Last week we finished by saying that in our Biblical Christian learning communities we should develop a culture of appropriate lament.
Tragedies occur around the world every day. Some occur in our own country, some in our own neighbourhood and some in our school community.
Often, we educational leaders don’t know how to process these heartbreaks and are unsure how we best assist the community to respond.
Frequently we may have no words of comfort and we can only be present in love and silence. Our comfort may be to share tears together.
The worst thing we can do is ignore the pain of brokenness. When we do that, we are indicating that God has nothing to say in our sorrow. We will be implying that either God has no defence against evil or He has no concern for the pain of His Creation.
“The biggest hindrance to young people’s faith isn’t doubt; it’s silence” [1]
The Cross is the place where tragedy and triumph are seen. It is the place where the most unfair and painful, yet most loving and merciful act took place.
We are those who live beyond the Cross. We are able to see that God, the Father, lovingly governed the crucifixion of Christ, the Son.
We are able to see, in the pain and tragedy of the Cross, the love and mercy which annihilated sin’s judgement. We can see the great glory of God and see the forgiveness that flows to us.
That’s as far as our understanding can take us. We cannot explain the reason or purpose of the suffering we see in the world, or the pain of someone in our community. Nor should we attempt to give our reasoning.
We trust God because we see in the cross of Christ the greatest suffering and the greatest good.
[1]“Growing With” (2019) based on Research by National Study of Youth and Religion.