I COULD NEVER..., TRAGIC LOSS, AND THE ALMIGHTY

Admittedly, while I love Facebook for the ways in which I get to keep up with so many friends and family across the country, as well as some other persons and companies through their professional pages, quite often I can get a little annoyed at all the 'other stuff' that people put in their news feed. Is God not going to bless me if I don't 'Like' a certain picture? If I don't 'Like' or 'Share' some propaganda, am I saying I don't care anymore about what happens to our country? I could go on and on, but you get the point...

I pay closest attention at times to my friends who don't "propaganda bomb" my news feed, for when they choose to share something, it usually is pretty good, even if I don't always find myself in agreement. It was one of these friends who shared a picture late last night (which I can't share here because to reduce the size of the image would make it illegible) that, upon first glance, I laughed at, until it's meaning really hit me.

The first block goes like this, "When someone says, 'I could never believe in a God who would _____________.'" The second block says, "What they're really saying is...'I could never believe in a God who doesn't think just like I do.'" At the bottom of the cartoon was the tagline, "Think about it."  Since I saw it, I have been thinking about it, a lot, especially in light of our conversation last night as part of our Wednesday Night series on Violence in the Old Testament, which has challenged all of us who have participated, especially because we've seen and learned a lot that we simply didn't realize or know. 

Another reason it hit me was because of the conclusion of our "What's on Your Mind?" series this coming Sunday. The last message is titled, "When there are No Words..." It comes out of a card that was turned in wanting to explore what we should do/how should we respond in the face of the tragic loss of a loved one. Of all our topics this summer, I saved this one for last for several reasons. One is because the Christian response to the tragic loss of a loved one requires us to look atmatters of life and death not through the lens of the world, but through the example of Christ. (The other reason that I waited 'til the end is because of the personal challenge of addressing this topic - but that'll wait 'til Sunday.)

"When there are No Words..." will also segue well into our September "Does the Bible REALLY Say That?" series, for a lot of so many of our 'understandings' of God are influenced by (if not rooted in) some (to be polite) lousy theology that simply has no scriptural or theological basis. Our reaction to the unexpected death of a loved one is far too often shaped by things that, while completely understandable and human, wind up possibly doing us great harm (especially in our relationship to Christ and His church) if we don't allow ourselves to see life and death from another perspective.

See You Sunday!

Lamar