Anyway, here’s her response to the previous Dr. Tiller post (I hope she doesn’t mind my posting it!):

You are right that the church is not what it should be. It is full of painfully human people who, many times, are seeking their own agenda rather than the one set for us by the Lord. The things that are done in His name are sometimes horrific. All through history you can find examples of man’s attempt to convince others of the righteousness of their position by the most anti-Christian behavior. But, we do not have the corner on that market. You have given a wonderful example of someone who has actually lived their beliefs before someone else who was desperately seeking. This does happen. There are many examples of that in the Christian church, and yes, even within the Southern Baptist denomination. Please do not allow your very appropriate revulsion at the action of this person / group who was responsible for shooting Dr. Tiller to fire your strong leaning toward cynicism – especially toward the church.

There is no place for this behavior in the Christian life – most of the people in our (and by “our” I mean Southern Baptist mainstream) churches would agree with you completely. Until we are all completely devoted to Him and living each day in obedience to Him, there will be aberrant groups who do really stupid, and sometimes criminal, things. We must stand against that as much as we stand against the actions of Dr. Tiller. The way we stand against it can be as much a harm to the Church and to our own faith as the actions of these killers if we aren’t careful to keep it in the light of His word and His teaching.

This is a great reminder to me personally, because I’m very often hard on my brethren (while openly acknowledging my own sinfulness). Here’s part of my response to her email.

I agree with you that the vast, vast majority of the church condemn these actions and hate that they occur. I also agree that the average Muslim is probably about as devout as the average Christian. The response was more a “re-balancer” for me against the seemingly constant haranguing by (predominantly) Christians against these Muslim extremists. I wish that we would approach our own inequities (as a church and as individuals) before we would go traipsing around the world to find the worst of the worst of the lost. They don’t know the love of God! We do (or claim to)! That’s where my frustration stems from, and its frustration born from the fact that our church is falling apart around our ears, our country is losing sight of the One True God, and they are losing sight of him because our Church is more interested in political rallies, being on cable TV, and preaching against sinners (instead of sin), rather than serving, being humble, meek, accepting of God’s grace and recognizing that God is in Control.

Psalm 2
1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.
5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

We are so often assured of the primacy and power of God throughout the Bible, yet we act as if it’s all in our hands and God can’t stand it if someone says something about it, or if their presence/sin bothers him. The idea that we are any less sinful than the worst criminal in jail, the most promiscuous of folks (of any orientation), or even an abortion doctor is ridiculous and flies in the face of Scripture. And while we claim it with our mouth, our actions speak a very different message. And to go full circle, I know that the very people that are doing the judging are sinners, and should be forgiven of that, but they also claim to be followers of Christ, and therefore are open to be chastised by their brothers and sisters.

I don’t claim that the killer of Dr. Tiller is representative of the Church or its members, and I absolutely apologize if that’s how I came across.  We are all fallen.  We are all sinners.  We are all incapable of our own salvation.  We all depend on the free gift of grace from God to be excused for our shortcomings, rebellions, and failures.  Praise God for his grace.

The murder of Dr. Tiller, the abortion doctor in Wichita, KS, has provide great fodder for those that are looking for any reason to distract or demean the message of love and forgiveness of Christ.  And why not?  The man was shot and killed in the lobby of his church.  The lobby of his church.

Now, I’m pro-life, and I hold that belief for exactly what the name says.  I believe that an unborn baby is still a baby and that the concious destruction of that life is wrong, and should be illegal.  One of the government’s responsibility is the protection of life, and there is no more innocent or vulnerable life than that of an unborn baby. That said, there is absolutely no way you can justify to me the attack on abortion clinics or personnel.  There is absolutely nothing in the character of Christ (Christian means Christ-One, or someone trying to emulate Christ) that would in any way condone these actions, let alone a murder.

An interesting juxtaposition is this story from CNN.com about a Muslim storekeeper that turns the tables on a robber, and then converts him to Islam. The store keeper pulled a shotgun on a man trying to rob the store with a baseball bat, learns that the man is just trying to get some food, gives him $40 and a loaf a bread.  The robber, apparently moved by the man’s charity, asks to become a Muslim.  Wow.  Is there a clearer example that there are so many people that are desperate for something, and cling to whatever truth they see as most genuine?

Is it too cynical of me to believe that had the storekeeper been a Christian, there’s a decent chance the robber would have been shot and then chased out of the store?