my life in pencil

So did anyone hear what John Piper had to say about the Tornado hitting Minneapolis the other day?

Since you probably won’t read the whole thing, let my summarize:

The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) had a meeting on Tuesday in Minneapolis regarding homosexuality within the Church, where they voted on whether or not it (homosexuality in proper terms) is acceptable to God.

At roughly the same time on Tuesday, a rare tornado struck downtown Minneapolis. South Minneapolis at first, damaging buildings and houses, and eventually hitting the very building the ELCA conference was taking place.

John Piper, everyone’s favorite ultra-Calvinist pastor thinks the tornado was God’s wrath on the Lutherans (briefly put) for making acceptable in their Church, what is unacceptable to God. Essentially Piper thinks Lutherans are encouraging sin and God showed up to take off a few shingles and cut some power lines.

So fast forward to me and my friends who like to talk about Church drama…

Most, and by most I mean all, of my friends (note that I haven’t talked to any friends from Mars Hill, where Piper is pretty much the Godfather) think Piper is off his rocking chair. I sorta agree.

But I stress that sorta.

First, it is EXTREMELY easy to take any unnatural (by unnatural I mean not occurring daily) force and staple it to your cause.

I mean, I could say that the reason the Blazers won 54 games last year was because of successful Church plants in Portland, and the reason the Lions went 0-16 last year was because of the high gang rates.

There, I just showed some unnatural forces and stapled them seamlessly to spiritual causes.

Saying that a tornado was in Minneapolis just for the sake of disrupting (which it didn’t even disrupt) some Lutherans votes seems a bit superstitious to me. I mean, the tornado hit other things too, like the Electric Fetus, which sells records from people who sing about drugs and sex. Should I assume that the tornado was God’s wrath on that music?

But here is the thing.

I believe in a God that actually interacts with this world. I don’t think the Christian God is always distant, far away, and removed from this world.

I think God’s wrath is a real thing, and God does have the power to send tornadoes towards Lutherans and music stores if He wants to.  Not to say anything is wrong with Lutherans and music stores, but that God does have that power.

Maybe this is a lesson I am learning from my new charismatic friends (who actually think Piper is a nut), but I want to hesitate anytime I hear someone mocking something that really could be the Spirit of God, before I judge and join in the mocking.

The last thing I want to do is blaspheme the Spirit, that is, to call something that is the Spirit, blasphemy.

I guess I am just sticking to my old tricks. Slow to pick sides, but quick to critique those that are fast to pick sides.