020512 Fearless 5: Global Calamity

Reality check.  First, the weather forecast...  There is, in fact, going to be weather happening somewhere.  I think weather - and along with it earthquakes - are naturally caused, and not dictated by God.

We don't live in a perfect world.  Every human being is shaped by a wide range of influences with varying degrees of God's fingerprints.  Because we all have the freedom to choose to live however we want, this means we can expect that sometimes things are going to be wonderful.  I believe people are inherently compassionate, and when we are compelled to respond to obvious need, humanity is beautiful.  When weather calamities hit, people set aside their prejudices and national identities and see their fellow human beings as brothers and sisters.  A beautiful thing.

But we are also aware of terrible choices people can make that cause unthinkable harm.  The holocaust usually finds its way near or at the top of humanity's worst chapters list.  Genocide continues today in Africa.  Hunger can be eradicated but won't anytime soon because some people use food and other humanitarian capital as political leverage, or hoard it before it reaches the intended recipients.  Wars have happened and will continue to happen - a waste of human life - all because of our capacity to choose poorly.

Jesus was clear about this.  He told his followers to expect it.

Apocalyptic thinking.  According to reputable historians, apocalyptic thinking is common for communities who realize they are threatened from a significantly greater outside force.  When a group of people know they cannot overpower their oppressor, they look to the skies and proclaim that God will will save them.  And when God does, their oppressors will "get theirs" and we, the oppressed, will be rewarded with everlasting peace and joy.  We will be restored to power, and troublemakers will be no more.  This is how Native Americans felt when their home was overwhelmingly overtaken by settlers claiming the land for the crown and eventually themselves.  This is also how Jewish people felt centuries before Jesus was born, when their Promised Land was taken from them and they themselves were taken away from it.  Jewish people continued to feel this way all the way through the first century and beyond.  Early Christians felt this way, too, as they experienced martyrdom at the hands of Rome.  This way of thinking does give some peace for a moment, but it has a dark side, too, which actually makes life more difficult.

When we identify enemies, we sometimes excuse our own behavior.  If we believe that we are always going to be oppressed, that the world around us hates us, and that the media is always biased against us, then when we do experience backlash, we may overlook the fact that at times we deserve the push back.  While there certainly are cases where bias against Christians cause great harm, I also think there are instances when Christians cause great harm by their words, attitude, and behavior.  When Christians do not act like Christ, I think we invite backlash.  Christian hatred is an oxymoron, yet it exists and causes great harm.  Let's make sure that we do not deserve retribution before we simply excuse it as "anti-Christian".  This is one dark side of apocalyptic thinking.

Another dark side is giving up.  "Let's just circle the wagons and wait for the battle to end, when God rescues us with dramatic fanfare.  We will surely suffer now, but our reward is coming.  We can't change our horrible world, so let's not even try.  Let's let nature run its course."  Churches stop caring for their communities, people stop loving their neighbors, and apathy toward the world replaces the love exemplified in Christ.

I know this rhetoric is in the Bible, and I believe it is a reflection of what those respective communities were facing.  But I do not think apocalyptic thinking is productive, even though it does give some hope.  We embrace this way of thinking because it gives us a sense that God is in control.  But maybe our way of thinking about God's control is incongruent with the way it really works.

If God is in absolute control, it means that God allows (and tacitly directs) all global calamity.  There are some theological constructs that try to work around this, often touting how God's ways are so much higher than ours that we must simply accept God's good and perfect will.

But maybe another way to think about sovereignty is in terms of restoration.  I believe that God's desire is continually drive all things that restore all people to experience the joy of life.  Life is a wonderful gift to be enjoyed.  Lot's of bad stuff happens, but none of it beyond God's capacity to heal, redeem, and even bring benefit from its experience.  Finding this life is directly related to doing life with God.  Jesus spoke of it when he referenced the Kingdom of God - living under the rule of our benevolent God-King.  Shalom in the Old Testament and eternal life in the New Testament referred to a quality of life now that reflects all the beauty of being in the full presence of God.  The more we align ourselves with God, the more we experience God's incredible power to redeem.

And this brings us  to the answer to the question, how do we deal with our fear of global calamity?  The Bible speaks of false prophets who claim to offer the hope and healing (salvation) for which we long.  But they do not deliver.  More conservative circles narrow this down to a religious question.  If a person speaking on behalf of God doesn't affirm Jesus the way we affirm Jesus, that person is a false prophet and needs to be tarred and feathered, or maybe even crucified.

I think this misses the point.

I think the biggest false prophet we need to identify is not a religious figure, but ideals or powers that run counter to the Kingdom of God.

Preface: I love my country.

I think we in the US can easily replace God and pin our hopes and dreams on Capitalism and/or the US military or the US in general.  Some people justify this by claiming that the US - as a so-called Christian nation - has taken the place of Israel, and therefore should be seen as God's nation, which then means we can justify anything that promotes our nation.

Capitalism has it's benefits, but it is not the Kingdom of God.  The US military is the world's largest and most advanced.  In addition to defending our soil and people, it also serves humanitarian causes.  But the US military is not God.  The US is an incredible country.  Democracy is a beautiful reality when it works well.  But the US is not the Kingdom of God.  This means that giving too much allegiance to these may be an unwitting choice to displace God, to follow a false prophet.  Placing our hope in the US and it's ways is easy for us since we are the current global superpower.  But it is limited.  

Placing our hope in God, as exemplified in and taught by Christ, however, takes us to a much bigger fear-conqueror.  Our hope is not pinned to our national defense, but rather to a God who calls us to sow peace and respond in peace-promoting ways.  Our hope is in God who is able to get us through the storms of life and even create beauty in spite of it.  Our hope is in God who is with us now, and will welcome us home when this ride is over.  Our God is bigger than the US, bigger than Capitalism, bigger than the UN, bigger than terrorism.

How do you calm the fear of global terrorism?  By turning more and more to God.

May you, with eyes wide open, expect difficult seasons in life.  May you look to God for life even as you feel threatened.  May you have courage to be as Jesus and walk by another Rule, a better Way, that you may be connected to the Life that is greater and bigger than any adversary we might face.  May you then experience the beauty of God's redemption, repeatedly, as you help others experience the same.