So we’re in the wake of yet another mass school shooting, and once again my timeline is overwhelmed with posts that basically say, “prayers for the victims...” Politicians, religious leaders, religious people, new age associates, and everyone in between have been tweeting, posting, and ‘calling on others...’ to answer this call to prayer.
What’s really aggravating though, are the Christian leaders and their flocks abusing this call-to-action, which is exactly what this is according to the man they call their Lord and Savior. As a member of a society which has witnessed thousands of children die from guns (just in this year alone), I’ve become sick and tired of hearing this worn out tripe. And the irony is how it’s the “Christians” who defend these deaths (and the weapons used to cause the deaths) but then post their oh-so-Jesus clarion call... “Pray for the victims!” Once the post is live, they mindlessly move on, ignoring the suffering, arguing against actions that might help end the suffering, and mercilessly protecting those who cause the suffering (NRA). But not to worry, they’ve got a nice little gif all teed up for the next round. It even has a little tear in it so they can pretend they care.
Now that their prayer is posted, these prayer warriors go back to their Facebook and Twitter feeds to post pictures of their dinner and to tweet about how God graciously got them that front row parking spot at the gym.
Because of this, I’ve decided it’s time to ask these “high-minded/debase-action” scribes if they understand what they’re really asking, and what they’re volunteering to do with their posts.
Prayer has become a “thing” of late with so many calling for it. They use it as an appeal to God—an entity outside humanity—to fix OUR problems—problems they have no intention of fixing. This is a position that has disempowered humanity and become a substitution for compassion and any kind of actual movement. “Hey, we prayed. We did our part.”
But this is NOT the prayer that Jesus taught.
We start with Jesus’ overarching message: The “Kingdom of Heaven is at hand/within...” and, “WE are the Kingdom of Heaven.” When prayers went out to the Kingdom of Heaven, it was the Kingdom of Heaven that listened and responded. In modern terms, we pray to us, and we respond.
The Aramaic word Jesus used for pray meant, among other things, “to set a trap for God.” It’s much more complicated than just that, but this is the essence. It was not so much a hunting term, but a ‘trapping’ term. Jesus knew that God was moving throughout the Kingdom, and saw prayer as a way to capture it: not in apprehension, but as an acquisition. Jesus wanted to grasp God: its ideas, its thoughts, its intentions.
But God is pretty big prey, and capturing it wasn’t going to be easy. So Jesus fasted, prayed, wrestled, and followed Jewish observances—all to keep the channel open so that his very being was ready to hold onto such a overwhelming potential. Using even the smallest of that force, Jesus would tap into the guidance and wisdom of this ‘detainee’ to accomplish whatever he saw that the Kingdom of Heaven wanted or needed accomplished. Jesus “caught” God, and God’s directions to help humanity. He didn't try to get God to do the work for him. Make no mistake. Prayer wasn't Jesus' action… prayer was his preparation for action.
The purpose of prayer as Jesus taught, is to shut up and listen. God doesn't need to hear from us. We need to hear from it. I do not pray for “God's” sake, I pray for mine. I do not pray for the “victims” of this latest shooting, I pray so that God will tell me what *I* can do to help this particular piece of the Kingdom of Heaven through this painful moment. If I don’t want to do anything, then I don’t pray. That gives me plenty of time on the sidelines where I can post more cat memes and take more selfies sticking my tongue out at the camera.
But if I DO pray, and still DON’T help, then I am taking God’s name in vain, which is a big deal in the Ten Commandments. Not to mention Jesus wasn’t a fan either.
So when our Christian friends post: “Pray for the victims,” we need to remind them they’re volunteering their services to God, and they need to be prepared to shut up and listen so that they know what God wants them to do. And then emphasize that they’re going to go out and do it. It’s not us, they posted “Pray for the victims.” They have made us witness to their decision. This is a high calling. One they had better take seriously if they’re going to wear Jesus’ name.
This is the dialog we need to have with our Christian friends whenever this comes up. For some reason it’s “Christians” who so vociferously defend weapons of mass destruction, and who will do anything to undermine any chance for healing and protecting the Kingdom of Heaven. So it’s time for us to start calling them out. If nothing else, it will force them to stop using a meme they have no intention of taking seriously. It will show them that we know how hypocritical they’re being and how little they understand Jesus.
Whether or not it changes their minds, it makes self-deception more difficult. At some point, they are going to have to deal with this dysfunction, and I suspect it will only happen when we start showing them how “unlike” Jesus they are.