“Do not rejoice when your enemies fall”
Christian tradition is diverse. Of late, I have needed to remind myself of this more and more. Confession: I have firm rather than fluid definitions and characteristics of the spectrum of Christianity from Orthodox to Liberal. I am more a follower of Jesus than someone who primarily uses “Christ” language, “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus”, as I think that “Christ” is a theological claim about the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I’ve been critical of my denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), as over the past 20 years it has slowly turned away from what theologian Ronald Osborn calls, “the Disciples mind.”
“. . . It is a way of approaching the scriptures with a reverent intelligence. This style of professing Christian faith has accepted the reproach of advocating a ‘head religion’ hurled by those who profess a ‘heart religion’. Emphasizing faith with understanding, the Disciples mind puts the highest premium on rationality and faithfulness in action” (Chalice Press, 1979).
To my surprise, I found rationality and faithfulness in action in a statement from New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. Anyone who knows me would not associate my belief system or my practice of Christianity with “evangelical”, but given this statement, I may need to revisit my definition of “evangelical”. Here is a paragraph or two. Click the title to read the entire statement.
“Do not rejoice when your enemies fall”
Statement by David P. Gushee
on behalf of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common GoodMay 2, 2011″Do not rejoice when your enemies fall,
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.”
Proverbs 24:17
There can never be any moral justification for terrorist attacks on innocent people, such as the terrible deeds of 9/11. But we must recognize that to the extent that our nation’s policies routinely create enemies, we can kill a Bin Laden on May 1 and face ten more like him on May 2. Might it now be possible for us to have an honest national conversation about these issues?
May we learn the right lessons from the news of this day. For Jesus’ sake.