Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Home
About
My Book
Archives
More
- Theology
- Culture
- Politics
- Sermons
- Bible
- Devotions
- Daily Office
- Podcast

Home
Progressive Christian
A 140 char response to tragedy is always bad pastoral care

A 140 char response to tragedy is always bad pastoral care

Last updated on: July 17, 2014 at 2:14 pm by Morgan Guyton

A 140 char response to tragedy is always bad pastoral care 2014-07-17T14:14:15-05:00 Morgan Guyton

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It doesn’t matter whether Rachel Held Evans took John Piper’s tweet about the Oklahoma tornadoes “out of context.” It doesn’t matter whether she used the incident as a springboard to talk about other problematic things that Piper has said in the past and polemicize against the underlying theology that she considers to be the source of such statements. The fact remains that tweeting Bible verses about houses falling down on children and killing them after that happens to someone in real life is bad pastoral care. Always. Period. No matter what you write before or after. I’m not trying to be a jerk; I know he took the tweets down and apologized. But I still feel like the zealous self-assurance of his disciples who tore into Rachel so ferociously requires a reality check. I don’t have much to add to what I’ve already said about this, except to relate some comments from Chaplain Mike at InternetMonk and Stephen Smith at Liberty for Captives.

From InternetMonk’s John Piper, Miserable Comforter:

Once [Job’s friends] opened their mouths, it was all downhill. They became “miserable comforters.” It is not simply a matter of timing. The friends’ words came after the accepted period of silent mourning. Their words were wrong. And so it is with John Piper. It is not as though Piper’s words, inappropriate in the tender moment, would be appropriate once wounds have healed somewhat, once things have calmed down and we have time to gain perspective on the tragedy. No, his understanding and application of the book of Job is wrong. He has taken his place with Job’s friends, not with the argument of the text.

From the point when Job’s friends open their mouths, the Book of Job becomes a protest against their “miserable comfort,” particularly by challenging all theologies of explanation.

I really feel like the need to weigh in on every public tragedy that comes along is disrespectful to the victims. We can and should pray. Perhaps it’s appropriate to tell others publicly that we’re praying. I suppose we can reference a tragedy in our preaching for the benefit of our own congregations. But to theologize in the public square especially in such an impersonal forum as twitter?!!! Not okay. When Job’s friends’ come across him, their first response is silence: “They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13). Likewise our compassion for those suffering and our fear of the Lord should compel us not to “darken [His] counsel by words without knowledge” (Job 38:2).

From Liberty for Captives’ 6 Reasons Why Christian Leaders Respond Inappropriately to Tragedy:

Some Christian leaders subscribe to particular theological systems which simplify the raw complexity of God’s working in the world. These systems offer a comfortable human framework constructed by the minds of men and women who wish to shield themselves from the full blazing mystery and complexity of God. While these systems offer some helpful interpretations and explanations of God’s working, they are finite and thus inadequate. In the case of a disaster, such leaders lean heavily on their interpretive framework to provide prefabricated solutions to a truly monumental problem… If you can say “God is sovereign and we should worship him no matter what happens,” then perhaps you can avoid the smoke and blood on the ground. But we should remember that even Job—after affirming God’s sovereignty—spent 30+ chapters weeping, doubting, and expressing anger.

It’s not that John Piper is an evil person or even that he has nothing constructive to offer theologically. His book Desiring God has been an instrumental part of my development. I will even concede that the Calvinist God is not necessarily a sadistic monster; I am with the Calvinists in their insistence on the ubiquitousness of God’s sovereign grace. No good ever has its source in us; it is always God working through us. What is problematic is what Chaplain Mike calls “a theology of explanation.” When you have to show that you have a 140 character theological answer for every event that happens, you’re no longer talking about God’s sovereignty; you’re exalting your own sovereignty as an explainer. That is where Calvinism goes foul, when it falls in love with its systems of explanation and its pantheon of explainers (Spurgeon, Sproul, Packer, Grudem, etc). rather than fearing the One whose mysteries are inscrutable.

This is precisely what the book of Job is polemicizing against, as Chaplain Mike relates:

[Piper] simply cannot admit to what the book of Job actually teaches — that all explanations are inadequate. The point of Yahweh’s overwhelming theophany at the end of the book is that we cannot hope to analyze the hidden counsels of God or translate the mysteries of life into systematic terms. To attempt to do so is to become “miserable comforters.”

God’s ways are a mystery. And we shouldn’t say even that much to people who are hurt by events that cannot be blamed on anyone. We can keep in mind for ourselves that “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). But rather than just tweeting this verse which is the cyber-equivalent of saying, “Go; be warm and well fed” (James 2:16) to people who are hurting, we should seek to embody this truth and be the vessels that God uses to work all things together for the good. That’s a much better witness.

Previous Post

May 23, 2013

Agenda-less fellowship and youth ministry

Next Post

May 24, 2013 Is Pope Francis a universalist heretic?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Beauty Will Save the World Bible Big Picture: Ephesians Bloggers Book Christian salvation and the Beautitudes Culture Daily Office Danceable Homiletics Deadly Sins Deep Roots: Genesis Devotions Dominican Republic May 2011 El Principio Misericordia (The Mercy Principle) Five verses God tattooed on my heart Fundraising FutureGospel Good Biblical Words Henri Nouwen Interview Jennings' Christian Imagination Jesus inside the beltway Jesus Is My Candidate Jesus vs the Pharisees Jesus vs. Plato Journey to Eternity Looking Back on 2012 Love Actually Monday Merton Monday Merton Music Occupy the manger On Earth As It Is In Heaven Original Sin Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Psalm 119 Radical Jesus 101 Reviews Sermon on the Mount Sermons Spanish Bible study Special Series Spiritual but not religious Synchroblog Theology Things that made me think Thomas a Kempis Ugliness Into Beauty Uncategorized Viaje Dominicano 2013 Walking in the Valley (Lent) Welcome: It's More than a Mat Wild Goose 2013 Wrestling

Select a Month March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 September 2021 April 2021 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Hallelujah" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Glory to God Praise the Lord Holy is the Lord God is Great