In the "Truth is Stranger Than Fiction" Category

Now that Kansas' very own serial killer has been captured and imprisoned BTK/Dennis Rader news items dominate local media coverage. The media has been all over the story that Rader was the president of his Lutheran church council.

When I opened my home-page this morning to the Kansas City Star, I was greeted by this headline:

Pastor visits BTK suspect in jail

I held my breath and clicked the link. All in all I think it's a weird article. Here's my favorite quote:

BTK had been wanted for eight killings for years, but when authorities announced Rader's arrest Saturday they alleged he also had committed two other murders, the latest in 1991.
For now, Rader remains president of Christ Lutheran Church Council, although he will eventually have to relinquish some church leadership positions, Clark said.

Hmmm...you think?

Comments

[J.R.]

Hey Tim,
Yeah, I read on USAToday that same thing a few days ago. The balance between grace and justice is always a tough one that deserves great discernment, but this just seems strange: there is grace, but there is also accountability for those in leadership. I wonder about the lack of accountability. I wondered what other members of this church think about Rader still bein in leadership.

I've been wondering what it's been like for you guys in that area of the country. It's all over the news here in Colorado.

Good thoughts...

[jason]

does this mean i can't serve communion anymore?

or mow the lawn?

I'm also very interested to hear more from his church members. Exactly what kind of story approach would you guys like to see explored regarding his church? Maybe we can make something happen.

[Katy Raymond]

I can't remember exactly what happened in the case of Robert Courtney, the KC pharmacist who went to jail for diluting chemo and pocketing the change.

He was a leader in his church, well-thought of, who had pledged millions of dollars in the church's giving campaign. His business was not raking it in fast enough, so he decided (apparently) to off a bunch of cancer patients so that he could keep his pledge to the church!

It's one thing for the church to not ex-communicate a member in situations like this, to somehow continue to minister to him and extend the hope of forgiveness, but to allow him to continue to lead others? Lead them where?

I've read stories in which church members are questioned about a member who's committed a heinous crime, and their responses seem to fall in a narrow range between "I've known him my whole life, and he didn't do it" to "I'm standing behind him 100%." Heck, I grew up in a Catholic church in which 2 priests (one of them my "favorite" of all time) serially raped at least 40 boys over many years. It happened to my cousin, and my own aunt and uncle continued to support the priests!

What's wrong with this picture?

[micah]

Hey man, I didn't know you had this set up, I will try to check it out every now and again! Know that I am missing you like crazy brother and hope to maybe have some time to spend with you before I roll out to California and get hitched. I am going to be at Camp Barnabas this summer and am going to for lack of ideas, "beg" you to somehow bring it up at the Well. I will be happy to do whatever I can to promote the "Land of Encouragement." It is truly Heaven on earth for me and maybe for other people who don't know. This is long and I am in Africa. PEACE AND LOVE!

[Tim Keel]

Hey Katy, there seems to be a lot wrong with that picture, almost too much to parse. Sometimes I wonder if this isn't what Bonhoeffer was aiming at (obviously in a different context) when he took on "cheap grace."

I remember reading a book by a guy (can't remember his name) who explored his Christian faith for a year within the context of a worshiping Jewish community - not a messianic Jewish community, just a plain old Jewish synagogue. The book is titled, "The Gospel According to Moses." It's not a great book, but at one point he talks about the Jewish understanding of forgiveness. If I am remembering correctly he stated that for a Jew, receiving forgiveness involved three steps. First, you confess your sin. Second, you vow not to sin again in the same way. Third, you make restitution to the aggrieved party for your sin. In reading this, this struck me as inherently right.

I'm convinced that forgiveness means nothing because forgiveness costs nothing. I'm not advocating self-flagellation. I'm talking about making things right in the prophetic spirit of repentance. I think in our desire to quickly cover sin with Jesus' blood we minimize the effects of our sins and think that somehow because we are forgiven (are we if it is so cheap we never really reckon with it?) we are not responsible.

God have mercy. Thanks for sharing your story, Katy.

Blessings, Micah.

[Katy Raymond]

Tim--Try as I might, I've never been able to get away from the idea of forgiveness between humans as being covenantal in nature. In other words, it takes two. If I say I'm sorry, but don't commit to change or restitution, am I really seeking forgiveness? Or am I just sorry I got caught, or something equally as shallow? And if you say "I forgive you," isn't it right that you're doing that either in response to my genuine repentance, or somehow in a realistically hopeful expectancy of my repentance?

I once heard a preacher say that we should never merely apologize, but that we should always then say, "Will you forgive me?" I disagree. If my heart isn't repentant, asking for forgiveness from the person I've hurt becomes a mockery for both of us.

I've had people say to me (and I think I've said it to others, as well), "I'm sorry that you feel like I hurt you." OK, that sounds like a cop-out at first, but upon closer examination, there's something honest about it that's refreshing. They're not asking for forgiveness, because they don't believe they sinned. And I'm not throwing "I forgive you" into the mix because, well...it takes two.

That doesn't mean I can then justify harboring a resentment against them--but that's a different issue. :)