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In a conversation with a few Christians, I understand the reason why many people chose to stay away from the church. I write this in hopes that both: The church and its members consider these:

A recent article published by the New York Times titled “Is your God dead? brought outrage and conviction knowing that as a Christian myself, I’ve been portraying a dead God. I intend to follow up and quote the article as means to reach out to my fellows and friends.

Without disrespect and before I get accused of blasphemy, as a Christian myself, I ask also ask; Christian, Is your God dead?

We are currently living in chaotic times where the situations of our world should make it impossible to just live for ourselves. We Christians tend to get consumed with biblical minutiae that we forsake practical ministry. Though, I do not use this term as to say that the small things do not matter, but I use this term to show that we have lost the sight of justice, love, mercy and faithfulness as a church. Why is that that Friedrich Nietzsche’s observation weighs heavily on me: “There was only one Christian and he died on the cross.”

I then continue, where have we buried our God? Is He still buried in our churches, our repetitive routinely prayers and our skillful comments within our circles and holy places? Since when did security in this world became a priority over proclamation of God’s word & love for our neighbors?

“Perhaps by remaining in your “holy” places and pointing out that they are “wrong” you have sacrificed looking in the face of your neighbor on the street or their suffering. Surely, you’ve seen that “unholy” face. Perhaps you’re preoccupied with texting, consumed by a work or family matter. Then again, perhaps it’s prayer time…or perhaps too focused on holy communion as your make your way to church. Your refusal to stop, to linger, to look into her eyes, has already done its damage. Your body has already left a mark in its absence, in its fleeing the scene.

I say these as reflection in my life, as I am also guilty of missing the opportunity to recognize something of the divine in the face of the Other on the street. We fail to see “the other” as our neighbor. It is indeed, when we turn away like this that our bodies create these boundaries, as if our skin truly separated us from the Other. We should certainly, worry about the integrity of love. As Christians, do we talk justly or do we act justly?

Heschel writes, “How dare we come before God with our prayers when we commit atrocities against the one image we have of the divine: human beings?” and as though these words didn’t convict, I further ask, is this the kind of God we worship? Do we have a God who does not care for the outcast, the oppressed, the stranger, the heartbroken and refugee? Is our God still dead and absent at the face of the suffering?

If so, perhaps the possibility for a resurrection might be found “in attending to the pain and sorrow of that image of the divine there on the street.” When do we stop talking justice and begin to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly? As followers of Christ, self is no longer our god. Safety is no longer our ultimate concern. We, out of all people, should be at the front lines of injustices by speaking out for our neighbors. Before pointing out the sinners and the outcast, why don’t we listen and attend to them? Why is that we have become like the pharisees and turn those who aren’t or don’t think like us away from the temple? Didn’t Jesus rebuke the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23? “For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and yet have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.”

“Therefore, why not claim those that are suffused with compassion, a shared reality of suffering together, in which your pain is my pain? “Indeed, King wrote in his letter from the Birmingham jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Heschel suggests that we should be mortified by the inadequacy and superficiality of our anguish when we witness the suffering of others, the sort of anguish that should make us weep until our eyes are red and swollen and bring sleepless nights and agonizing days. He writes, “We are a generation that has lost the capacity for outrage.”

We have read & memorized well known verses on social justice like Matthew 25:34-40 countless of times. We have read stories like Ruth (Boaz and the Moabite), Esther, and stories of Jesus like the Good Samaritan, Yet, we continue to portray a buried God.

Enter Boaz, the lord of the harvest, who sees her working in his field. When he finds out who she is—a Moabite—he seeks her out instead of kicking her out. He goes to her, greets her, shelters her from harm, and promises her safety. Then he does the unthinkable. He stoops to serve her and invites her to his table, where she enjoys a meal of roasted grain. All this leads to a showering of grace as Boaz gives Ruth 30 to 50 pounds of food to take home—at least half a month’s wages.

Recently, I’ve been troubled by the lack of theological outrage against national and global poverty, white racism, supremacism, idolatry, building walls, Xenophobia, etc. As followers of Christ, yes we must maintain biblical foundations in these discussions but these foundations itself should remind us of why we must not remain silent. God specifically commands His church to provide for His people. We also must hold government officials accountable to do good as we pursue the good ourselves.

I myself, continue to be haunted by the little body of 3-year old Aylan who lay dead face down at the shores of a Turkish beach in 2015. Moreover, the faces of those families who fled the violence in Syria or the death of an unarmed Trayvon Martin in 2012. Stop and think of the thousands of children in Somalia & Guatemala suffering. Do we know the magnitude of human trafficking, the war on drugs, the displacement of people because of poverty and sickness? Where does God dwell in America today? I continuously ask myself this question. We often forget the agony and suffering of others because we like to prosper, to self indulge, and live our sinful ways. 1 Corinthians 13:1 clearly says “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 

If we claim to “Love God” while forgetting the poor, the refugee, we agree to building walls, to deport and separate families…then your praying and worshipping is a form of narcism.
So how do we show the resurrection of our God in our lives? Think about the segregated churches during the Jim Crow era. Does your Sunday morning service continues to be de facto segregated little circles where everyone thinks and looks just like you? Think too of “the blood that has been spilled in the name of the God we claim as our own” (NYT).

What would our world look like if we followed and acted this verse? 2 Chronicles 7:14 We as Christians, including myself have fallen, we have also failed to deepen our responsibility. What if we all decided to weep together, commit together to eradicate injustice and see each others face?

I do pray that our God, God of Abraham, God of Isaac and Jacob will lock our arms and lead us to march to refuse to live any longer under the weight of so much inhumanity.

As Yancy described “The exodus began but it is far from having been completed.” That exodus, originating with Moses and the emancipation of the Jews, as Heschel suggests, is eternal, and signifies the march toward not just an outward physical emancipation but a spiritual one — one that demands fierce self-reflection. I take it that for Heschel, all of the oppressed of the world are in need of an exodus. In another work Heschel later wrote, “One’s integrity must constantly be examined.”

In a song by Switchfoot “The World you Want” says “The world feels so malicious, with all our hits and misses. Feels like we’re in the business of rust. It’s when I stop to listen, All the moments I’ve been missing. What you say is your religion, How you say it’s your religion, Who you love is our religion, How you love is your religion..Every breath is your religion…is this the world you want? You are making it, every day you are alive”

Our God isn’t a bipartisan God. Our God is not dead & so should we demonstrate with our actions that our God lives. We human beings were created in the image of God. Not just the faithful and “holy” in the church but ALL humans and that includes: Syrian refugees, the undocumented, black unarmed women and men, even Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad.

Ask yourself again, where does God dwell in your life? Is God still in the tomb? Or is your God alive? We should certainly show the true meaning of the gospel as if our lives depended on it, and gladly giving our own lives towards that end.

Sources:

Verses: The Bible

Article: “Is Your God Dead”? – NYT

Video: “Refugee Crisis” – David Platt

Images: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/whom-does-god-worship-on-sunday