I really do find myself struggling with my own human tendency to violence lately. That doesn't mean I've been getting into brawls at my session meetings or picking random fights with Baptists.
It's that I've bothered comparing my feelings towards the Somalian piracy issue with my Christian faith. On the one hand, I have no patience whatsoever towards individuals who are willing to threaten others for material gain. That is, quite simply, evil. But that's not the only ethos that I have trouble with.
The idea that somehow seizing ships and holding individual sailors as hostages should be viewed primarily in terms of cost/benefit analyses is equally alien. Those ship owners and insurance actuaries who'd rather just pay ransoms seem to just be enabling ongoing violence. Their marketized morality couldn't care less about the terror inflicted on captive sailors and their families. It's all about acceptable risk and maintaining profitability.
I freely admit to desiring an aggressive response to the narced up and heavily armed men who've been seizing ships, and to having taken some satisfaction in the Special Forces action that freed the captain of the Mersk Alabama. For all of the reporting on the anarchy, poverty, and tribalism in Somalia, my willingness to accept varying cultural norms runs out well before I'm willing to tolerate hostage taking and the armed seizure of goods. At some level, I'd like to see more intense responses, in the form of a multilateral effort to both take out the land bases that have been supporting pirate activity and re-establish the rule of law.
On the other hand, I'm troubled that I have such a strong positive reaction to the application of coercive power. I'm reasonably sure that the only authentic Christian response to three perfectly synchronized headshots should be sorrow at the loss of life. Here, I tend to fall back on St. Augustine's City of God for my theological framework. Are Christians permitted to use force? Augustine thought so, but only in defense of an innocent. That use of force can't be vengeful, or driven by blood lust. It needs to be guided not by a desire to destroy, but a desire to build up and restore.
Showing posts with label pirate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pirate. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Dread Pastor Roberts
Over the last month, I've instituted something new in both the email newsletter and the worship bulletin of my little church. That new thing is fairly simple: a worship headcount. It's a pretty straightforward thing, really, and is a way of illustrating a bit of data that is easy to miss in the gracious intimacy of our little fellowship.
That bit o' empirical reality is this: after six years of a group of diligent and hardworking folks working together to revitalize a dying suburban church, we're not at the point where we're self sustaining. Yes, membership has grown. Worship attendance has doubled. Our giving has nearly tripled. But after all that time, we're still not a self-supporting congregation. We're still significantly reliant on the small endowment of the church, and that endowment has taking a brutal beating over the last year.
Unless something shifts dramatically in the near term future and the trend-lines run in a different direction, we'll run smack up against an inescapable reality: we can't support the institutional structures of our church. Our building isn't quite the money pit it was a few years ago, thanks to some major repair projects and maintenance. But it's too big for us. Our staffing level--and by that I mean me--is too costly for the community to maintain without the endowment, even if my salary is 10% less than Presbytery minimum and slightly below what the average Metro bus driver makes.
If we really stretched it out, we could go for a few more years. We could spend down to zero and then walk away. But that's just not an acceptable option. We've got to be aware of the realities that we face, and we've got to respond to them mindfully.
I really, really like my church. The fellowship is great, and the praise team rocks, and our Bible studies are both fun and places of spiritual growth. But I feel increasingly like I'm compelled to become the Dread Pastor Roberts, who at the end of every Sunday says to his congregation,
"Wonderful worship! I really felt the Spirit moving here today! That comment in Bible study was really insightful! Keep up the good work, and I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
I understand that can be quite the motivator.
That bit o' empirical reality is this: after six years of a group of diligent and hardworking folks working together to revitalize a dying suburban church, we're not at the point where we're self sustaining. Yes, membership has grown. Worship attendance has doubled. Our giving has nearly tripled. But after all that time, we're still not a self-supporting congregation. We're still significantly reliant on the small endowment of the church, and that endowment has taking a brutal beating over the last year.
Unless something shifts dramatically in the near term future and the trend-lines run in a different direction, we'll run smack up against an inescapable reality: we can't support the institutional structures of our church. Our building isn't quite the money pit it was a few years ago, thanks to some major repair projects and maintenance. But it's too big for us. Our staffing level--and by that I mean me--is too costly for the community to maintain without the endowment, even if my salary is 10% less than Presbytery minimum and slightly below what the average Metro bus driver makes.
If we really stretched it out, we could go for a few more years. We could spend down to zero and then walk away. But that's just not an acceptable option. We've got to be aware of the realities that we face, and we've got to respond to them mindfully.
I really, really like my church. The fellowship is great, and the praise team rocks, and our Bible studies are both fun and places of spiritual growth. But I feel increasingly like I'm compelled to become the Dread Pastor Roberts, who at the end of every Sunday says to his congregation,
"Wonderful worship! I really felt the Spirit moving here today! That comment in Bible study was really insightful! Keep up the good work, and I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
I understand that can be quite the motivator.
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