things but on people.
4. The poor in spirit have no exaggerated sense of their own importance and no exaggerated need of privacy.
5. The poor in spirit are less interested in competition and more interested in cooperation.
6. The poor in spirit instinctively appreciate family, love and relationships over things.
7. The poor in spirit can wait, because they have learned patience.
8. The fears of the poor in spirit are more realistic and exaggerate less, because they already know they can survive great suffering and want.
9. When the poor in spirit have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threatening or scolding.
10. The poor in spirit can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

~found in files; original source unknown

Part Two: The Beatitude Creed:

I believe that the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of Heaven.
I believe there will be comfort for those who mourn.
I believe that being meek is a good thing and that those who give everything will inherit the earth.
I believe that those whose heart is set on seeking righteousness will find it.
I believe the merciful will receive more than they think they deserve.
I believe the pure in heart will be blessed and will see God.
I believe that those who long for peace and do more than others think is safe are children of the living God.
I believe in a place of safety for those who are hurt for trying to do the right thing.

I believe that being poor, and ignored and weak, and sick and tired and broken and messed up and kicked around is not as spiritually dangerous as being self-satisfied and clever and well-clothed and well-fed and degreed and creed-ed and important.

~posted July 17th, 2008 at A Life Reviewed blog – Joe and Heather live in Coventry in the English West Midlands