More Evidence of Failure

A local congregation here in Henderson has paid for an ad in the paper to praise and honor one of their members. The newspaper's editorial staff picked it up and ran an editorial about the man and about the church's tribute to his Christian witness. It was a small breathe of fresh grace for those of us who are struggling to live a Christian witness. But it is such a small speck of light in what appears to be a flood of negative light.

The Republic of Ireland has finally published a study that has been ten years in the making that documents seventy years of abuse, mistreatment, rape, and cruelty to children in the Catholic run Foster Homes, Homes for Unwed Mothers, and Orphanages. The Presbyterian Church of Ireland is experiencing a kind of economic melt down in its Presbyterian Mutual Fund. Certainly some fall should be expected in these economic times, but the fall has exposed real problems.

There is a passage in Scripture where St. Paul advises Christians not to be involved in the court system as they ought to be able to resolve their own issues in their own community. St. Paul says Christians are going to be the ones who judge the rest of the world so why should Christians go and be judged by others. But the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America is taking every congregation which wants to leave to court to grab the property. There is a segment of the Riverside Church in New York City which is taking the rest of the church to court to protest the new salary of the new minister. (No one ever protests the paying of a minister too little.)

Christians behaving badly continue to ruin the effectiveness of the Christian message. And it is all around us. My hunch would be that every person who posts on that site called "Home in Henderson" would claim to be a Christian person, but there is no place where there is more meanness, more bigotry, more cruelty, more slander,and more gossip than on that site. If we wonder why the Christian faith is being deserted by the young, there may be evidence that they do not see it making any difference in the way most of the people who call themselves that act.

When there are more tributes to Christian witnesses and fewer negative stories the Christian story might have a chance.