Evangelicals and Torture?

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080912/poll-golden-rule-coaxes-evangelicals-to-rethink-torture-stance.htm


"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies..." (Matthew 5:43-44, NIV)

I have just read an interesting article on evangelicals and torture (link above). A poll showed that 46 percent of Obama supporters and 67 percent of McCain supporters believe that torturing prisoners can be justified to extract information from captured terrorists. I am not for giving these folks steak dinners, big screen TV's and grounds privileges, but it seems to me that this is contradictive of both Christianity and the political opinion of both candidates.

Let us not forget that one of our presidential candidates spent over five years incarcerated during the Vietnam War. Let us not forget that he endured cruel torture, both mental and physical, until his release in 1973.

Let us not forget that Christians through the centuries were subject to cruel and unusual punishments and even death at the hands of those who were threatened by Christ's claim to power.

Let us not forget that Christians, when in positions of power, have proven no better through the centuries. They have burned heretics at the stake.They tortured mentally-ill people, claiming they were demon-possessed or witches. Protestant state-supported churches martyred many radical reformers, including Baptists, who refused to assent to the claims of these churches. Let us not forget that the bloodiest war per capita known in the history of the western world was fought between Protestants and Catholics.

And may we never forget the cruel torture Jesus endured as Jesus went to the cross to be publically humiliated before He died.

Can we do no better?

As a Christian, my ethics can never be based upon the intended result ever justifying the means to the result. For Christians, our witness is dependent upon the means and not the end result. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his Ethics that this is the rebellion of humanity that began in the garden, not to do evil, but to be our own judge of what is good and evil. Part of living in the world is that my safety and security, and that of my loved ones, is dependent upon God. Part of living in this world is that there are people who intend to do what they believe to be justified harm. Part of living as a Christian is the conviction that for Christians, in the end death does not have the last word, but the last word is spoken by the God who raises the dead. He is in fact "the Alpha and the Omega."

Tim

Remembering 9/11

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." (Revelation 20:14, NIV)

Where were you on 9/11? At 8:45 AM Central Time, Amy Corbin, then secretary to the Dean at Beeson Divinity School in B'ham, AL, interrupted Dr. Fisher Humphreys' theology class with a message from his wife: "Turn on the TV right now!" Dr. Humphreys turned on the mounted television in our classroom to find that the World Trade Centers and the Pentegon were under attack. Three airplanes had crashed into the buildings. No one new how many were killed. A fourth plane had just crashed in western Pennsylvania. Word was that the state department was to be evacuated due to threats that a car bomb was set to explode outside. It never happened. However, no one knew that day when the madness would end. Our lives changed forever. The stronghold of the United States of America had been breached.

Later that morning, all students and faculty gathered in the beautifully adorned chapel to worship. We had to make sense of the chaos around us. Many had to make sense, and give interpretations. At the time I was a Minister to Students at a large church outside Birmingham. I want to share the contrast of stories that were told in chapel with that large Baptist Church.

At Beeson we gathered at the Lord's Table. We opened the word. Dean Timothy George preached an eloquent, intelligent, and timely message regarding the events that unfolded hours earlier. We remembered The Story. We remembered that the greatest tragedy was not the falling of the Trade Center, but that the world crucified its Savior, its Lord, and its God. We remembered that evil is all around. Try as we might, we cannot offer an explanation for the vid of evil that eats away at the fabric of God's creation and God's creatures. This is what human beings do - we trash true goodness when it is embodied in our world. This is what we do, unless God acts. We remembered that God took the gift of His Son, the gift we threw out, and did something even greater - He raised the dead. This is the power of God, as Paul writes to the Ephesian church in chapter 1. God is not a God who is thwarted by human decision, evil and death. God is a God who brings life where there is none - especially in the midst of death. We rememembered those gifts as we ate bread and drank from the cup. His body. His blood. For us.

At the local Baptist Church, the flavor was different. The room was filled with Red, White and Blue. We told a different story. We did not talk about His body and His blood. Instead, we found comfort in Patriotic Songs, our colors, and that God was on our side - America's side. Some suggested that God was judging America for our country's sins. Others suggested that God had lifted his hand of protection from America, and allowed this atrocity to happen to bring the country back to God. No gospel. No power. Only blame, hurt, and bad theology.

I imagine that many, like me, turned to both these stories. I love my country and I was mad that we were made to look naked, vulnerable, and dishonored before the world. I was startled that I no longer lived under a stronghold of a nation that could nuke any nation that even thought about attacking our soil. Those thoughts ran through my mind. But also, thanks to the worship leaders at Beeson, I remembered what God does with evil. I remembered the story that shaped my destiny, that shapes the destiny of the church, and the destiny of the world.

Yet, the next day was Wednesday, and I had a room full, probably 80 plus teenagers that I had to address. I had a choice. How was I to explain 9/11? I remembered in chapel looking at the bust of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the six Twentieth-century martyrs mounted on the wall of Beeson's chapel, and remembered these words:

"Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy's hatred, the greater his need of love...What makes the Christian different from other men is the "peculiar"...the "extraordinary," the "unusual," that which is not "a matter of course....What is the extraordinary? It is the love of Jesus Christ himself, who went patiently and obediently to the cross - it is in fact the cross itself. The "extraordinary" - and this is the supreme scandal - is something that the followers of Jesus do." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, trans., NY: Simon and Schuster, 1995)

As the youth gathered, we had a question and answer time. Our students asked whether or not this really was God's judgment, whether or not this was leading to end-time events. Then, a seventh-grader - a timid, shy, red-headed girl - Melanie Carrol, preached the sermon when she asked: "Doesn't the Bible say that we are to love our enemies?"

And so we told the story. We broke bread. We drank from the cup. We remembered: His body. His blood. For us.

When tragedy strikes, in your body, your family, your community, your country, or even your world, what story do you tell? What story makes sense to you? What do you lean on and rely on for support? For meaning?

For me, it was on 9/11 "The old, old story of Jesus and His love."

May the power of God that can and will undo death be with you today and forever.

Tim

Politics, Passion and Potential Poison

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."1 Timothy 2:1-4, NIV


As I have surfed the blog-o-sphere, I have been amazed at the number of one-sided comments regarding the upcoming presidential elections. It seems that there are many Christians, mostly Republican, but some Democrat, who seem to think that their particular political party is completely representative - and thus their presidential candidate - of Christianity and Christian values. Sure, I applaud Republicans for their emphasis on family values, the rights of the unborn and abstinence outside of marriage. I also applaud Democrats for championing the cause of the poor, the minorities, and the women's rights. I find much good with both parties, and values that leave much to be desired.

Furthermore, I am concerned over Christian leaders who seem to think that the election of their particular candidate is the answer to all the problems our country faces. We hold the dillusion that the president will help with our mortgage payments, return overseas jobs or create new ones here. We believe that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, which it has not. We believe that we will treat each other equally, and that the poor will be lifted from poverty. We believe all this because who wins the presidential election.

Subsequently, I am amazed at how passionate we are about our politics. We are so passionate that we fail to walk in the other's shoes. We fail to see things from the other's point of view. We fail to sympathize with the plight of our opponents. And, we fail to understand that the issues on which we base our decision are more nuanced than "Pro-life" or "Pro-choice." They are more nuanced than "continue the war" or "bring the troops home." They are more nuanced than "trickle-down" economics or tax breaks for the poor and lower middle class. It is interesting how I have seen that my own family situations have both benfitted and suffered at the hands of policies supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

The potential poison of politics is that we eventually come to believe that God somehow magically waves his wand of blessing over the country that has His ideals on their lawbooks. The fallacious and potentially evil suppositions that God released his hand of protection over America (as if God ever had a hand of protection on it) on 9/11 or that Hurricaine Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 as God's punishment to all those who are immoral are unwarranted in scripture and dangerous to all. Yet this thinking dominates our pews on Sunday Morning. We fail to understand how God blesses, how He judges, His intent in salvation, and the depth of his love for a lost world. Also, we some how seem to rest our faith in who is elected for our well-being, rather than remembering from whom our well being comes.

This election I will:
1. Vote my conscience, using my own faith to shape my politics.
2. Pray for our leaders. God is pleased with this. I am thankful for everyone who aspires to public office, because it is a difficult job. They accomplish a lot of good, whether we like their affiliation or not.
3. Not lose a bit of sleep over who is elected.

Why? Because the God I serve is at work regardless of who is elected president. Because I believe that Christians still make a difference in this world, with every adopted child, with every Christian who ascends to political office (locally, regionally, nationally), with every new job created by a Christian businessman or businesswoman, with every student who sits under a Christian teacher in the classroom, with every prayer I say with my kids, and with every breath taken in the world.

Voting makes a difference. But standing on the sideline hoping that my candidate will change things is un-christian. We are called to politics. Our faith is public. It permeates every aspect of our lives. God has called the church, equipped the church, and exalted the church to be Hs people, His politics, at work in the world empowered by the Spirit to embody the character of Christ in the world.

I will not share my voting habits, but everytime my candidate lost, the sun still shined. Most of all, I cling to the promise of Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Someone else is still in control.

Grace and peace,

Tim

Wrong Stadium Tar Heel!

When I heard about the UNC game ball landing in Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday Night, I could not help take a poke at the Tar Heels. How do you explain that?

I am a huge football fan. I could care less what happens on the basketball court. Roy who? Coach K (can I buy a vowel?)? Actually I do like basketball. It gets me through the winter in time for spring practice. Now that a Birmingham man, a Bear Bryant Disciple, and the guy who coached both Peyton and Eli Manning is the head ball coach at Duke, Duke has the opportunity to arise from the ashes of embarrassment to at least the level of mediocrity. So I thought I might stoke the fire of the UNC-Duke gridiron rivalry, if you can call it that.

Wallace Wade actually was the head coach at Alabama who started it all for the Crimson Tide. He won three mythical national championships at Alabama in 1925, '26, and '30 before leaving the Capstone for Duke. He wanted to coach football at a school that valued academics. Well he got it. Though Wade never won a national championship at Duke, he did coach two Rose Bowl teams, losing both. By the way, Wade and Cutcliffe are not the only Crimson connections to Duke. Former Alabama quarterback and Bryant Disciple Steve Sloan coached Duke in the mid 80's before returning to his alma mater as Athletic Director.

Though you may not be interested enough in football trivia, especially in North Carolina, the Chapel Hill blunder is the perfect illustration of human sinfulness. Let me explain. When we think of sin, we think of stumbles, temptations, white lies, coveting (we've all done that, right? Actually, coveting is a more churchy sounding word for lust). And these things are not good things. Don't hear me wrong and don't underestimate sins with the little S.

But Sin with a capital 'S' as, Paul describes it, is much more than that. Paul says that we are slaves to Sin and that we are dead in Sin. We do not realize the depth of the problem either until it is too late, or until God acts. The problem of Sin, of which little sins serve as perfect examples, is that we are headed off course with our lives. Though the pilot of the plane and the parachuters flew a perfect flight, executed the proper procedures and though the parachuter executed a perfect jump, landing safely, the fact still remains that the game ball wound up in the wrong stadium.

The Holy Spirit, the personal presence of the Father and Son with us, is the One who guarantees that at the end of the day our life ends up on the right course.

Go Duke! Thank you, Tar Heels, for the life lesson.

And, may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today and always!

Tim