Huh?

Is it too extreme to call commercials irresponsible, even when they have the disclaimers at the bottom? Is it being too picky to show real-life-type dangers being overcome simply by having the right vehicle?

That came to mind recently while watching two car commercials. In one a family is driving across a desert or rocky wilderness with a big storm brewing in the distance. Lighting is flashing, wind is blowing, the kids in the care are showing fear. All will be okay, though. This car can face anything.

Then there's the other one with a car driving through a rain storm on an average street (no wilderness here, it's right next door). They drive right into- and supposedly through- water covering the road.

Yes, it should be common sense, but when the car companies and their ad agencies give us realistically dangerous scenarios where the driver takes the car into situations that we are told to avoid (Turn Around- Don't Drown!), maybe someone needs to express some responsibility.

Watching Security in Action

The President was in our area yesterday and I was in the area where the President was to be traveling. I went up to the Cannon Falls area to have lunch with a friend, heading up the same highway that Obama would be traveling down. As I was going north I began to notice that there were State Troopers and MN Department of Transportation trucks beginning to show up at the crossroads and turnarounds. This was about 10:45 or so, more than a hour before the President was to be in Cannon Falls and at least three hours before he would be traveling by.

I began to think about the incredible amounts of security that go into a trip like this. Not just the normal Secret Service protection, but what is planned to make the route safe where the President is to be. I was glad I was getting off that road before Cannon Falls.

I didn't think much about the trip back home, partly because I had no idea how long the Town Hall Meeting itself was to last. So, getting to the Hwy. 52 intersection I noticed the police car sitting there waiting. I turned onto southbound 52 and was soon aware that the President was still somewhere behind me.

Every cross road and turnaround had some kind of vehicle at it or in it. State Police, Sheriffs, Mn DOT trucks, fire engines, ambulances. Every overpass had official vehicles waiting at each end, no doubt to block cross-traffic. This continued all the way down to Rochester where I got off.I called ahead and had my wife meet me on the east side of the highway since we had to be downtown by 2:30 and, knowing my luck, the cross streets could well be blocked when I needed to get across.

Later on the news I saw the big black bus heading through our area. I realized that all that sitting and waiting by the police and others was for just that quick minute when the bus went rumbling past, escort ahead and behind. The reasons for such security are obvious, of course. We have all watched enough shows like "24" or "NCIS" to know that terrorists will try anything. But to see it in action and think about the possible consequences if such security weren't in place, was actually quite sobering.

I wish it weren't so. To live with those threats is not a comfortable way to live. Most of the time we don't even have to think about that. But I am glad the security process is there and that it is as thorough as it is.

Reflecting on Violence and Churches

It's been over a week now since the killings at YWAM and New Life Church in Colorado. Having worked in schools, I know how we would think more deeply about the situation when a school shooting happened somewhere in the country. There have been other church shootings- one in Milwaukee in the past year killed a number of people. But this recent one struck a nerve because it was in one of those white, suburban situations- and a mega-church to boot.

Corey, at Learning to Listen, reflected on this on Sunday. He talked about his conflicting thoughts with having armed guards at the church.

The whole situation has made me think a little bit about security and churches. I had never heard of armed security guards at a church before. ...On the positive side, the security guard's presence likely saved a number of lives. Had she not acted, more people would have been killed.

Corey goes on, though to raise the really deep issues.

However, I am not convinced that armed security guards are a good practice for churches, even for large politically active and potentially controversial churches like New Life. It seems that our trust gets misplaced. ...

In many parts of the world, the threat of being violently interrupted during a church service is normative. But I don't hear stories of oppressed Christians using violent means to defend themselves. Instead they suffer, being wounded and killed while remaining devoted to Jesus' message of love and hope.

That last paragraph really struck me. I have to agree with Corey in raising that question. What would we think if we heard of armed battles taking places in and around churches in other parts of the world where Christians are being persecuted? How different would the Stoning of Stephen be if he had picked up the stones and started throwing them back? Or what if Jesus had called down a legion of angels? Things certainly would be different, wouldn't they?

Corey also raises the question of churches protecting their members and helping make church a secure (and safe) place. But I am not sure we can ultimately do that. Should we arm ourselves when going to church with other than the sword of the Spirit? Should we have guards and metal detectors? Can we ever truly protect ourselves against those who would seek to do us harm?

Probably not. But these are questions that the church faces. I am grateful that I have never had to face it and that the issues is new for us in America. But in the end our trust is not in the trappings of power or the means of maintaining power. This may be a time to ponder the words of Psalm 20:7:

Some boast of (or trust in) chariots and some in horses. But we boast of (trust in) the Lord our God!

More: Bene Diction Blogs On posted a story yesterday about a church member who has been asked not to come back. It seems he was there when it happened. The church has called this man "volatile" and that he is not welcome. BD says the following:

Volatile? What is wrong with this church? Don’t they have people skilled in trauma counseling and mental health issues? New Life Church has 10 thousand members, it’s the size of a small town.
They turn away the emotionally wounded and seek a restraining order? Unbelievable.

Well said, as is this:

Volatile is a police term...Police use dehumanizing, desensitizing para-military language to distance themselves and get their job done.

When Christians start mimicking the language, there is a major problem. That is not the language of God. That is not giving honour, worth and dignity to people created in the image and likeness of God. It is not an attitude or language a follower of Jesus Christ needs to embrace.

In a violent world it is easy to get sucked-in to the violent language. Think about it- even Paul used war and army images quite regularly. But it is a warning well taken. After all, look what happened over the centuries after Christians adopted war-like imagery.

So let me repeat myself. I said it a few paragraphs ago. I must say it again. Our trust is not to be in the trappings of power or the means of maintaining power. Read again Psalm 20:7:

Some boast of chariots and some in horses. But we boast of the Lord our God!