The Separation of Church and Hate

To begin with I want to state clearly that I think that any church protesting at a child's funeral because the state they live in supports gay marriage is horrible.  I think that the Wesboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of twenty murdered children is no less than evil.  That being said, I have serious qualms about one of the ways my friends on the Internet are fighting back.

I received an invitation to sign a petition that is being sent to the President that asks him to declare the Westboro Baptist Church a hate organization, therefore taking away their rights as a church.  I agree that something has to be done.  Someone should sit them down and talk to them about the all loving and all forgiving savior that they say they follow, but President Obama is not the person to do it.

Before you get up in arms, I am not making some kind of critique of the President.  I am saying that it is not the President's job to determine what is a valid church and what is not.  You may have heard of a concept called the separation of church and state.  Even though it is tossed around for some silly reasons (your kid can't pray over his lunch, that is a violation of the separation of church and state, or some such silly complaints...) this is what the separation of church and state was made for.  The government doesn't have the right to tell a church whether it is a legitimate church or not.  There are many churches out there that probably were not formed for the right reasons, but the government can't make that decision.  In fact, really, only God can tell what is in the heart and make that call.

Even though I would not be sad to see hate mongering churches go the way of the Dodo, government determination would be the wrong way to go.  Just imagine for a moment that President Obama is so enraged that someone would be that hateful as to harm the families grieving over their babies, and decides to ratify your petition.  OK, he decides to say that church is not a church but a hate group.  How many other petitions would follow?  You know how well all we religious brothers and sisters get along.  How long would it be before one church asks for another to be declared not a church?

In my first call, I was in a really small southern town.  Our little Presbyterian church was proud to have a female associate pastor, so every time I preached they would put my name and sermon title on their message board.  So, every time I preached the local Church of Christ, which had it's own radio program at noon on Sunday, would preach about how evil the Presbyterian church was because they let a woman speak in church.  We were all going to hell, etc...  That was hateful and directed specifically at me!  However, I would not ever dare ask anyone to invalidate their ministry.  They still fed the hungry, and did their best.  OK, yes, I think they had some serious things wrong with their theology, but as I have said before, we are ALL sinful people.  We all hold wrong ideas.  We all make mistakes.  As my brother's bumper sticker in High School read, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

And then a really scary thought:  My own denomination is very divided over the ordination and marriage of homosexuals.  Every time it comes up both sides threaten to leave the denomination if they don't get their way.  What if the government could tell a church whether or not it was a church.  One side would argue that the other is theologically wrong and shouldn't be a church.  The other side could say that their opponents were prejudiced and hateful.  Aren't those the same accusations against the Westboro Baptist church?  I know, and love, and minister to people on both sides of this argument.  I strongly believe that one side is wrong, but that doesn't make them not Christians.  It doesn't make them any less our brothers and sisters.  One day Jesus will correct us all where we have wrong, hateful, or prejudice thoughts.  One day Jesus will return and fix the mess that we have made of the church and religion, but we are very arrogant if we say that WE can determine which churches should and should not exist.

By all means tell anyone you know who would be hateful enough to picket funerals that they need to have a long talk with Jesus about love and forgiveness.  Make your voice heard on the Internet, or TV, or wherever you can.  But please don't have emotional knee jerk reactions.  That is what the hatemongers are doing.  A petition to the President is not going to accomplish anything, nor is it the wise way to deal with the problem.  To be honest I don't know what the wise thing is.  Actually, I think it is hilarious that hackers keep attacking their web site and twitter account.  Maybe that is the answer.

What I do know is the Christian response should be to shower those families that lost their children (or wives, or husbands, or parents) with the love of God.  Support them.  Uphold them.  Send cards, e-mails, flowers and let them know that they are loved.  That is what will combat the evil and hate of the narrow minded.  Drown out their hate with love.

Grace and Peace to all of you!

Slow Down and Smell the Pine

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog.  Christmas is coming and things have been crazy! We have a Cantata and Christmas Eve service to plan at church, the tree, presents, and decorations at home.  Don't forget to bake cookies for the cookie exchange.  In the midst of that the boys have plays and concerts at school.  It is enough to make your head spin.

So, how come we celebrate the coming of peace on earth by getting crazy?  Shouldn't Christmas bring calm and peace?  Shouldn't we take time to sit and quietly contemplate the lights and the tree and what they represent?

Well, maybe we should consider what the first Christmas was like.  Caesar decided to have a census so everyone had to travel to the home of their ancestors.  Joseph had to take a very pregnant, teenage Mary cross country on a donkey.  Why?  So that they could be taxed properly!  (So don't complain about sitting on your chair having to do your taxes online!  You don't have to travel for miles in the cold via donkey to get your tax info.)

When they got to Bethlehem it was NOT peaceful.  The town was completely packed with people who were probably grumpy about having to travel to be taxed, too.  On the plus side, since most of them came from that town, there was probably a lot of family reunion stuff going on.  Any of you who have a big family reunion know that it is fun, but peaceful doesn't always describe it.  OK, sitting on the porch by the fire at Darlene's is peaceful as long as its not too cold, but Amy and her water balloons, not so much!

So baby Jesus was born in a manger to exhausted parents.  Oh, and the "no crying he makes" is not from the Bible.  God came down to be human for us, to experience what it is to be human.  Jesus cried and needed diapers changed.  Any of you who are parents know that having a new baby is anything but peaceful.

So if we are not celebrating peace, what are we celebrating?  To quote C3PO from the Star Wars Christmas album (because it is ohhh so theologically correct...)  "We have a day when love came to stay."  Love came down at Christmas. 

Christmas is the day that "For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son" happened.  The thought that an all powerful and all knowing God would love us enough to come down and be one of us is mind blowing.  God loved us enough to want to know what it is like to be us.  God loved us enough to suffer and die to pay for our sins.  That should make us want to turn into one giant flash mob singing "Joy to the World."

I would love to have a peaceful Christmas, but I will settle for a joyful Christmas full of love and loved ones.  Maybe once I retire we can have a peaceful Christmas... except that we might have grandchildren to spoil...

Whatever your situation I wish you love and joy this Christmas, and to those who need it most - peace!