As news of the tragedy in Aurora, CO continues to unfold, I
am gratified that so many people have spoken out in these first hours and days
about the importance of not using this tragedy to forward a political
agenda. Tragedies such as this are only
compounded when they are used as craven political tools. The President and Gov. Romney both showed patriotic
leadership by suspending their political activities and calling for a day of
mourning and respect.
Unfortunately one politician has already tried to make hay
of these events. An advocate for making the
United States an exclusively Christian nation (and likely only his particular
brand of Christianity), Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas was on the radio today and
forwarded his theory that this senseless tragedy is a symptom of “ongoing
attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.” The
foolishness of that statement is manifest.
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?”
Just a few days ago, George Zimmerman, the man who has
admitted to shooting teenager Treyvon Martin on February 26 of this year. Whether or not Zimmerman bears any criminal liability
remains to be determined. In the midst
of the media frenzy, Zimmerman and his attorney went on FoxNews recently for an
interview with Sean Hannity. During the
interview Zimmerman was asked if he had any regrets about that night. Zimmerman responded that he did not saying, “I
feel like it was all God’s plan.” Zimmerman did later offer his prayers for
Martin’s family.
Both Gohmert and Zimmerman invoke the name of God in
reference to their narratives about world events. Gohmert fears that God has been somehow
banished from public life. Zimmerman
recalls an image of God as divine puppeteer drawing and relaxing the strings as
world events unfold below. These two
conflicting images of God, one of a weak deity powerless before the forces of
politics and one of a controlling deity manipulating human events without regard
to consequence, are the two faces of a god of convenience invented to support
the civil religion of modern America.
Although Zimmerman’s evocation of God as the cause of the
events of that tragic night is troubling, more troubling still is the image of
God Gohmert and so many others promote.
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, sent prophet 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?
There is a great song in the 1970's musical "One By One" which tells the story of Noah and his family. Noah, whose confidence in God will not be shaken, sings the song "The God I Know." The God he knows will never abandon them. I thought of that song when I read Gohmert's remarks. The God I know and the one he was talking about seem like very very different things.
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.
One of the reasons this narrative of “God as victim of
secular humanism” finds such purchase in culture is that there is not a
competing narrative. If the only flavor
of ice cream you taste is vanilla, then it is easy to think that all ice cream
is vanilla. The same is true for the
gospel. If the only gospel that is
publicly proclaimed is the gospel of God as victim, it is no wonder that so
many people view the church as little more than a cranky old man railing against
the loud music and “progress.”
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.
Jesus Christ says, “You will be with me in paradise,” to the
convict on the cross next to him. In our
shining moments of faith and in our deepest prisons of sin, Christ does not
abandon us. Christ is in the prison cell
with the troubled young man who did this unspeakable thing, with his family and
friends who seek some measure of understanding and with all who, captive to the
brokenness of this world, need him most.
He is not there because any of us deserve for him to be there. He is there because he is the Christ and the
Christ does not forsake us.
Jesus Christ says, “put your sword back in its place for
those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” It is not upon us to exact vengeance on this
young man but to fervently and ceaselessly pray for him and for the
victims. To pray, like the persistent
widow and the faithless judge’s door, without ceasing. Jesus Christ calls us to live a different way
to live.
The God made known in Jesus Christ is not a weak willed
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.
3 comments:
Robert,
Thanks for this post. Could you suggest a good book on the topic of "God as victim of secular humanism"?
Thanks, Matt
The best book I have read is not really on the topic but getst to the point. It is called God Is Not... Steve Long suggested it to me. I hope all is well with you.
Thanks, I have actually read one or two essays in that book. I think Laythem even did a follow up to it a couple years ago (I forget the title, but its something similar). Thanks for the suggestion.
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