A Momentary Lapse of Reason

I lost my mind just for the briefest of  seconds; a momentary lapse of reason.  It could only be a moment because I was driving.  Psychotic breaks while driving can lead to all sorts of calamity; even death.  My survival instincts are as developed as any other homo sapien's (if you discount my twenties), so I was able to fight through the incredulity that befuddled all my cognitive ability.  It was this church's marquee that put me in a tizzy.  It said, The last time things got this bad I sent a flood - God.  Indeed.

Take a drive through the Bible Belt and you'll probably conclude, as I have, that churches seem to be vying for the dubious honor of having the most annoying  marquee.  I'm going to assume that marquee sayings are used to attract attention to the church in hopes of gaining more Sunday morning attendees, but I can't imagine a marquee alluding to a wrathful God destroying the Earth by full immersion as being enticing.  Something about a violent death by drowning seems to me to be unappealing.  Yet, there it was.

My incredulity lies in the gulf that separates the gospel message of Christianity of an all loving God and his redemptive plan, and the wrathful God that destroyed Noah's world by flood waters.  There seems to be a disconnect between these two opposing ideas of God.  Now understand, I'm not addressing this from a theological perspective, but more as a visceral reaction to the sign itself.  I can't help but wonder how that saying could persuade someone to attend that church, and further, I wonder what kind of person gets jazzed over God wiping out every living thing on Earth by a most heinous death like drowning.  Pretty crazy.

I remember Sunday School as a kid; the cookies and candy, singing songs, gold stars by my name for saying a Bible verse, and having the Hell literally scared out of me with Bible stories like the one of the Flood and Noah's Ark.  Of course, scaring the Hell out of the kids was the intention, and led to many a young child trembling on their knees and asking Jesus in their heart in order to stave off a the flames of Hell.  Felt boards and cute pictures of animals were used to relate the story to us, and I believe also to soften the reality of the fact that God drowns everything that breaths air.  Adorable pictures of koala bears and giraffes seem to have a calming effect on the young and impressionable.  The child is sent home with a newly colored page of the animals going aboard the ark two by two and images of humanity dog paddling for forty days and forty nights before their ultimate demise.  Really scary stuff.

Here' the thing, Genesis 6:13 (that's a Bible verse for all you heathens out there) says, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth."   Later Genesis 7:21 says, Every living thing that moved on the earth perished--birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. (Both verses NIV.)    So, God did it.  Life was wiped out by water asphyxiation.  A violent response to a violent humanity. When this church's marquee implies he'll do it again, I couldn't help but to be a little flummoxed.  This is a good thing?  

It was the juxtaposition of the two concepts of God that sent me loony for a bit.  As I drove by I was hit with the reality that a church that teaches of Jesus' sacrifice for all mankind also thinks to draw in the unwashed masses with a story of God wiping out humanity, along with all the koala bears and giraffes.  People with theological training have a hard time reconciling the wrathful God of the Old Testament with the God of love in the New Testament, so why does this church think the nonbeliever won't?  I certainly have a hard time with it, and did that day on the road.  Fortunately, I recovered quickly, but I keep having these recurring dreams of cute and cuddly koalas drowning.  I just might need psychiatric help yet.