Why Are We Here?

From the title it sounds as if I am going to take on one of those abstruse life meaning questions. I am not.

Next week I am going to the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I am going for several reasons. It is close. I am presenting a workshop. I like seeing old friends. And I go because watching Christians in a bunch is fun. Most of the time when people get together in a bunch we can act pretty funny – as in goofy, silly, and nonsensical. Christians in a bunch can take goofy to a whole new level. We tend to get pontifical, self righteous, self important, religious (I don't mean that in a good way.) and in some really creative ways completely out of touch with reality.

We Christians are at our goofy best when we get our shorts in a bunch over our disapproval of other people's behavior. The conservative Christians get angry because other people want to grant gays the right to marry. The liberal Christians are incensed because some people don't want to give gays the right to marry. Folks on both sides of the issue look down their self-righteous noses at those who disagree with them. And look goofy. When we Christians get together in our national meetings we like to pass resolutions weighing in on a variety of issues. Unfortunately our resolutions don't make much difference because we are political light weights. Nobody really cares what we think. Except us. So we get into major arguments with each other over a variety of issues and make complete fools of ourselves. Ultimately our arguments have no real impact except on us. We argue about and vote on "pressing' issue and then we stay angry with each other for years.

My observation over the past few decades is that we Christians in a bunch are the all time best bandwagon joiners. Are you against the war (any war) we are on the bandwagon? Are you for (or against) gay rights and gay marriage, let me on the wagon. Nationalize health care; quick, hold my cane and give me a leg up on the wagon. We find some government some where that we don't like the way they are acting, I am on the wagon. Do we feel the need to apologize for something that some white people who lived a long time ago and I have never met or even heard of and I am not even remotely related to did that was bad, I am all over that? Do we think that nuclear stuff is dangerous and we should rid the world of dangerous stuff that can kill us all, I am on the wagon before you can say "BOOM"? Suggest that beating the snot out of each other to resolve conflicts is a bad idea; I am completely with you on that one too. Be against the death penalty (Except for any sorry SOB that hurts my wife or kids), I can ride that band wagon. Being against unemployment, police acting badly, the US policy in the Middle East, the US policy most anywhere in the world, people just generally acting badly, people not making nice with each other, I am for or against it all.

When I say we are getting on the bandwagon about a cause, let me help you understand what the means in terms of our actions. When we are against something, lets say, the United States government polices in the Middle East, it means we do the following. We study one side of the issue and jump to a convenient conclusion. Next, we pool our ignorance with others who speak with as little understanding of the issue as we and that usually degenerates into a really ugly argument. Next, we vote on a resolution that states our cause and calls for action. Now this is where it really gets good – when we kick into action. We write an official letter "To Whom It May Concern" telling them exactly how we feel about what they should or should not be doing. The letter is the center piece of our response to the wrongdoing we have uncovered so it must be carefully crafted and signed by some very important person. It is sent off to the President or Congress or the leader or leaders of some other country. We are very excited about this letter and we send copies to everyone who might be the least bit interested. It is important to note that this letter has the same impact as a marshmallow crashing full force into a concrete floor.

If we are really fired up about an issue, we call a bunch of people together to sit around tables and talk about it. From this group comes the idea that we need to actually do something about the problem. So the "action group" organizes a gathering where several like minded people come together, light some candles, sing some songs (rather badly) and pose for the television crews who have been summoned by the organizers. If it happens to be a slow news day, our protest might make a few seconds of video on the 11:00 news. We call all of our friends and encourage them to watch, just in case. It is an exciting day. Then we, having had no real impact on the issue and having made no real difference, but feeling better for having done something, go home feeling pretty sanctimonious and begin seeking the next dragon to slay.

So, I am looking forward to attending our Christian gathering next week. What will we be fired up about this year? From perusing the pre-assembly literature it looks like the topic of the year is "Being Green" and global climate change. (We no longer call it Global Warming which is a good thing since we in the Cincinnati area are experiencing our coldest July temperatures on record.) Yes, this year it looks like we will be on the "green" bandwagon because we have our fingers firmly on the pulse of the media and they are telling us what is important. We will probably knock ourselves out joining the hypocritical political leaders and entertainers who engage in their holier than thou rhetoric about our need to be green and lower our carbon foot print and conserve the earth's dwindling resources and cool our warming planet while they personally do not one damned thing about it. They talk and talk but continue to live contrary to their teachings and burn energy at an astounding rate. We Christians can easily get on this bandwagon because that is what we do best; talk and talk but do virtually nothing to solve the problems we talk about.

I will continue to go to our Christian gatherings. I love these people. I am one of them. Our hearts are in the right place even if our heads aren't. They are wonderful people. I will continue to attend and perhaps the day will come when we get really excited about something out of the ordinary – something way out there. Perhaps we will choose to expend our time and energies on some issue that the media is not already excited about; an issue that may not merit coverage by a news video crew; an issue that is not popular or even politically correct. I realize I am talking a little crazy here, but bear with me. Perhaps we will get excited about, how should I say this… Jesus.

Hey, it is just a thought.

Copyright © 2009, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved