Wanted: The Right Eulogy

Last November as I returned to Dallas from Munich, I flew through London, and on the London/Dallas leg of the trip, I chanced (her word, not mine) to end up next to a fellow author. As it turned out, she was writing a book for Yale University Press about Armageddon. She labeled herself a humanist, secularist, relativist, and I think she also threw "agnostic" in there somewhere, too. She had done her homework and knew her stuff.

I liked her personality. She listened well and tried to understand. And what followed was eight hours of uninterrupted and fascinating conversation. She was on her way to an enormous prophecy conference with some big-name teachers/authors/TV personalities. She's been to Israel several times with evangelical groups so she's had a front-row seat. Nothing second-hand here.

Well, this week I read a pre-release copy of her work. Okay, so we're miles (all right, light years) apart on some issues. But we knew that going in. Yet what I found totally interesting was her assessment of much of what passes for Christendom today. Sadly, some of what she had to say was right on target. Here's my summary:

We need to get serious about serious issues. We have big carnivals held in enormous dome-like churches that cost gazillions of dollars while AIDS kills millions and orphans languish.

We need more humility. In personal correspondence with me she identified two Bible experts (grads of my own alma mater, sadly) as flat-out arrogant. The closer their ties to Washington, it seemed, the more boastful they got. When she interviews leaders' wives, she often finds that the same uncompromising charisma which works in public fails to go over so big at home. (My words, not hers.) Yet the congregants seem to love it. She even asked me, "What happened to gentle Jesus, meek and mild." What, indeed?

We need to value character over power, influence, and access to political power. Since she did the interviews for her book, one big-league politician has left office in a sea of scandal. And then there's the pastor of a mega-church who's been defrocked. We seem too enamored of celebrity with too little regard for the quiet life. She asked about "Blessed are the peacemakers." Is that not a core value? Apparently her experience tells her that power trumps peace.

We need to be kinder in some of our assessments. I was appalled at how many preachers she quoted who assert without question, even with a sort of glee, stuff like "Katrina was God's judgment on the city of New Orleans."

My interaction with her and her work this week reminded me of a well-known African bishop. While he had enormous influence, he never lost his humility. And though he entertained heads of state from major nations, his friend said at his funeral, "The only name he ever dropped was the name of Jesus."