Aftermath Reflections

I haven't posted for awhile... obviously! I believe, though, I need to make better use of this space and that I should be posting on a regular basis. I will work at it.

Any of you who know Central Heights, know that on April 25th the floor in our worship center collapsed. I'm not going to get into the collapse so much, other than to say it was a surreal experience. There were people who were hurt and for that I am deeply saddened. For the most part, though, this experience has been really quite interesting. Bear with me here, I have to separate myself from the pain people experienced, I do not in any way want to discount that, but rather, I want to try and examine the response to this crises from a dispassionate, objective point of view.

Let's start with the overwhelmingly vast majority of people who came alongside of us as a church. People were wonderful. They were supportive, caring and sympathetic. They helped in anyway they could and they wanted us to know that we were not standing alone. It was powerful and it restored my faith in people and the strength of the church.

On the other side, there were some people who saw this as God's judgement on Rock and Roll. I feel sorry for these people. Music is a language and the only meaning it has is the meaning that we assign to it. Any good music, whether classical or contemporary is going to stir the soul and move people's passions. These same people probably love organ music, which is fantastic (my mother was a concert pianist and organist. I grew up going to her concerts), but forget that the organ was banned by the early church as being too secular. In the parlance of today, organ music was once viewed in similar fashion to the rock music of our time. Forms change, truth does not.

There are also some people who saw the collapse of the floor as God's judgement for having a rock concert in a "sanctuary". This is plain ignorance of biblical truth. Today, God's people are the dwelling place of God, not some building, tent or ark! We have a place, building, location where we gather together to worship, but God doesn't stay in the Worship Center when we leave. We don't gather in the Worship Center because that is where God is! The Worship Center is a location that is large enough to facilitate corporate gatherings. We need some better theology than sacred place theology.

Let me comment on the media. By far and away I was impressed with the sensitivity and the respectfulness of their coverage. I felt they were fair and balanced in their reporting. I didn't agree with everything they said and some outlets didn't have their facts straight, the CBCs reporting of renovations we had done being one example of not getting the facts right, but for the most part they did their job and they did it without being obtrusive.

Some people have asked, "How have I seen God's hand in all of this?" or, "What message/lesson have I heard/learned?" I have seen God's hand through His people. Human beings, whether believers or not, have an incredible ability to respond to the need, the pain and hurt of others (see recent events in China and Myanmar). I have to ask the question, where does that come from? Is it just some evolutionary, biological impulse? Actually, I think evolutionary theory does a very poor job of explaining the care and compassion of people. If all we are is a by-product of survival, with the fittest outlasting the weakest, then we should be celebrating the demise of those not fit enough to survive. We shouldn't be concerned about them, or trying to help them. It's the law of the jungle and those not able to keep up, that's too bad! Rather, though, what we see through the tragedies of life are people who feel deeply, care greatly and help as best they can. Not everyone may be a follower of Jesus Christ, but we are all created in the image of our maker and He is the greatest example of compassion the world has ever seen. I believe the desire to help is something that we are born with and that it is proof there is a God who is bigger, better, more loving, more forgiving and more compassionate than we can imagine.

What have I heard? Christ... when all is SHAKING! That may sound like a nifty little marketing cliche, but let me tell you, when the floor literally collapses beneath your feet, that's all there is -Jesus Christ! I don't survive this experience, the aftermath and the ongoing challenges without Jesus! The message for me is Jesus Christ is the only sure thing that I can stand on. I can't place my trust in man made structures or forms. I can't depend on the past performance of earthly things or the future expectations and guarantees of products that we rely on. I can only trust in the eternal truth and the solid rock of Jesus Christ to see me through. What I have learned is Christ... when ALL is SHAKING!