September 11, 2011

I was in the front office of Baker County High School. I had forgotten my calculator in my car and because I had an algebra test that afternoon, I asked permission to visit the office to get a pass to the parking lot. Mrs. Lancaster was the secretary and as I walked to the desk she hung up the phone and said, "The twin towers have been bombed." I spent the rest of the morning convincing my parents to check me out of school so that I could give my undivided attention to what was unfolding in New York. That afternoon I drove to our local gas station and picked up a special edition of the Jacksonville Times-Union where I saw photos of people diving to their deaths and I became sick to my stomach. The evil perpetrated that day was overwhelming. The lack of compassion, the lack of love and the complete misdirection and understanding of faith had devastating ramifications for those who were unfortunately caught in the line of fire and made the presence of evil in the world a very prominent reality for me.

I was 16 then, and in the past 10 years my life has changed dramatically, but as I read stories of those who were heros on that day and as I watch news footage from the events, I am just as thoroughly impressed with the weight of evil. It's hard to see a positive angle to the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, hard to see the silver lining. What I do think however, is that when evil of the magnitude we all witnessed 10 years ago is apparent, by its nature, it reveals its opposite. Because I recognize evil, I must also recognize good. It is because all Americans will carry pain in their chest today, that I know that all Americans, whether they agree to it or not, know that there is right and wrong. When we recognize the evil in the world we should also immediately recognize that because we affirm the reality of evil, we also affirm the reality of good. Because we judge that there are actions which should not be taken, we also affirm that there are standards by which our actions are judged.

Paul discusses this idea in Romans 2.  He argues, "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.  For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things." Paul is arguing that because we condemn the actions of others, while also committing these actions ourselves, we are condemning ourselves by our own condemnation.  Now you may be thinking, "I've never done anything that even compares to what happened on September 11" and physically and logistically you haven't.  However, you have gossiped, disobeyed your parents and have probably been boastful.  Paul counts all of these things as evil, along with murder, malice and maliciousness. Paul rebukes the Romans for being, "filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.  They are full of envy, murder strife, deceit, maliciousness.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless."  If we label the contents of this list as "undesirable actions," then each of us should recognize that we are not only guilty of committing these offenses, but that we have condemned others for committing them as well.  We all know then, that there is wrong, and for something to be considered wrong, there must be something to compare it to and something to contrast it with.  There must be an objective right.

This idea of right isn't nebulous, it is firmly attached to the character of God.  If a person recognizes the reality of objective evil, then they must also recognize that there is objective good.  On September 11, both good and evil were clearly on display. The evidence of good is in the thousands of selfless acts that we have read about throughout the past decade, and, contrary to popular belief, this good can't just be attributed to the "goodness of the human spirit." The reason that these acts were selfless, good and inspirational is because they reflected the Creator who is the very embodiment of goodness.  In Matthew, Jesus said, "Why do you ask me about what is good...There is only One who is good."  

Coming to grips with September 11 has been a long process for me.  My initial reaction was one of anger and extreme patriotism.  Following that came a period of heartbreak for the men who so completely misunderstood how to have a relationship with God.  I don't know where I am in the process now.  I am probably like most people who don't give the day a lot of thought generally, but who have found themselves crying uncontrollably while reading the "stories of remembrance" on Yahoo.  However, what I do know is that the events of September 11 demonstrate the presence of evil more clearly than any other event that I have witnessed in my life.  While the reality of that day is tough to bear, for all Americans but especially for those personally affected, it serves as yet another reminder to me that God is good and that I know that he is good and that His goodness is known throughout the universe.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." - Psalm 19:1-4

The Conviction of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Over the summer I read a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. It was, without a doubt, one of the most compelling books that I have ever read. This book outlined the struggle that Bonheoffer had with understanding how personal faith affects a person's actions. He lived in Germany during the early 20th century. He witnessed Germany's defeat in World War I, the devastating ramifications of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and the rise of Nazism and of Adolf Hitler. Bonhoeffer had a brilliant and keen mind and through all of this, he noticed that the idea of Germany as a "christian nation" was a fallacy.

Yes, Germany was the birth place of Martin Luther and Protestantism, but Germany had long since ceased to be a nation driven by the Word of God. Germany was a nation that was complacent in its religion and because of this, because of this false confidence in their own spirituality, the people of Germany were not prepared to withstand or even fully comprehend the evils perpetuated by the Nazi party. For many Germans Christianity was a fact, not a practice. It was a birth rite, not a gift of grace. Because of this, and because of a fierce loyalty to the idea of the German nation, there were few in Germany who were willing to oppose Hitler, and this troubled Bonhoeffer greatly.

For Bonhoeffer, the problem was a misunderstanding of grace. He believed that most of his countrymen had a view he called, "cheap grace," the idea that salvation didn't require anything of the believer. Bonhoeffer however, vehemently disagreed. Instead, he argued that grace was costly. He said:

"Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son...and what has cost God so much cannot be cheap for us."

Bonhoeffer insisted that a life lived in fear or inaction was no Christian life at all, it was a misunderstanding of what grace is. Christians must conform their lives to that of Christ because a dear price was paid so that we could have the ability to do so. Therefore, Christians must advocate for the oppressed because that is how Christ lived his life. Christians must oppose evil because we are to be a light in the world. Bonhoeffer said, "We are not simply to bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself." This is action. This isn't complacency. The grace shown to the Christian should compel us to action, for the benefit of both the oppressed and the oppressor.

I personally, find the message of Bonhoeffer to be incredibly convicting. It's easy to ignore the injustice and the evil in the world, and it is even easier to think only of the benefit that Christ's grace brings to me.