I want to continue to reflect on some of the learnings I
have had over the years. This is a continuation of what I started with my first
post. If you have not read that, you can catch it either at the Facebook page
of Elkhorn Valley or on my blog at reveldon.blogspot.com. I wanted to share
three more insight that I have had this month which is post-Easter. You can
feel free to add your thoughts either on the Facebook page or my blog. I would
be curious if you find the thoughts helpful for you and maybe ideas of how this
could be applied to the church. Anyway, here goes.
The one insight which continues to be debated in our society
and even in churches is how to respond to violence. Many advocate for the
concept of preventative violence to counter the fear of further violence.
Sometimes this becomes so heated that we move away from what Jesus says about
violence and what Paul says using scripture from the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus
in the gospel of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount chapter 5:38-42 discusses
that when one strikes you that you should not retaliate in the same manner. He
goes on to say in 5:43-48 to love unconditionally even one’s enemies. Paul
using Proverbs 25:21-22 speaks of not returning evil for evil in Romans
12:18-21. “Don’t be defeated by evil but defeat evil with good.” Throughout
history violence usually begets violence. We struggle in our own lives as to
how to live true to what Jesus and Paul talks about and yet not be anxious or
fearful. I am not sure I have the answer. There are several concerns regarding
this issue and it is more than 2nd Amendment rights. It is more than
gun control or extensive background checks. It is more than mental illness. It
is all of these and more about where is the line between individual rights and
the rights of society to live without fear of another massacre or to go about
peacefully without anxiety.
Another reflection deals with the tension between individual
rights and wisdom and the collective rights and wisdom. Many have talked about
the issues of individualism and collectivism. Robert Putman wrote in “Bowling
Alone,” about the changes that appear to be happening in our society regarding
the shift to more individualistic thinking and acting. Perhaps this is not so
new as the debate in church has centered on individual salvation versus
salvation for a people. Amitai Etzioni wrote a book on “The New Golden Rule:
Community and Morality in a Democratic Society.” His focus is on the need for
community rather than the focus on individualism. Either extreme of this
continuum is problematic. Individualism in the extreme can be if it feels good
go ahead and do it thinking. It becomes all about the person regardless of the
effect on others. It is self-centered. It can become at the extreme,
narcissism. Our disengaged society seems to be present in many areas of church,
nation, and the world. The other extreme is the collective. This can lead to
group think. One must conform to the group identity. These groups have rigid
boundaries and often spend time scapegoating those who are different then they
are. These can be cults and extremists. Healthy relationships are somewhere
between the extremes where there is a healthy sense of self and caring for
others.
The last insight for this time is that there are no failures
only learnings. The key to this is learning. So many times, people or churches
do the same thing over and over expecting something different to happen. The
thought is that this time it will work only to find out that nothing changes.
So even though we found ways that it did not work, are we learning? I spend
time thinking about what has not worked for me and I have found in my life that
I have lost sight of why I am doing what I do. I believe the focus on our
lives, the life of the church, and even in our community needs to have a better
understanding of the why. Why leads us to what is my and our mission in this
time and place. When we can see the why, the vision of what we are doing
becomes clearer. When the why and vision are aligned, the how becomes more
evident. It seems that at times we want to short cut the work of finding the
why and go to the how we are going to do what we want to do. It seems the idea
of doing the same thing over and over without the learning what is needed will
not make a difference or lead to change. Or we try to do things without
reflecting on why we are doing this. it is not a question of doing things just
because others are doing this. It is about first spending time processing the
why and the how and what will follow.
