After this most recent tragedy in Paris, social media and the regular media outlets have been flooded with what has become the new normal rhetoric after terrorist attacks or almost any type of violent tragedy. There are those who are blaming the current politicians saying if "their guy" was in charge this would have never happened. There are those praying for all the people involved. There are the people who scream for war and revenge. There are those who talk about more guns, those who want to blame a large group of people, those who want us to stay out of the situation, those who say more security, those who blame history, and the list goes on and on. I truly believe that all of the reactions people have to these types of tragedies are initially justified. We all grieve and grieve differently. We are all trying to understand what type of evil could do such a thing. But after the initial shock of the event, things change...or the responses should change, but instead, too often, the responses become even more radical.
Full disclosure, I am a Lutheran Youth Minister. I am a Christian and a vast majority of my friends and connections are Christian because I work for a church. I heard about the Paris attacks on Friday night while on a retreat with 40 teenagers as we were preparing to worship. My heart sunk when I received a text message from one of the dads saying "FYI, Paris was just attacked by Terrorists." I quickly looked it up on my phone to see around 40 dead at the time with multiple bombs that had gone off and shootings. We began worship as planned and during the opening prayer we prayed for the people of Paris, the victims, the attackers, and pleaded with God for peace. As the weekend went on we slowly heard more details, the death toll rose, and we continued to pray. The weekend came to a close, we prayed some more, it was all we could do. I woke up Monday morning exhausted and did my daily Facebook catchup and of course my news feed was flooded with people's opinions of the attackers and what should happen next. Slowly an anger built up inside me as I scrolled through my news feed.
I discovered pure and utter hate. "Keep the Muslims out!" "Bomb them all!" "Kill or be killed!" These things coming from people who claim to be Christians.Friends, politicians, neighbors, and strangers alike not just condemning the acts but making their own threats of retaliation as if they have been given the permission to do just as horrible of an act and be deemed a hero. I don't know what made me more angry, the comments themselves or the fact that I am no longer shocked by these comments!
What really makes me angry is I have begun to feel hate for those Christians who spew hate towards anyone who is different than them! They have gotten under my skin so badly I have become one of them. I am a Christian who hates Christians who hate!
I struggle to really understand this hate that Christians have and how they can justify it while saying they are Christ followers (even though I apparently do the same thing). Jesus was not always clear on everything but somethings he couldn't have been more clear on. For example, Jesus was pretty clear on what to do with your enemy. He said to LOVE them! At no point did he say, "Seek revenge and make it even worse on them!" In fact he said the opposite, "if someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also." -Matthew 5:39. He even says, "pray for those who persecute you! For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good..." -Matthew 5:44. Hello Church! There is no possible way for Jesus to be more clear on this! Oh and if for some reason you read this and thought, "Maybe Jesus wasn't clear enough." Jesus actually goes and demonstrates his point to us! When Jesus is dying on the cross, being murdered, he musters up enough strength to call to God and asks God to forgive the people who are in the process of killing him! This could not be more clear, words and a demonstration!
So this is why I struggle when I see "Christians" calling for revenge or for war or for inhuman reactions to terrorist attacks and other types of tragedies. Those types of reactions could be some of the most unchristian reactions possible! As Christians we are supposed to be counter-cultural, different than the main stream, radical in our thoughts and action. Revenge is not different or radical, it is simple, gutless, and cowardice. But forgiving and loving someone who has taken everything from you, now that takes courage, guts, and faith! Faith that just maybe, God is bigger and better than all of our wars, stronger than our hate for one another, and powerful enough to bring change to a world that has gone horribly wrong.
As Christians, followers of Christ, we should believe that love conquers all. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." And yet we continue to respond to hate with hate. I am constantly reminded of the saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Hello world! Hello Christians! We have gone insane! Maybe it is time that we try a different approach and instead of revenge and hateful speech, maybe we try love and forgiveness.
We are always reminded as Christians that when we pray we aren't always given what we ask for but instead opportunities to practice what we need to do (ie. pray for patients and God will give you opportunities to practice being patient). I am pretty sure every single Christian at one point or another has prayed for world peace. I am sure most churches do so every Sunday when they gather. Maybe, just maybe these tragedies are opportunities for us to practice peace! (please don't hear this wrong, I do NOT believe that God let this tragedy happen so that a bunch of Christians can learn how to be peaceful, but I do believe that God can create opportunities for good out of any evil)
So Christian brothers and sisters, as I struggle to find love for so many of you right now, I am going to do my best to practice what I am preaching. I am going to try to forgive you and I am going to try to love you. I am going to try to forgive the men who murdered over 120 people in Paris this week. I am going to try to forgive the Islamic State for their continued evil they bring to this world. I am going to try to forgive those who have attacked so many other nations this past month, year, and beyond. I am going to offer up love and pray for them (along with all of the victims). And most of all I am going to ask God to help me. Some may see this as weak, but I truly believe that this is a radically different way of living that is harder than any war we could fight. Bombs and guns will never end any of this. History has proven this. Love is really the only answer and guess what, that has been proven as well. All you have to do is look at the empty cross. Love has already won.
(NOTE: I do have many Christian friends who have posted amazing comments of love following these tragedies. I give thanks for you and your example!)
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