A Horror I Never Had to Deal With

I did a very rough, guess-timate calculation and concluded that over 5,000 times I've been the guy-in-charge--as if any mere human is really in charge--of a service at a gathering of people who came together to worship the Lord of heaven and earth. For most of my career little if any attention was given to security. We didn't lock the doors while the congregation was meeting inside. I remember a period of a few months when we had volunteers keep watch over our parking lot. The motivation, though, was not to protect those inside the building, but to keep theives from stealing gas from the cars of the worshipers. It was a thing for a while.

Over the years, I've read with sadness and anger about horrible attacks on churches and other houses of worship. Some were motivated by racial prejudice, even hatred. Other incidents were perpetrated by individuals with "issues" that defy understanding. Comments often began with, "I don't know what . . .."

These attacks that destroyed property and in some cases took the lives of worshipers were something that happened in other places. Almost never did they happen here in small town USA. We mourned with the victims of persecution in other places. On those rare occasions when it happened near by we were shocked.

No one except fringe groups who were almost universally recognized as crazy if not purely evil, rejoiced when churches or synagogues, or mosques were burned or vandalized. On the few occasions when a worship service was interupted, the action was condemned. Even proponents of whatever cause motivated the demonstration condemned the tactic as going too far.

As I read the account of Pastor Jonathan Parnell, Lead Pastor of Cities Church in St. Paul Minnesota, I thought of all those times I had been where he was. What would I do if a group of well organized protestors interupted a service I was leading? I'm thankful I never had to find out. 

Perhaps it is because I--as the name of this blog implies--see the world through a keyhole, but I don't think so. It seems to me that the level of outrage concerning this invasion of a worship service has been outrageously low. Sure, the expected voices, Fox News, etc., have made a pretty big deal of this, but the voices of other culture watchers has been somewhat muted. In some cases you can barely hear the, "This shouldn't have happened" verdict, because the "Yeah, but" caveats are shouted so loudly. "Yeah, but, ICE operations in the Twin Cities have been horrible!" Or, "Yeah, but one of the pastors of this church works for ICE!" Or, you fill in the blank. 

Some commentators on the church invasion point out that Jesus cleansed the Temple in a highly disruptive manner. There are many differences between what happened in St. Paul and what happened in Jerusalem two millennia ago, cheif of which: Jesus is God incarnate, and none of those protesters, dispite their self-righteous claims, were invading a place of worship where they themselves were the leginimate object of worship. Other clear differences are obvious to those willing to look, but I'll leave it at that.

So, what is a small-town pastor supposed to do with this?

• It is obvious that a lot of people are very upset with the mass deportation operation going on in our country, right now. Is there reason to be upset?
  Without buying into the whole agenda that the protesters espouse, I'd say, Yes. In fact I recently wrote my Congressman about one aspect of the ICE crackdown that I think is wrong.
• I need to ask myself, as well, "Would I be upset if a group of Right-wingers had invaded a Mosque?" It's a hypothetical, but I think I would be. I know I should be. I encourage the reader to consider Romans 2:22. Notice the last question.
• Clearly there is a conflict of worldviews between those who gathered to worship at Cities Church and those who showed up for other reasons. What is the proper venue, tone, and limits for conversation between those who hold clashing worldviews.
• Surrounding this unfortunate incident is the question: "Knowing that all humans are creatures of God, bearing His image (James 3:9), how should I treat fellow human beings with whom I differ?"
• Finally, under the heading of "things I wish I didn't have to know," I, and other responsible Christian leaders, need to ask myself, "What should I do, if . . .?" I've already seen some helpful articles. 

Wasn't there someone who prayed, "Lord, deliver us from interesting times"? Knowing that these times have come to be under God's soveregnty, wouldn't it be better to pray, "Lord, may I be your voice in these tumutuous days"?

 https://wng.org/opinions/when-our-church-was-invaded-1771288602