What does the church owe Gabby Giffords?
The senseless shooting of a U.S. congresswoman and others in Tucson, Arizona, has people talking. As with every tragedy, we seek to make sense out of it by blaming someone. If we can categorize this act, we can deal with it rationally. But theological reality runs in the opposite direction. This act was evil, and evil is irrational. There are no categories of reason for an act like this one. The angst in Christians overreaches in trying to pin this action on explainable deeds. Last night when I pulled into my steep uphill driveway, I was greeted by six inches of snow that fell while I was out of town. My tires had no traction on the incline. I sat there, wheels spinning, going nowhere—like our words that try to explain irrational evil.
The other tendency is to demonize and dehumanize the man who did this. Similar to what Nazis did to Jews, when we demonize someone we make that person less than human and thereby legitimize his or her extinction. But the young man in Arizona is fully human and evil. He is a chilling reminder of what we are all capable of being. We must remember that one of us did this to one of us. This man is no alien, but a person who lives in a community. By calling him human, we are able to call his deed evil. And it is right that justice be done to the evildoer. We cannot relieve ourselves of this dark reminder of what humans are capable of by placing him in a non-human category.
So what do we do with this situation and our responses to it?
I am grateful for the call that has risen for charitable discourse among political dissenters. Both sides of the aisle and every political movement could stand a heavy dose of respect for a fellow human. I think the church of Jesus could play a stronger role in leading the way toward mature conversation among those who differ on issues. In A Charitable Discourse: Talking About the Things that Divide Us, my newest book (to be released in February), I address the practices of Jihad that have made their way into the church as a pattern for dealing with dissent. I write about labeling, half-truth, scripture-quoting, grandstanding, and enemy-making as practices that have found a home among us. While the octane and anger of the political rhetoric bothers me deeply, I am even more concerned that our pulpits and church conversations have become so toxic.
But the thing that weighs on my heart for Gabby Giffords and others is not those issues. What the church owes Gabby and the world is to do our work in the trenches of human brokenness. No other organism or organization in the world is more strategically placed to care for the broken, sick, and deranged among us. The church of Jesus is located on the avenues of community life. We know who these people are in our towns. I have often thought that God gave the congregations I served more than their fair share of the unbalanced. Caring for them is hard work. But it is our responsibility to care for them, give them a community rather than isolation, get them to medical help if needed, and seek to bring healing to them. They are the neighbor in the ditch. We are the Good Samaritan.
When the church adds to public anger rather than calling for a civil discourse, it fuels these folks. We unleash an anger in them which they may not be capable of controlling. I am not suggesting that this shooting was the fault of the church. As I learned early in life, God does not will every situation, but God has a will in every situation. Maybe the will of God in this moment is that his people embrace our calling to heal the broken. Maybe it is a moment to reprioritize what we are doing. Rather than seeking to out-entertain the world, install over-powering technology, and get noticed, maybe we should do the thankless work of befriending these needy neighbors.
What do I hope? I hope our pastors will teach their people to pray for government leaders rather than hate them. I hope we can learn to discuss political issues without being divided as a body of Christ. I hope we will seize this moment of tragedy to renew our commitment to care for the deranged.
This is what we owe Gabby Giffords.
17 Responses to “What does the church owe Gabby Giffords?”
Wendall
January 12th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
I say amen to all you say here. I am doing my best at conveying this from the pulpit especially at prayer time. Though I have strong oppinions on the direction our country is going attacking each other personally is wrong only anger and hate come from this.
Rev. Ginger Holland
January 12th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I believe the Lord is convicting all of us about our need to sacrifice more to help those who struggle. I am interested in your thoughts on the apparent shrine of occult worship found in the shooter’s backyard. It was amazing to hear his friend’s account on a Today show interview of how much he had changed in the last 3 years to a point of being beyond reality. A friend’s parent indicated that marijuana & other drugs had possibly begun the journey toward this terrible tragedy. I’m afraid too many of our young don’t understand the doors that are opened and the spiritual warfare that IS constant reality. We tend to demonize people when it is the Enemy who is really the enemy.
Rich Schmidt
January 12th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Excellent response, Dr. Boone. May all of us live this out in our churches, families, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
John Nipe
January 12th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Dan,
Thanks again for your insightful Blog, I, too, hope that churches begin to pray for rather than rail at our elected officials. Let us know when your book is available, it is the type of discourse I am interested in sharing with my Sunday School class and fellow leaders in the church.
I clicked these links. You should too. « To Will One Thing
January 13th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
[...] Everything Dan Boone writes is worth reading. Especially this post about Gabby Giffords. [...]
Wess Adams
January 13th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Dr. Dan Boone,
Thanks for your Boldness in addressing current controversy. One other fear I have is; too many Church leaders avoid comments, on any controversy, trying to be neutral & non-confrentational they become anemic and lose value, maybe out of a desire to be non-toxic, as your 4th paragraph ends recounting that one fear of yours. My prayer is that many Pulpits will regain a Boldness to speak TRUTH and without being ashamed or afraid, be willing to be accountable calling their congregations to accountability to Stand. We need Joshua’s, who will draw a clear line in the sand, and call everyone to choose whom they will serve.
Dr Boone I also appreciate your mentioning; “a moment to reprioritize what we are doing. Rather than seeking to out-entertain the world, install over-powering technology, and get noticed, maybe we should do the thankless work of befriending these needy neighbors.” We as the Church have failed too long in DOING what we have relinquished to the governments. It is time to Stand be counted as Faithful to DO the will of our God.
“Let’s Round-Up the Strays, Before the Last Days”
Wess
I look forward to your new book, I certainly enjoyed “The Worship Plot”
Ron Frye
January 13th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Henry Blackabey was right when he said, “If the world is gettin darker, the problem is not with the darkness but with the light.” It is certainly time for the salt and light of Christ’s Church to be engaged among the poor and oppressed.
Clair Budd
January 13th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Dan,
Full of insight (as usual!) — both theologically and practically (why do we so often dichotomize these?). Thanks for the perspective and the stimulation!
Larry Starkey
January 13th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Sorry, I can’t agree…this statement “God does not will every situation, but God has a will in every situation” sounds the same as saying “there is a reason for everything that happens”. When will we realize the randomness of creation and stop gravitating towards cute phrases that do nothing but drive people away from a god that engages somehow in all tragedies for his/her benefit On the other hand, I appreciate the request for pastors to embrace all politicians in prayer. The President showed remarkable leadership last night.
Gary Lee Parker
January 14th, 2011 at 2:14 am
Thank you Reverend Dan Boone for your insights. I was reminded through an article about the shooter’s parents and how hurt and frustrated about what their son did. As a parent of a son who has a disability as well as a trained pastor and chaplain, I can relate to what his parents are going through. I have always been asked what the church can do for me, but I myself am at a loss for words. I wondered what they meant whether they meant to give him up to the state in an institution or to keep him with me, but some how there was never treatment of my son as a person made fully in God’s image. What can the church learn from the tragedy in Tucson? This question keeps coming back to my mind as I prepare to remember a great 20th century Prophet of God, Reverend Martin Luther Kink, Jr. Just maybe the teaching of non-violent, civil discourse is what the church should embrace as Jesus taught, Francis of Assisi taught, Mohatma Ghandi taught, Martin Luther King, Jr. taught, and teachings of Perfect Love and Social Holiness we have received through Reverend John Wesley and Reverend Phineas Bresee from the heritage of the Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. How about it? Are you ready to live in perfect love towards all people and practice the theology that Jesus died for all people? Blessings.
Tim
January 14th, 2011 at 2:42 am
I find it interesting how quickly we move from the pain and suffering these events cause to analyzing the causes that lie beneath them. In the process we minimize humanity and glorify human intelligence in a quest to somehow “better ourselves or our society” by responding to or hopefully even eliminating the variables in the test tube that created this particular “monster”. The second greatest commandment, as Jesus reminded the one seeking eternal life, is that we love one another the way we love ourselves. By applying our limited intellect, rather than the lmitless love of God, to the situation we bypass the second greatest commandment and short-circuit God’s remedy for the brokenness of those nearby. If we would stop trying to understand and be satisfied to simply love (i.o.w. “care for”) the ones nearby, perhaps more healing could take place and fewer events of this nature would occur.
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January 14th, 2011 at 10:09 am
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Rodger Allen Jones
January 15th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Stimulating thoughts and creating conversation as usual. The statement …”This act was evil, and evil is irrational. There are no categories of reason for an act like this one.” I agree. This is another reminder of human reality that a life not embraced by a clearly defined divine purpose has the potential to walk aimless in this world. There is still hope. All involved need to be covered in prayer. That is the duty of us who are “called by His name.” This young man is included in this. Fortunately, his full life story is not complete yet, even though he has written a pretty rough chapter.
I somehow am reminded of another person who had a rather violent past, including killing. Through Gods benevolent grace, this man had an encounter that forever changed his life and his life’s calling. He was known in his more destructive days as Saul. His story gives hope to this situation and particularily this young man. Paul, as he became to be, made a remarkable change after his God encounter. Our prayer needs to be for this young man that the same grace can be a reality to someone whom, from all insights, is a person in a non-reality existence. It will not change the outcome of what happened, but it can change an eternal outcome. The church has been given another chance to ‘be the church.’ This is how we as a church body can “do our work in the trenches of human brokenness.” May we be faithful to this cause not only in this situation, but all that lay ahead.
Caroline
January 17th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Thank you for your thought-provoking post. Your call to action for the church reminds me of these words from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail: “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
Jamie Hill
February 9th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
The beauty of Trevecca’s Physician Assistant program is that in those walls men and women are trained to intersect human tragedy, pain, and death with the peace and healing only Christ can give. Trevecca has the responsibility and privilege to train folks in many different disciplines to be salt and light to a dark world. Keep up the great work God has blessed you with up on our hill.
Dwain Butler
May 27th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
“As I learned early in life, God does not will every situation, but God has a will in every situation.” I read one reply that presented a counter argument. I too feel that “God does not have a WILL for or in every situation..” I think it is generally harmless to have this belief, but in some cases it can lead to just the type of non-civil discourse we seek to avoid. We have witnessed non-civil discourse over such things such as “homosexuality caused the Aids epidemic.: Things happen. At creation, the “laws of physics” were established and set in motion (sorry chemists and biologists, but I have an inherently biased view that physics is THE fundamental science; I will be happy to have a civil discourse with you on why I feel this way). Things happen. Floods occur. Hurricanes occur. Earthquakes occur. I don’t see God sitting on his throne saying “I have a will or plan for the occurrence of this event and will use it to glorify my name.” It IS in my belief system to feel that God has a plan/will for my life…..or God has a plan for my church…or….. But the danger comes when we get so deeply into this “God’s Will” stuff that when we pray for something trivial or nonessential, such as, a “particular parking place ” to open up for us” that we think or say, “Well, I guess it just wasn’t God’s will for me to park there.” No, the answer is that the person who owns the car parking in that spot also has a life, a plan, and a will (free will–remember that concept that we have come up with to describe God’s plan for us as huans?). Yes, Dan Boone has the correct insights into the human condition to identify the lack of civil discourse on difficult issues as the achilles heel of both our country and its citizens and the church and individual Christians. Thanks Dan. You notice I didn’t say “I disagree with you;” I just have another opinion on the issue.
Dave Jackson
May 31st, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Dan, I stumbled across your blog last night, spent some time reading, and this post, among others, really made me remember the no-nonsense, straightforward, and down-to-Earth approach you took in yiour sermons, in shepherding, and as a friend.
I’m proud to be among those who can say I’ve known you on a personal and professional level, as a friend and as a church member. Your impact on my life made me long to be a better man. Much of your teaching still guides my life today, though much has changed. I spent 8 months of 2010 in the hospital, had seven surgeries, a trach put in (which is still in), a stomach tube, was in a medically-induced coma for two months, and a lot of other stuff going on. By God’s grace, I’m now married to the woman I fell in love with as a teen, and we’ve been together for almost 12 years. She prayed earnestly and steadfastly while I was in the medically-induced coma and the doctors were giving her poor odds for my survival. Now, after having been home for seven months, I am still bedridden, but God’s grace is more than sufficient to carry me through even my darkest and most challenging Job-like days.
Again, Dan, thanks for your willingness to respond to God’s call upon your life. I look foirward to learning about your new book and finding out how to buy a copy.
Cheers,
Dave Jackson (Scoop0901)
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