Mass Shooting in Colorado Theater Reminds Us Evil Is Real

In the News

During a premier showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, just past midnight on July 20, a gunman, dressed in protective gear, walked into the theater, set off tear-gas grenades, and then began firing into the audience, using multiple weapons. When he stopped, 12 people were dead and 58 others were wounded, some seriously. The suspect, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema shortly thereafter.

While the massacre is among the worst mass shootings in American history, certain elements of the crime are all too familiar from other mass killings in recent years. Those elements include 1) the slaughter of people with no relation to the killer and who have done the killer no harm, 2) a murderer who seems prepared to destroy his own life and future by committing the atrocity, 3) the absence of any clear motive for the crime -- at least none that makes sense to any but the perpetrator.

When police went to Holmes' apartment, they found it rigged with multiple booby-traps and explosive devices, which took them more than a day to clear safely. The traps were clearly meant to harm and probably kill anyone who entered the apartment.

The Aurora community has responded with strong support for the survivors and families of the murdered. President Obama visited with surviving victims and their families. Both Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney suspended their political ad campaigns in the state, and Rommey offered words of support. The co-producers of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, have made significant donations to help the victims, and Christian Bale, who portrays Batman in the film, visited with survivors.

Holmes has since made his first appearance in court, looking dazed or sleepy. He is being held without bail, and charges are expected shortly.

Several commentators have described the massacre using the word "evil," and the TWW team agrees. One TWW team member said, "While it is possible that Holmes is mentally unbalanced, his actions themselves were evil. The question of sanity will likely affect how accountable Holmes will ultimately be considered legally -- and I'm not suggesting he's beyond redemption -- but the senseless killing and wounding of the theatergoers in itself is evil, regardless of what consequences may be meted out to the perpetrator or what level of blame is ultimately assigned to him. The wrongness of the killings is not changed by the mental state of the doer."

More on this story can be found at these links:

12 Shot Dead, 58 Wounded in Aurora Movie Theater During Batman Premier. Denver Post
Colorado Massacre Suspect Appears in Court Looking Dazed, Sleepy. Reuters
Obama Consoles Aurora as City Begins Healing. New York Times 
Christian Bale Visits Aurora, Reminds Us Why He's Batman. Washington Post

The Big Questions

1.How do you define evil? How is it connected to the word "sin"? Why is there evil in the world? What should be the church's response to the reality of evil?

2. While all too many senseless mass murders have taken place in the last several years -- Columbine, Oklahoma City, the Amish school, Virgina Tech, Fort Hood, the Arizona shootings (with the wounding of Congresswoman Giffords) and the Norway slaughter, to name just a few -- are such crimes a relatively new phenomenon? Does a historical perspective support that? Does it suggest they are on the increase? If they are new, to what do you attribute that? If they are not, what does that suggest about life on earth? What have we learned from previous mass shootings that may be helpful now?

3. How does the more immediate national-level and sensationalistic reporting affect people's perceptions? From where do a person's perceptions arise? How does violence in America compare to violent acts in other regions such as the Middle East or sectarian violence in Nigeria and other places in Africa? Would it surprise you to find out that the U.S. has a lower incidence of violent crimes than many industrial nations?   

4. Where is God in such tragedies as the Aurora theater slaughter? Where is God in the suffering and grief?

5. There is an unending supply of bad news in this life. How do you deal with repeated bad news? Does your faith help? How? Does good news outweigh the bad, or vice versa?

Confronting the News with Scripture
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Matthew 2:16
"When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men." (For context, read 2:1-18.)

We are pointing you to the story of Herod's massacre of the infants as a biblical example of a person using his power in monstrous ways (see also Pharaoh in Exodus 1:15-21 and Pilate in Luke 13:1). Perhaps one reason mass killings seem more prevalent today is because in Bible times, only a few people had enough firepower (troops) to kill lots of people. With today's technology, major destructive power is more accessible to the average person. Or perhaps because the equivalent of news media and historians were extremely rare in those days, these things were not communicated broadly or recorded for history. Perhaps the reason is a combination of these things.

This Herod, known as Herod the Great, is believed to have been mentally unbalanced -- or at least very paranoid; he had one of his wives and three of his children executed. His possible lack of sanity renders those crimes and his killing of the infants no less evil.

Questions: Are we all capable of acting in monstrous ways? Explain your answer. What pulls us in that direction? What keeps us from going in that direction? What is more evil in your opinion: Herod's orders, or the fact that rank-and-file soldiers carried them out?

Psalm 97:10
"The LORD loves those who hate evil ..." (For context, read 97:10-12.)

Here's a Bible-approved hatred: hating evil. And "hate" is not too strong a word in this context. The underlying Hebrew word can mean both an intense personal emotion and the idea of being "set against" something. The Hebrew word translated here as "evil" generally means anything that causes pain, suffering or misery. Those are things worth being set against.

In the normal course of life, we may not think too much about evil beyond generalities, but news such as the theater shooting brings it into dramatic perspective.

Questions: If something as terrible as the Aurora shootings is evil, is it accurate to brand our much smaller sins, such as selfishness and gossip, as evil as well? Why or why not? Is it possible to gauge levels of evil? How can such things be graded, and is something that is "less evil" more acceptable to God?

Psalm 14:1-2
"Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God." (For context, read 14:1-7.)

Though often translated as "fool," the underlying Hebrew word refers to a person who is evil, not so much because of a belief that God does not exist, but because of a belief that God is not involved with creation and therefore does not have to be taken into account. (The poet Robert Alter translates the word as "scoundrel.") The psalmist is suggesting that people act in an evil fashion because they believe there is no one to hold them accountable.

However, in the second verse the psalmist uses the name for God (LORD = Yahweh, as compared to Elohim, the general term for God) to show that a personal God does look down from heaven, and as demonstrated later in the psalm, is aware when morally empty people take advantage of the poor and marginalized. At one point the psalmist despairs because everyone is evil. Yet the psalmist also celebrates because God will eventually vindicate the suffering, and then God's people will rejoice.

Questions: Does your belief in a God who is watching us affect the choices you make in life? Has the pervasiveness of social media replaced God as the one who is watching all the time? Why do some people seem to act in reprehensible ways even though no one should be surprised when their actions appear on YouTube or Facebook? Should morality be grounded in God? Are there people you know who do not believe in God, yet act in a moral fashion? What fuels their moral behavior? Why do you think the psalmist refers to a morally bankrupt person as a fool?

John 15:13
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (For context, read 15:12-17.)

We cite this verse simply because there were some heroic acts in the theater, where at least three of those killed were men who died shielding the women with them from bullets. (One commentator has wondered if there was a male protective instinct involved. See In the Aurora Theater the Men Protected the Women. What Does that Mean? Slate.) Some who survived also shielded others with them. This included at least one mother who protected the children with her with her body.

Question: Are the selfless acts of those who sacrificed their lives for others more significant than the senseless acts of evil? Some of the individuals whose lives were saved were strangers to those who saved them. How does our identity as people of faith affect our definition of a friend? If someone saved the life of an enemy, would that be a greater sacrifice or love than one who saved the life of a friend? Are there forms of self-sacrifice that do not involve literally giving one's own life that still might constitute giving one's life for another? Give examples if you can.

Romans 8:28
"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (For context, read 8:18-30.)

One TWW team member says of this verse: "I have been struck by the fact that there is no promise that all things will work together for the best -- only that they will work synergistically for good. That says something -- I'm not sure what -- about God's ways in the world. It is very comforting. It also avoids thoughts of God being the Author of evil as well -- not that we [mere mortals] can ever fathom his permissive will!"

Questions: What is the difference between "the best" and "good"? What does Christianity say about things working together for "the best"?

John 1:5
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (For context, read 1:1-5.)

This verse is a major testimony of the Christian faith. "Light" here is a metaphor for the divine power present in Jesus. But we also have some sense of what "darkness" is. We have only to think of this week's news.

Neither the darkness nor the light is a passive thing. Darkness, as John's gospel pictures it, is not just the absence of light. Rather it is active hostility to the light of God. Christianity sees darkness not so much as an outside force as a drive within us that urges us to disregard God.

But if darkness is an active, hostile force, light is an active, benevolent force. In this world, light has not eradicated darkness, but neither has the darkness overcome it. The darkness is there, but there is also light.

Our faith says that the light -- Christ -- ultimately wins this struggle, however, and those who stand with Christ benefit from his victory.

Question: Quoting this verse is unlikely to be immediately helpful to those who lost loved ones in the theater shooting, but in what context is its message likely to eventually ring true to such persons? If one believes darkness will not conquer light, what does this say about our ultimate view of history? How does one go about shining a light in the darkness of a senseless shooter's mind? How is the light of Christ shining in Aurora right now, do you think?

One way of translating the verse might be "the darkness does not get it." The light is incomprehensible to the darkness. Do you think it is easier for those who walk in the light of Jesus to understand the minds of evil individuals, or for evil individuals to understand the motivations of those who are believers?

For Further Discussion

1. In our modern and psychologically oriented culture, we use words such as "mentally unbalanced" a lot. It's possible, however, that this has two deleterious side effects: 1) it substitutes a wholly materialistic explanation that drives out the concept of "evil," and 2) it tends to excuse the individual from any personal culpability for his or her actions. Does the current dominant cultural language tend to provide cover for thoughts of evil?

2. Reportedly, Holmes was raised in a Christian family and his mom is quite active in church. Should that congregation address this tragedy in any special way? How ought it minister to Holmes' family?

3. We may look at tragedies like this one and wonder if a greater attention to a shooter's spiritual needs as he was growing up might have prevented it. Is that likely? Is even the most faithful attention to one's spiritual life likely to stop a descent into mental illness (assuming that this is a case of mental illness, of course)?

4. When hearing of terrible news that happened elsewhere, a common protective response is "It won't happen here," even though we know there are no guarantees against that. In what ways does that response help us? In what ways does it hinder us?

Responding to the News
 
It is good for the church to remember its intercessory prayer ministry, especially on behalf of the physically and emotionally traumatized survivors and the families of the deceased.

This sad event can also affect how we teach our faith -- not as a guarantee of goodness and blessings, but as a conviction that the light of God is not overcome by darkness.

Other News This Week

The Greater Wall of China

The largest human-made structure in the world, the Great Wall of China, is more than twice as long as originally believed, according to a recently released archaeological survey conducted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) across 15 Chinese provinces. Originally estimated to be a "mere" 5,500 miles long, the new report claims the wall extended 13,171 miles. According to the Los Angeles Times, that's more than half the circumference of the globe, four times the span of the United States coast to coast.

But the announcement is seen by some neighbors in the region as grandstanding by the Chinese. Koreans say some parts of the wall now claimed by China were actually built by their ancestors during the Koguryo dynasty. Ruins thought to be remnants of the Great Wall have been found as far away as North Korea and Russia. The problem lies in the fact that there is no consensus about what the Great Wall is, according to David Spindler, a leading expert on the subject.

Many dynasties maintained and renovated the defensive wall since it was begun as early as the seventh century B.C. Called the world's largest outdoor museum, it took 18 centuries to complete. The wall is only 12 feet wide in most places, which means that it cannot be seen from outer space, contrary to popular legend and government propaganda. The stone and earth of which the wall is built could form a structure three feet high and three feet wide around the world at the equator. Some 10,000 people visit the wall outside Beijing every day; 400 heads of state have been among them. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Matthew Power, writing in the National Geographic, describes his sojourn on the wall this way: "Scaling and dropping, at times nearly closing back on itself to maintain the high ground, it runs a relentless serpentine over the horizon. ... In some spots it thrusts up crags at 60 degrees, so close to vertical that it's practically a ladder of stone. The wall seizes the absolute highest points along its route, bringing to mind Sun Tzu's Art of War observation that 'all armies prefer high ground to low.'"

More on this story can be found at these links:

Great Wall of China Longer Than Previously Reported. ABC News
Great Wall of China Twice as Long as Thought. Live Science
Is the Great Wall of China Longer Than Previously Thought? TIME
Hiking the Great Wall: Astride the Dragon's Back. National Geographic (map, picture, blog)
Mending Wall. Wikipedia (about the Robert Frost poem)

Some Musing About Walls

Walls are all around us, literally, and metaphorically in our language and culture. Most of us live and work in buildings that have walls. Life would be difficult without them; without walls, how could we have a roof to shield us from the rain? Walls like the Great Wall of China were built to protect nations, cities, castles and fortresses from attack.

Yet in literature, from Bartleby the Scrivener to Robert Frost's "Mending Wall," walls often symbolize uneasy isolation, alienation, separation, bigotry and confinement. When we have cabin fever, we feel the walls closing in on us, or we feel like climbing up one; when we feel cornered, we say our backs are up against the wall; when we are in a conflict with others, we say they are driving us up one. When communication is difficult, we feel like we are talking to a wall; we want to tear down walls; we peer at life through a hole in the wall. We built the Vietnam War Memorial and called it the Wall. Scripture speaks of God writing on the wall; we say an offbeat idea is "off the wall." Swimmers reach for the wall while runners hit it. Walls are everywhere, from Wall Street and Walmart to the wall on Facebook. Now that online education and social networking have come of age, we have universities and churches without walls.

You may want to revisit Robert Frost's poem, "Mending Wall," in which he describes the role of nature, or God, or people in tearing down and rebuilding walls.

Questions

1. What walls have you built in life? Which ones are beneficial? Which ones are harmful?

2. Building walls sometimes has a negative connotation, but there is a place in Christianity for healthy boundary lines. What is the difference between a wall that functions as a barrier that has a negative impact and a wall that provides a necessary boundary that is positive in its impact?

3. Is there something about maintaining barriers between people that actually draws them to work together, to communicate, to engage in a social interaction that they might not otherwise have? By observing boundaries, can we actually increase the respect we show one another? Why or why not?

4. In the last century, we saw the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall; today Israel is building a wall to attempt to provide greater protection from their Arab neighbors in the region, and the USA has the beginning of a wall on its southern border in an effort to stem the tide of drugs and illegal immigration. What role have walls played in Scripture, in world history and in conflicts today? Besides the Great Wall of China, how have other walls (such as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem) played a significant role in human history?

Some Bible Verses

Joshua 6:2, 20
"The LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. ... So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it." (For context, read 6:1-27)

The fall of the wall of Jericho described in the spiritual "Joshua F'it the Battle of Jericho" was understood by oppressed slaves in America as a metaphor for the eventual inevitable fall of systemic injustice.

Questions: When is it right to tear down walls? How do you determine whether a wall should stand or fall? How do you and your church engage in battle for the poor and oppressed? Have you seen God bring down walls you once thought were impregnable? Is this an area you and your church could or should address more fully? How would you go about it?

Nehemiah 2:18; 6:15-16
"Then they said, 'Let us start building!' So they committed themselves to the common good. ... So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God." (For context, read 2:16-20; 6:1-16.)

In the books of Joshua and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13:9-16; 22:23-30), God is credited with bringing down walls, while in Nehemiah and Ezra (Ezra 9:9), God is praised for giving the people a wall. The book of Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, which was broken down and destroyed by fire. As long as it remained in its state of ruin, it presented a grave security risk for the inhabitants. Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed over the situation (Nehemiah 1:3-4), sought and received support for a rebuilding project from God and the king, and mobilized his people to act together to accomplish this huge task.

Questions: When is building a wall good for a community? When might building a wall be bad for the community as a whole? Is there is a time to break down and a time to build up (as Ecclesiastes 3:3 says)? How do you know when is the right time to do the first, and when is the right time to do the last?

Ezekiel 22:30
"And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one."

Question: What ruined wall might God be asking you to repair in your home or community?

Psalm 18:29
"By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall."

Question: What wall of pride and injustice might God be asking you to destroy and leap over?

1 Samuel 25:14-16
"But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, 'David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he shouted insults at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we never missed anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them; they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.'"

Question: How can your church "be a wall" to those who are vulnerable and at risk?

Ephesians 2:13-14
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." (For context, read 2:11-22.)

Questions: How did the death of Christ break down the wall of hostility separating Jews and Gentiles? How can it do the same today for people who are in conflict?

Closing Prayer
 
O Lord, assure us, and especially those in grief, that the darkness does not overcome the light. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2012 Communication Resources

Cruise and Holmes End Their Interfaith Marriage

Cruise and Holmes End Their Interfaith Marriage

The Wired Word for the Week of July 22, 2012

In the News
 

After five years of marriage, Hollywood power couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are breaking up. Holmes filed for divorce on June 28, and just two weeks later they "amicably settled" their divorce, according to an attorney. This would be an unremarkable celebrity split if not for one factor: They had an interfaith marriage. Holmes was raised Roman Catholic, and Cruise is a passionate Scientologist.

Like a large number of Americans -- one in four -- Cruise and Holmes married a partner who did not share their faith. This creates opportunities for personal growth, but also unique problems. One of the biggest challenges is deciding how to provide spiritual nurture to children. Since their breakup, Holmes has enrolled their daughter in a Catholic school in New York City, and Holmes herself may be returning to the Catholic church.

Their interfaith marriage reflects a national trend, one that has been fueled by the increasing individualism of religious belief in America. "As people stray from religious institutions and follow a plurality of spiritual paths," writes Lisa Miller in The Washington Post, "their tolerance for interfaith marriage increases."

According to American Grace, a 2010 book by social scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell, only about one in three people born in the 1960s believe that shared religious beliefs are "very important" for a successful marriage, and that number is shrinking. It may be that Cruise and Holmes believed that they could work through their religious differences with love, respect and mutual goodwill. Or perhaps they thought that their differences were not so great. In a 2005 interview with W magazine, Holmes said that she liked Scientology. "I was raised Catholic," she said, "and you can be a Catholic and a Scientologist, Jewish and a Scientologist."  

It is rare, however, that interfaith couples achieve balance in their spiritual lives. From the beginning, Cruise exerted greater religious influence on the family, and the couple's wedding was performed by a Scientology minister (despite the hopes of Holmes' devout parents for a Catholic wedding). In 2006, Cruise declared to ABC's Diane Sawyer that their child would not have a Catholic baptism.

And now, with the marriage ending, religious tensions may even increase. "In divorce," says Sanford Ain, a Washington divorce lawyer, to The Washington Post, "people who have very strongly held beliefs are moved to the extreme. The polarization is so great as to cause wars." It remains to be seen whether Holmes will succeed in raising their daughter as a Catholic, or if Cruise will bring her up as a Scientologist.

While freedom of religion is a core American conviction, the sobering fact is that divorce is three times more prevalent in interfaith families with children than in same-faith households. Cathy Lynn Grossman comes to this conclusion in USA Today, based on 2001 research from the American Religious Identification Survey. Ten percent of all U.S. adults who have had children with someone of another faith are divorced, compared with 3 percent for parents of the same faith.

The impact is felt not only by families: Interfaith households cause religious denominations to lose three to six future adherents. This occurs when parents choose one faith (or none) for their children. Catholic parents in interfaith marriages do the best in raising their children in the faith (66 percent), with lower rates of success by Lutherans (54 percent), Methodists (51 percent) and Episcopalians (31 percent). No conclusions were reached about Scientologists.

Cruise and Holmes entered their interfaith marriage with high hopes, intending to blend their beliefs in a way that would be beneficial to them both. But they, like so many interfaith families, found that they could not overcome their differences. It remains to be seen if their daughter will hold on to both faiths, one faith or no faith at all.

More on this story can be found at these links:

In their interfaith marriage and divorce, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are 'just like us,' The Washington Post

Interfaith couples, such as TomKat, more likely to divorce, USA Today

Katie Holmes picks elite Catholic school for daughter Suri, LA Times

The Big Questions

1. Men and women come to marriage from different families, with different experiences, perspectives and politics. What are the unique challenges of religious differences?

2. Young people in their 20s and 30s often have strong personal faith, although less loyalty to organized religion than previous generations. What are the advantages of such an individualistic faith? What are the disadvantages?

3. How important should faith be in finding and choosing a partner? Describe the challenges and opportunities created by marrying a person of the same faith, a different faith or no faith.

4. What values should be nonnegotiable in a marriage? How would it be difficult to maintain these values in certain interfaith marriages? Be specific.

5. How can interfaith parents raise children well? What can be done to honor differences in faith perspectives?

6. Where do you see interfaith marriages working for the benefit of families? What are the factors that make them successful?

7. What are the unique challenges of interdenominational marriages, as opposed to interfaith marriages? Discuss the issues -- both positive and negative -- that can arise in a marriage between Christians of different denominations.  

8. In your opinion, does it say something positive or negative about the strength of one's faith when one chooses to marry an individual of another faith?

Confronting the News with Scripture
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Exodus 34:12-16
"Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you. You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles (for you shall worship no other god, because the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice. And you will take wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods." (For context, read 34:10-28).

God renews his covenant with Moses and the Israelites, after the incident with the Golden Calf. Part of this renewal is God's promise to drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land, if the Israelites avoid intermarriage with these foreign people. The reason for this prohibition is that God knows that the foreign wives will continue to worship their gods, and that they will lead the sons of the Israelites to worship foreign gods.

Questions: What are the "foreign gods" that continue to entice us today? In what sense is God still a "jealous God"? How can interfaith marriage cause us to lose our focus on the one Lord God?

Numbers 12:1-3
"While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said 'Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?' And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth." (For context, read 12:1-16.)

Moses married a Cushite woman, who presumably practiced a different faith. Miriam and Aaron criticize him for this marriage, and God hears their words. God comes to the three of them in a pillar of cloud and expresses his support for Moses, the one with whom he speaks "face to face" (v. 8). God's anger is kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and Miriam is inflicted with leprosy.

Questions: Why does God support Moses in this controversy over his Cushite wife? What qualities does Moses possess that make him an effective leader of the Israelites, even with his interfaith marriage?

Ruth 4:9-10
"Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, 'Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses." (For context, read 4:1-22.)

An Israelite named Naomi moves with her husband Elimelech and their sons, Chilion and Mahlon, to Moab in a time of famine. The sons marry Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth. Then Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon die. Naomi decides to move back to her hometown of Bethlehem, and daughter-in-law Ruth insists on going with her, saying, "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (1:16). In Bethlehem, Ruth meets a prominent rich man named Boaz. He and Ruth marry, and she becomes an ancestor of King David.

Questions: Ruth the Moabite marries Boaz the Israelite, and the marriage works. What are the actions and attitudes that make this possible? List the positive attributes of each of the main characters: Naomi (1:6-14), Ruth (1:15-18), Boaz (2:1-13).   

Ezra 10:2-3
"Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra, saying, 'We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. So now let us make a covenant with our God to send away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law." (For context, read 10:1-15).

At the end of the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites are allowed to return to Jerusalem and to begin to rebuild the temple. Worship is restored in Jerusalem, the temple is rededicated, and a priest named Ezra leads a renewal movement among the Israelites. Part of this renewal is a denunciation of mixed marriages, which culminates in the separation of the Israelites from their foreign wives and their children.

Questions: When is it appropriate to dissolve an interfaith marriage? Is the desire for religious purity sufficient, as it was in Ezra's time, or must other factors be present? If so, what are they?

1 Corinthians 7:12-14
"To the rest I say -- I and not the Lord -- that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." (For context, read 7:1-16).

In his directions to the Corinthians concerning marriage, the apostle Paul counsels people to remain unmarried if they are single, and to avoid separation and divorce if they are married. This extends even to interfaith marriages, because Paul is convinced that unbelievers are made holy through their relationship with a believing spouse. He goes so far as to say, "Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife" (v. 16).

Questions: How do you account for the differences in attitude between Ezra and Paul on the topic of interfaith marriage? Where do you see evidence that an unbelieving spouse can be "made holy" through a marriage to a believer? How would your feelings change about a union that began as an interfaith marriage, and evolved into one where both partners were believers?

2 Corinthians 6:14-15
"Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?" (For context, read 6:14-18.)

Paul's advice that interfaith marriages not be broken through divorce does not imply that he supports those marriages in the first place. In fact, he describes them as a partnership between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness. This supports his argument that Christians are "the temple of the living God" (v. 16), a temple that has no room for idols.

Questions: Discuss the assertion that an unbeliever is living in "lawlessness" and "darkness." How is this accurate, and how is it misleading? Where, if anywhere, can the light of God be seen outside of the Christian faith?

For Further Discussion

1. Many interfaith families get tired of religious fights, and so they give up on religion altogether. How can this be avoided?  

2. Can marriage to a nonbeliever create an opportunity for witnessing and conversion? What are the keys to success?

3. Do you consider marriage between a believer and a nonbeliever an interfaith marriage? Why or why not?

4. What questions are important enough to be settled before marriage? Finances, career goals, raising of the children in a particular faith? How would you prioritize them?

5. A young girl (who is now a professor of Old Testament at a liberal arts college) had a father who was an old Dunker (part of the Church of the Brethren), who worshipped on Sunday, while her mother was a member of the Seventh Day German Baptist tradition. At first the mother continued to worship on Saturday at her church and on Sunday with her husband, but when children came along she decided that was no longer practical, and that she would attend Sunday services. The daughter found herself taunted by other Seventh Day Baptist children who told her she was going to hell for worshipping on the wrong day. The ensuing conversation the daughter had with her mother helped shape her understanding of Scripture as something that required interpretation based on factors including experience and relationship. Are there religious issues that are not negotiable? What biblical issues are important to you but are shaped by your experience? When have you changed your practices based on a relationship with another person?

6. Did you grow up in an interfaith household? How did your parents navigate this landscape? Are you, or have you been, married to someone of another faith? How has that worked? What are the positives and negatives that you have experienced?

Responding to the News

Have a conversation with a friend or relative who is part of an interfaith marriage or interdenominational marriage. Be aware of the unique challenges that are connected to such unions, and do what you can to be supportive of their vows. Marriages are challenging in the best of circumstances, and interfaith unions need an extra measure of compassion and support.

Other News This Week

American Olympic Marathoner Considers God His Coach

As a boy, he imagined a career in baseball, not on the track. He wanted to be like his father, Mickey Hall, a pitcher drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. Whenever he came back from a run, he'd say, "I'm not a runner."

Yet he won multiple California high school championships and an NCAA title at 5,000 meters while a sociology student at Stanford, and ran the 2011 Boston Marathon at the blistering speed of a personal-best 2 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds. So how did Ryan Hall end up the fastest American marathoner, who competed in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing and, at age 29, is headed to London to represent the USA again this summer?  

One word: God. Ryan claims that as a teenager, he had a vision from God urging him to run around a lake. The next weekend, wearing basketball shoes, Ryan and his father ran 15 miles. The rest, as they say, is history.

Ryan, a member of a Pentecostal Church, considers God his coach. In 2011, while participating in a routine drug testing procedure for runners, Hall listed God as his coach on a form. An official told him he had to write the name of a real person, to which Hall responded, "He is a real person."

Although Hall has had human coaches (including his dad) in the past, he says, "I really believe God is always wanting to speak to me and reveal secrets to me and tell me what I need to be doing." He pores over the Scriptures, seeks God's guidance in prayer and listens to sermons for inspiration.

New York Times columnist Jere Longman describes Hall's training regimen as "experimental and unorthodox." Ryan trains alone, at sea level, not high altitude. To stay fresh, he incorporates periods of rest into his workouts, running 100 miles a week instead of the typical 120, taking one day off every week because the Bible says that God rested on the seventh day and commanded us to rest on the Sabbath as well. Every seven weeks, he runs once a day instead of twice, the standard for most marathoners.

While running or thinking of running, Hall says he feels most conversant with and dependent on God. By using his skill as a runner, he believes he is best able to show God to the world, to display his goodness and his love. As for how he places at the summer Olympics, he says he has "no expectations and zero limitations." He is both hopeful and uncertain but doesn't need to win gold to feel fulfilled.

"It's going to take a special day," Hall said of his gold medal chances. "But I feel like I went for it, regardless of how the race goes. I'll always look back on this as a season of joy. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. That's part of the fun of life, taking some chances and seeing what happens."

More on this story can be found at these links:

The Extra 1%, Ryan Hall Blog
How It All Started, Running With Joy Blog
A Runner's Belief: God Is His Coach, The New York Times
Who Is The Greatest Runner of All Time? Running With Joy Blog

Some Questions and Bible Verses

1. "I ... began learning about how running should flow out of my faith, not the other way around. ... I was a runner who happened to be a Christian," Ryan Hall said. "I needed to become a Christian who happened to be a runner." Have you made the leap from a (fill in the blank) who happens to be a Christian to a Christian who happens to be a (fill in the blank)? What is the difference between these two approaches to faith?

2. Ryan Hall wrote, "Sometimes pushing harder is not the answer. It takes self-control, confidence and intuition to know when to train and when to rest, but when in question error [sic] on the side of being over rested." What is the difference between resting and being just plain lazy? Why do you think Hall recommends choosing rest over pushing harder? Why does it take self-control and confidence to rest when all those around you seem to be pushing past you?

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (No further context needed.)

Luke 10:38-42
"Now … a woman named Martha received [Jesus] into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.'" (No further context needed.)

Questions: Are you more likely to labor and serve, or to listen and learn? What prevents you from sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to his teaching more often? What are some of the things that distract and worry you? Is it possible that some of those distractions are actually religious in nature? What is the "one thing" that Jesus calls "the better part"?

3. When Samuel went to anoint one of Jesse's sons as king of Israel, he assumed God had chosen the eldest, until God emphatically indicated he was not the one. How do we humans measure greatness? How do we define "the best there ever was" by human standards?  

1 Samuel 16:6-7  
"When [Jesse’s sons] came, [the prophet Samuel] looked on Eliab and thought, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is now before the LORD.' But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." (For context, read 16:1-13.)

Psalm 147:10-11  
"His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (For context, read 147:1-20.)

Luke 9:46-48   
"An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, 'Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.'" (For context, read 9:43-48.)

Consider these words from one of Ryan Hall's blog posts: "[If Luke 9:46-48 were] translated in a RV (Runners Version …) ... when I think of the greatest runners of all-time my thoughts immediately go to guys like Bernard Lagat, Haile Gebrselassie, Hicham El Guerrouj and others. But who would Jesus tell me is the greatest? Who would He pull in front of me and tell me I needed to be like in order to be the 'greatest runner of all-time?' I feel like I would be surprised by who Jesus would sit [sic] in front of me. I think I probably wouldn't have read their name in Runners World or watched them win an Olympic medal on television. ... I have a feeling that He would pull someone out of the Chicago Marathon who trained very hard for months, transforming their out-of-shape body into one that can cover 26.2 miles even if it takes them 4, 5 or 6 hours to cross the finish line. Perhaps he would put one of the many runners who run for a cause or in memory of a lost one. Maybe He would put that person that only runs because they want to spend meaningful time with friends and family out on the road. ... Whoever Jesus would put in front of me I am confident of this: that it would be the heart of that runner that God sees as great and the ability they have to run with a heart full of love for God, self, and others, not the speed of their legs."

Questions: As children, we are taught not to judge a book by its cover, yet what do we so often look at when we look at people? By contrast, what does God see? What pleases God? What constitutes greatness, according to Jesus?  

4. After placing 10th in the marathon in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hall was so disappointed that he was unable to watch a replay of the race for three years. Eventually, that defeat in Beijing changed from deflating to liberating for Hall. He embraced risk and lost his fear of failure.

"I don't see failure as a negative thing at all anymore," Hall said. "I just see that as part of my training, my process, learning, experimenting, getting it wrong so that I can get it right. ... Sometimes, you have to fail your way to the top. ... Thomas Edison found a thousand ways not to make a light bulb before he got it right."

One of the things that the apostle Paul did was change the concept of what it meant to be a winner. In Paul's day there was no second place. Only one person won in each event in the Olympics and the Corinthian games. Paul used athletic imagery when it came to preparing and punishing ourselves, but it is clear he meant that we can all be champions. Certainly each of us who does their best is a winner.

2 Corinthians 4:7
"But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us." (See also John 15:4 and Philippians 4:13.)

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (Compare Isaiah 40:29-31.)

Questions: What is the purpose of human failure or weakness? What can we learn from discovering our own frailty?

5. "There's a verse in the Bible that says we have the mind of Christ," Ryan's wife Sara said. "God can work in your own thoughts. His thoughts become your thoughts." Ryan said that during times of prayer or meditation on a Bible passage, he gains a sense of empowerment and direction from God regarding how he should train and strategize for an upcoming race. Hall is still learning to distinguish his own thoughts from what he believes are God's words to him.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 12, 16
"But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him' -- these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; ... Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. ... 'For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

Colossians 1:9-11  
"For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God." (For context, read 1:1-14.)

Ephesians 5:17
"So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (For context, read 5:15-20.)

Romans 12:1-2   
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect." (No further context needed.)

Questions: Can we know and understand the will of God? How does God reveal his will, to whom, and to what purpose? Does God reveal detailed plans regarding mundane aspects of life, as well as about his great plan of salvation?

 
Closing Prayer

God of covenant love, we ask your help in keeping the promises we have made to you and to one another. Keep us always faithful to you and loving toward one another, as we run the race that is set before us. In Jesus' name. Amen.