Christian Leaders and Badly Timed Tweets

Sometime, somewhere last week, if you were a Christian, you may have heard about Jim Wallace from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). And his ANZAC day tweet (http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3200102.htm). And maybe squirmed (or cheered) when you saw it.  There have been all sorts of emotional responses (and understandably so) to the rather puzzling statement, so what should Christians make of it?

Firstly we want to remember that we need to pray for our Christian Leaders. Many occasionally do silly things but we are all only human. A common fallacy that many have is Christians don’t make mistakes (because Christians aren’t allowed to sin anymore). But we do. And it is one thing to lead a group of 10 people in a Bible Study group, but to take up a position where you have to speak on behalf of thousands is a pretty tough gig. We all suffer from foot-in-mouth at one time or another (some more often than others) so divine grace and wisdom is something we should all pray for. And more so for those who take on the burden of leadership.

Secondly, we need to remember that Christian leaders do not necessarily speak on behalf of all Christians. In this case it was a personal view (the context of which Mr Wallace later explains here http://australianchristianlobby.org.au/2011/04/mr-acl-managing-director-clarifies-tweet-misrepresentation/). While many people consider themselves Christians, we need to be aware that the universal church is actually made up of quite a diverse bunch of people. And those on opposite sides of this spectrum can (and do) consider those on the different end (in moments of weakness of course) a bit loony sometimes.

Thirdly we need to remember that ANZAC day is about remembering the sacrifices made by those who went to war for the love of their country and because they thought it was the right thing to do. This is something we Christians should be familiar with. After all, Jesus died on the cross because God loved the world (John 3:16). And we need to remember that the whole world is made up of all sorts of people. Including the very sorts of people Mr Wallace tweeted about.