Instruments in Need of Tuning September 29, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christian witness, Congregational Life, Core Values.Tags: Christian discipleship
4 comments
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; - where there is hatred, let me sow love;
- where there is injury, pardon;
- where there is doubt, faith;
- where there is despair, hope;
- where there is darkness, light;
- and where there is sadness, joy.
- O Divine Master,
- grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
- to be understood, as to understand;
- to be loved, as to love;
- for it is in giving that we receive,
- it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
- and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
- Amen.
- Okay, churches are full of normal, ordinary human beings. We can’t expect too much from, well, any of us. But, you know what? We can do a whole lot better. Surveying recent articles about Christians in the United States it is interesting to note that, as a breed, followers of Jesus are stronger advocates of war, guns, capital punishment, corporal punishment, and killing abortion doctors than non-Christians. A sheriff in Arkansas noted that Christians are much more likely to take the law into their own hands than non-Christians. Two of the more brutal road rage incidents of the past few months were perpetrated by faithful church goers. Arson attacks on mosques, synagogues, temples, and ashrams are most frequently attempted by Christians. Across the country, Christians are no less likely to engage in violent crime than non-Christians. And we can’t equivocate on “real” vs. “fake” Christians. It is scary to read the profiles of some of these guys (yes, mostly guys) who kill doctors, beat bad motorists, and set fire to other people’s sacred space. Most are educated, middle class, long time church members who pray regularly and read the Bible religiously. Some teach Sunday school and work with children and youth.
