Easter and Christmas always bring cover stories on religion in the national press; and this year Newsweek put on its front cover the provocative title: “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” It summarizes two things: some data from the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey, and some opinions of Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I am not surprised at the data: Christians and their congregations have been working hard to put their worst foot forward, so to speak; dull preaching, power struggles, sexual misconduct, and a fixation on issues that seem to be secondary to the gospel. And I am not surprised at the opinions of Dr. Mohler; those of us in Kentucky and in the Baptist circle of influence are well aware of his disdain for a wide range of things, including modern science, philosophy, and culture.
But I am surprised at how Newsweek missed the main story of this Easter season. It is found on page 28-31 of this same issue. It is entitled, “A Message of Hope From a Pile of Bones.” It is the story of a group of ministers traveling through Rwanda, of their determination to bring help and healing to the people of that war-torn country.
Bishop Rucyabana opened an orphanage, then a school, which he named Sonrise, because “the Son of God rises into the misery, into our darkness.” In addition to prison ministry, he and his colleagues have launched “reconciliation villages” seeking to bring together, in forgiveness and forgetfulness, the victims and the perpetrators. “In the beginning,” said a woman who lost seven family members, “it was very difficult. but now I forgive them.”
If there is a decline in Christian America, and I am not at all sure there is, it is because there are too many people whining about lost influence, lost power, and lost status and not enough people building reconciliation villages and houses of healing for those who live in what Johnny Cash once called “the hopeless, hungry side of town.”
The Easter message that will shape my preaching tomorrow is not what may or may not be happening in America but what is happening in Rwanda. That is the Christianity that calls me to follow Jesus and live in the kingdom of God. That is what I wish to celebrate on this resurrection weekend.