The Word and the Work: Thoughts on Preaching, Pastoring, and the Christian Life

Sadness. Despair.  Disgust. How many times do we feel these things in tragic situations?  It is normal and human.  What we do not feel is the proper feeling.  That feeling is responsibility.  I said it.  You and I are responsible for these types of tragedies.  Not in the way the politicians are going to paint it.  Not in the way that the media is going to paint it.  Not even in the way that the devil is going to paint it in our minds.  Yet, we are responsible. You read this and say, "How in the world could I be responsible for the actions of a deranged mad man in Charleston, South Carolina?"  We are responsible because for too long people on both ends of the political spectrum, all races, all nationalities, and all stripes of religious persuasions have failed to live courageously.  We have elevated our desire to be right over our duty to care.  We have jumped toward extremism at every opportunity.  Every tragedy has become a place to grind an axe.  We lack courage enoug