Apocalyptic Flint: "Left Behind" as the sin of the church.
“Who's responsibility is this?” a man asked. “Who is responsible for making this right?”
It is a fair question regarding Flint, posed to me at a local church after I had spoke to a group gathered to hear how things were going in that city. There is an interest in the water crisis and the political battles that have emerged regarding what can only be considered a blunder of unmanageable proportions initiated by so many individuals and agencies. The interest in Flint, however, often misses the mark when addressed from the perspective of the church at large.
My response to the man's question seemed to quiet the room a bit, and I am not sure whether it was a quiet related to consideration of my statement, or the concern that I had fallen of my rocker and damaged my theological lobe. No one asked me what I meant by the statement, so I unpacked it a little, and wish to share it with the broader Christian community through my volunteer ministries in Flint, as well as my blog.
Responding to the Flint Water Crisis is in fact the responsibility of every citizen of Flint, each of us who resides in Michigan, and at some level, those who have a concern for the overall well-being of our republic. My larger contention, however, is that the church has a unique responsibility to engage the people of Flint with a concern for the matter of our own salvation as the people of God, for Flint brings to light the nature of how Christian concerns for salvation have as much to do with the here-and-now as for any postmortem heavenly experiences.
The fact of Flint also brings home the meaning of Christ-centered “end-times” thought that stands in firm and convicting contrast with the popular but mistaken-if-not-heretical Left Behind series. If the church understands anything, it should understand not only the nature of sin, but that God has, though the life of Christ, revealed to us as a faithful people how to respond to sin. Unique apocalyptic voices of ancient times and prophetic voices in our present have indicated to us that the condition that the city of Flint has experienced for more than thirty years reveals to us the nature of how sin impacts the lives of others. In fact, the only folks who have been “Left Behind” are the people of Flint, and it is only in light of this reality that the water crisis could have occurred in the manner it did. It is the lack of response by all involved when complaints about the water surfaced that is the real sin in this case, more even that the poor financial decisions made that seemed to drive the switch to a new water source.
The Revelation to John points out the nature of what can occur when the church leaves people behind. While there has always been a faithful remnant in Flint that has continuously addressed the need of the city, the greater sin is the lukewarm Laodicean error of favoring wealth and stability over the faithful risk-taking of the church on behalf of the gospel. Flint is representative of the sins of the church – a church which has refused to address the issues of racism, class-distinctions, feminist critiques of church patriarchy and male-privilege, and the fact that we compete with our neighbors for access to wealth, privilege, and stability at the expense of our neighbors in Flint. While we may love our neighbors, we treat them as enemies. We leave them behind.
The question of what to do remains. How can the church be responsible for Flint in a biblical manner. The answer requires some sense of humility – ask those of that faithful remnant known as the church in Flint what they would like you to contribute. Drive to Flint and take deliver water to shut-ins.
Spend time in Flint working toward racial reconciliation – participating in conversations that highlight the racial concerns of those of us who are called to be a church as one people, not color-blind, yet without distinctions. Go to Flint to participate in nutrition programs. Volunteer with literacy programs, home repair, and taking care of vacant properties. Money always helps, but not nearly as much as hands-on servants who don't have answers but can follow directions of those who know about the business of sin in Flint.
There are Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Lutheran congregations, and even a Brethren Church in Flint. Worship with your people and become one of us – the Flintstones who have hope because the apocalypse is a moment of hope and righteousness, and not the end of the world. The apocalypse, and Flint, can be the embodiment of Christian hope for an end of the age of racism and privilege. We can experience and embody what God is revealing as a response to sin – healing and unifying justice that inaugurates a new way of being the church just as soon as the old age of Christendom passes on.
It is true – the church must die. The end of an era of Christendom is near, and the Church will be born again, the Body of Christ renewed in sanctifying grace and emboldened to witness the truth of peace and voluntary sacrifice as a response to sin. The church is called, is obligated, to respond to sin. This is apocalypse. The church is called, is obligated, to display grace and mercy in ways that turn the world upside down. This is apocalypse. It is sin that must be left behind, not sinners. If we are true to Christian apocalyptic, however, be reminded and cautioned, those who have access to justice and choose comfort and stability will stand judged. This will not be the end of the world for sinners or sin, just an exposition of the way the church has failed to be faithful as the remnant passes it by. Apocalyptic gives us a choice – we can sacrifice on behalf of the gospel witness to peacemaking and in response to our thirst for God's justice, or we can ask for others to be held responsible for blame and the fix. Truly I say to you – the fix is in – and the fixers will be judged. It is those who reconcile who will be found faithful, and experience wholeness that only the Holy Spirit can bring.
