Editorial: Burning One Another for God

Burning One Another for God

Christians have burnt each other, quite persuaded
That all the Apostles would have done as they did

The above is a quote from a poem by the great 19th century poet Lord Byron. It is simply to say that people can convince themselves of some very strange things, such as that contrary to all the teachings of Jesus, God approves of violence and wars and punishing our enemies. 

The Christian church has a lot of violence in its history. In an event called the Inquisition, the Roman Catholic Church hunted down and persecuted “heretics”—all in the name of Jesus. 

It’s easy to blame them for that, and we often do. But there are many Christians now, especially here in the United States, who justify guns and self-defense and hateful actions against immigrants. 

Most of us aren’t physically violent, but anger still comes through, even in some Adventist churches. I’ve seen people shout at other people in church, and in a couple of instances fights nearly broke out between “brothers in Christ.”

How do we get to that place? The mind is astonishingly good at selfish rationalizing. I had a conference president once who was known for getting violently angry at those who worked for them. He would first ask to pray with you, which in his mind somehow made his shouting at you all right. When asked why he got so angry, he compared himself to Jesus in the temple overturning the tables of the moneylenders, as though that was the most characteristic of all of the things that Jesus did. (I once told him he couldn’t pray with me, because I knew what was coming and didn’t want to sully prayer with his vile temper. That made him really mad.)

Church organizations aren’t infrequently more cruel than individuals: I’ve seen pastors and teachers badly mistreated by their bosses, unfairly fired or pushed out of their job for insubstantial reasons. Folks seem to think it less cruel when a committee makes the call, and says it’s for “for budgetary reasons,” even if it isn’t.

Things like this make us almost despair. Why is it Jesus is so readily called upon for his John 3:16 saving power, but we find it so hard to be like him? 

Being in a relationship with Christ means not just security of salvation, but also being and acting like Jesus. Most of us have a long way to go.