repentance

A Christian Response to the Attempted Assassination

Like many of you, I’ve been attentive to the news cycle since the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The news is disconcerting and troubling in the midst of our increasingly divided political climate.

Like many of you, I gathered with my congregation at worship on Sunday July 14. One of our lay elders, Steve Robinson, preached a fantastic message about our hope in God in the midst of trial. Another of our lay elders, Vince Adams, prayed for our country, the former President, the current President, and the political atmosphere in our country. Worshiping with God’s people on Sunday was a reminder of the necessity of trusting in a sovereign God in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty.

As I’ve wrestled with the events of this past Saturday, here are a few observational reminders for us as Christ-followers.

We must align ourselves with truth and justice, not speculation and conspiracy theories. The memes, political commentary, and conspiracy theories are running rampant. From social media to mainstream media; from podcasts to water cooler conversations, opinions, theories, and speculations are prevalent. I’ve had some of these conversations myself. We may never know all the details. Sixty years from now the information surrounding this assassination attempt may be just as convoluted as the information surrounding the JFK assassination. It is our nature to speculate, wonder, and attempt to figure out. These pursuits are not wrong in themselves. But as Christians, we are to pursue truth and justice, not foolish speculations and conspiratorial wonderings. Our cultural moment situated between mainstream media and social media is primed for conspiratorial and political divisiveness. When we inordinately focus on these speculations, we can be driven to fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety drown out faith and peace in our lives. As a result, the attention of our hearts and minds must be rooted in the eternal Word of God and the truths that bring calmness and peace. God’s Word not only addresses the peace we need in this moment, but even more importantly points to eternity where God’s justice and truth will reign forever.

We must pursue loving-kindness and compassion for our neighbors, even those with whom we disagree politically. Paul wrote, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Jesus preached, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The political division in our country is evident in our communities, on social media, and in many of our relational interactions. Too many people in our country view the other side of the political aisle as true enemies rather than political opponents. Too much vitriol and anger has been spewed through political rhetoric. Christian should not be part of the vitriolic speech and combative, enemy driven terminology. Yes, as Christians our values and morals are in conflict with prevailing culture. And, yes, we should participate in the political processes available to us to engage Christian morality in our culture . But we must remember that our kingdom is not of this world. We do not enter this conflict playing by the world’s rules or the standards of our culture. Our character and conduct must rise above the vitriol and political divisiveness of our land. Our demeanor must reflect that of our Savior and King who teaches us to live for eternal victory in the world to come, not political victories in the world of now.

We need a revival that stems from God’s work in our country and repentance in our hearts. We must lament, pray, and seek God’s face for ourselves and for our country. While we should be grateful the assassination attempt was unsuccessful, we should grieve for the family of Corey Comperatore as well as the shooter’s family. Pursuit of revival will mean personal and corporate repentance and prayer. Pursuit of revival will mean unapologetic, prophetic preaching from our pulpits against the sins of our land. Do not misunderstand. To love one another in compassion and to love and pray for our enemies is not to condone sinfulness or ignore the unrighteousness surrounding us. If you want to see Jesus’ example of prophetic preaching with lament for the sinfulness of his people, read Matthew 23. What this means for us as Christians is a proper balancing of political and revival perspective. The proposed solutions of political parties and candidates can only be partial solutions (if that) to the problems and issues in our land. The real solution, the ultimate need is not for our politics to get fixed, but for our hearts to repent and revival to attend our land. See God’s invitation in 2 Chronicles 7:14. May God bring to our land another Great Awakening where his people are found in lamentation and repentance and those far from God are found and rescued by the Good Shepherd.

We practice faith and confidence in God’s rule by gathering for worship regularly to declare our allegiance to Jesus . Our primary allegiance is to our King. The Kingdom of Jesus is now (the rule of Christ in the spread of the gospel through the works and words of his church) and future (the rule of Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords when he sets up his throne over heaven and earth). The reason our laments, our frustrations, our prayers, our concerns for each other, and our gospel works and words in the world have meaning in the broken world today is that they point to the coming King who will bring peace and perfection when he returns. The way we declare allegiance to Jesus today and prepare for the future is to worship Jesus now–regularly and consistently. Author and theologian N.T. Wright described the role of Christian worship as a declaration of allegiance to Christ and our positive affirmation of the kingdom of Christ (now and to come) as well as our act of protest against the prevailing wickedness in the world today:

All kingdom work is rooted in worship. Or, to put it the other way around, worshipping the God we see at work in Jesus is the most politically charged act we can ever perform. Christian worship declares that Jesus is Lord and that therefore, by strong implication, nobody else is. What’s more, it doesn’t just declare it as something to be believed, like the fact that the sun is hot or the sea wet. It commits the worshiper to allegiance, to following this Jesus, to being shaped and directed by him. Worship the God we see in Jesus orients our whole being, our imagination, our will, our hopes, and our fears away from the world where Mars, Mammon, and Aphrodite (violence, money, and sex) make absolute demands and punish anyone who resists. It orients us instead to a world in which love is stronger than death, the poor are promised the kingdom, and chastity (whether married or single) reflects the holiness and faithfulness of God himself. Acclaiming Jesus as a Lord plants a flag that supersedes the flags of the nations however ‘free’ or ‘democratic’ they may be. It challenges both the tyrants who think they are, in effect, divine and the ‘secular democracies’ that have effectively become, if not divine, at least ecclesial, that is, communities that are trying to do and be what the church was supposed to do and to be, but without recourse to the one who sustains the church’s life. Worship creates or should create, if it allowed to be truly itself—a community that marches to a different beat, that keeps in step with a different Lord.”
–N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus, 217.

May we gather weekly to do all the work of the mission by worshiping the Savior King to whom we belong. May we pursue revival in our preaching and our prayers. May we act with the compassion and loving-kindness of Jesus our Savior. May we live our lives seeking truth and justice.

Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash

Your Sin Will Find You Out

I’ve been a Southern Baptist for my entire life. I grew up in Southern Baptist Churches, went to Southern Baptist schools, and pastor a Southern Baptist Church. By doctrine and conviction, I am a Southern Baptist. And I am broken and angry.

Sunday afternoon, May 22, the Sexual Abuse Task Force posted the Guidepost Solution’s Investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee and its handling of sexual abuse allegations. It is a devastating read. The headlines of the report are being published on mainline news sites.

But as devastating as it is to read about dismissing victims, cover ups, dishonesty, immorality, and the like, I can’t even begin to imagine how devastating the abuse was for the victims detailed in the report. No one should be sexually abused. Ever. And it most certainly should never come from someone claiming to be a Christian or someone who is a pastor or church leader. When victims are shamed, dismissed, and dishonored to protect perpetrators, it only adds to the sin.

At last year’s SBC annual meeting, the messengers spoke loudly that they wanted an investigation into allegations that denominational leaders had mishandled allegations of sexual abuse. This report details those findings. The sober reality facing our denomination is that you cannot hide from God.

In Numbers 32, two and a half of Israel’s tribes asked to be able to settle on the not-Promised Land side of the Jordan. Moses told them that they could settle there, but that their men/warriors must travel with their brothers into the land to help them inhabit the Promised Land. Here is what he told them:

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. 

Numbers 32:23

This text suggests a fascinating contrast. Israel was about to inhabit the Promised Land. They were finally at their place of refuge and redemption. God had rescued them from Egypt and judged them through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Yet even in his judgment, he sustained them with food and protection for 40 years. Then on the precipice of fulfillment, a few tribes wanted their land early. The warning, fulfill your obligation to your brothers or “be sure your sin will find you out.”

This is where we are as a denomination. God has accomplished many good and redemptive realities through SBC churches, missionaries, and seminaries. God’s redemptive work uses even fallen men and women.

Yet our sin has found us out.

Maybe like me, you have tried to hide some sin. And like me, God uncovered that sin.

Our denominational leaders who were more concerned about liability than truth cannot hide from God. It has been uncovered.

Those who have perpetrated abuse cannot hide from God. Some were uncovered in this report. Too many more will not face justice in this life. But none can hide their sin from God. It will be uncovered.

Southern Baptists should be angry after this report. Most of us are not guilty of abuse or cover up or dismissing victims. Rank and file Southern Baptists just want our denominational leaders to act with integrity and justice. We should be angry that our polity was used to excuse acting with compassion and justice. Every dollar given by Southern Baptist Churches has been funneled through an entity entrusted with the stewardship of money and mission for the sake of the gospel. But those entrusted with these offerings have damaged that trust. Opting for personal and institutional protection, they neglected the abused and the broken.

I’m not sure about what will happen next. The Guidepost report recommends specific actions that the messengers can take. We will see at the annual meeting on June 14 and 15.

What do we do going forward?

  • We confess. Part of the reason so many of us are angry is that our cooperative giving through the entity of the Executive Committee connects us to this report. It is appropriate then that we confess the coverup and dishonesty that is present among denominational leadership.
  • We pray. We pray for the victims. We pray for the abusers. We pray for denominational leaders. We pray for the messengers in Anaheim who will meet and act on the recommendations brought to the floor.
  • We act. It is our obligation as a church to care for the abused and broken. Churches should be safe havens for the hurting, not for predators. Churches must take care through policies and procedures to protect those who attend and make it difficult for abusers to use our churches for their sins. I believe the messengers got it right last year asking for an investigation. It will be important that the messengers act again this year with a path forward holding our entities accountable for how they handle these issues.

Photo by Joshua Brown on Unsplash