Ministry in the Middle

The world is broken. This seems obvious these days.  We are experiencing a global pandemic, complete with ever-changing guidance on the best ways to protect ourselves and our communities.  As part of that response, there is massive unemployment and broad job insecurity.  In the past weeks, there have been national examples of suspected murders of African-American men highlighting the ongoing white supremacy in this country. This week there have been massive protests and demonstrations, ostensibly in response to a recent police shooting of an unarmed man, but likely a response to all of this.  Some have used these demonstrations as an excuse for looting, arson, and violence. The world is broken. I imagine there is almost universal agreement on these four words.  Almost no one is walking around smiling and thinking to themselves, "I am so glad these things are happening."  The disagreements arise when we start talking about how to fix the brokenness. In ...

Like many Americans, I paid close attention to the public Senate hearings regarding allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  While I could not watch the hearings in their entirety, I watched or listened to roughly half of the proceedings. That was more than enough to find the entire conversation demoralizing.  While many of those involved paid lip service to seeking truth, mostly it was an exercise in political warfare, pitting one side against another.  Both Republicans and Democrats railed against the questionable tactics of the other side related to hiding or revealing evidence and rushing or slowing the process. Others have written extensively about the increasing tribalism in our culture, in politics and beyond.  Without question, this tribalism stretches into the church as well.  We join our teams and we stick by them.  We circle the wagons when others threaten or challenge someone in our own tribe....