RESPONDING IN MOMENTS OF TRAGEDY
The news that has emerged out of both Buffalo, NY and Laguna Woods, CA has been gut-wrenching: two separate incidents that resulted in the loss fellow image-bearers. Just as sorrowful and gut-wrenching is that both of these crimes were racially-motivated.
In cultural moments like these, the Church has often been confused on how it should respond. But her response is needed. Our response is needed. The world is watching to see how those who are called Christ-ambassadors, who are called to live as a faithful presence in this world, will respond.
For that reason, in the early life of Living Fellowship, I wanted to offer a foundation for how we as a church ought to both understand our role in these moments, and how we ought to respond to tragedies in our community, our nation and our world. My hope is that these three things (lament, speaking truthfully, and working for peace) will be normal practices in the life of Living Fellowship Church.
LAMENT - We are to weep with those who weep. (Rom 12:15)
Lamenting is common in Scripture and should be a consistent practice of the church, but it is not something we are comfortable with. We are more comfortable with explanation. But lamenting is not explanation, it is coming to the Lord crying out, without understanding, asking why evil seems to be winning. Lament is crying out in horror that God seems to be distant. "Why, Oh Lord….How Long, Oh Lord…" is the cry of lament (Psalm 10:1,13:1). Lamenting is also relational:
Relationship with God - We come to the Lord with our grief, bewilderment and request. We ask with boldness for God to see, hear and act. (Lamentations 5)
Relationship with those Suffering - When we lament and allow our neighbors, communities or nations suffering to be the content of our prayers, we are engaging in neighborly love. We are saying, “We see you. We stand with you. We long with you.”
Lamenting should be our first response to any tragedy: not explanation, but joining in with the chorus of lament, “Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!” But lament is not the final destination.
SPEAK TRUTHFULLY - We are to know what is true and speak truthfully in love. (Eph 4:15)
When we see evil, we are to speak truthfully and clearly by calling evil what it is. This could be in our prayers, conversations, posts and/or in our spaces of influence. To do that, we need to understand what is beautiful and true, and distinguish it from what is evil and false. The primary source of truth for us is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. What is true, beautiful and commanded by God is, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "binding and not a question open to debate."
If we are not familiar with what is true and beautiful, then when we see tragic events in our community, nation and world, we can easily get confused and can become silent when we must speak truthfully about these events with love. We are to be a truth-telling people, exposing the works of darkness, if we are confused on what is true and beautiful, we become who we are not.
WORK FOR PEACE- We are the salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13 )
If we acknowledge a problem and do nothing about it, it usually continues to fester. This is especially true where sin continues to be present. For this reason, when we see evil, we must not just point our fingers at it (truth-telling), but we should, by God’s grace and in partnership with Him, work in such a way to stop the spread of evil. One use of salt is that it is used to stop decay. This is how we are to labor for peace in our community. After seeing evil around us, as God’s people, we will not stop at just pointing at injustice and evil, but somehow will get right next to it with God’s help, and engage the problem with biblical solutions.
We work for peace knowing that Peace has come and is coming. It's not a fool's errand to work for peace and reconciliation, because we are working in partnership with the Prince of Peace. Christ who we are waiting for now to restore peace fully!
As God’s family, this is how we are to respond to evil and the tragedy it produces: lament, speak truthfully, and work for peace.
Sadly, there are numerous moments we can apply these three responses. But as we wait on Christ’s return, let us imitate our Elder Brother, Christ, who has done the same:
Christ lamented evil and its grip on our world. (John 11:35; Matt 23:37-39)
Christ shined light in the darkness and called evil what it is. (John 1:1-5; Luke 4:18)
Christ worked for peace both in his physical compassion and his instruction to his followers. (Luke 10)
My prayer is that these three things would be true for how Living Fellowship Church responds with a gospel confidence in moments of tragedy locally, nationally and globally, whether it be in our prayers, our posts or in our conversations.
