For Just Such a Time as This
By Patrick Anderson, editor
A good friend of mine, while an infectious disease professor at Harvard Medical School, shared a conversation she had with a senior infectious disease scholar when the feared avian influenza was first discovered. The senior scholar gleefully exclaimed: “Here near the end of my career when I had thought there would be no more epidemics for me to help solve….we now have a PANdemic?!…I cannot wait to get to work!”
One of my favorite scenes in the movie, Patton, shows the venerable warrior sidelined from World War II despite having prepared his entire life to lead armies in war. General Patton angrily said, “The whole world is at war?!…and I am not in it?!…God will not let this happen!”
Sometimes we are faced with such momentous challenges that we cannot sit still or be silent, and we eagerly step into the fray. Although the phrase may be overused in our lexicon, we agree when we hear: “So-and-so has come for just such a time as this.” The underlying meaning is that a person’s skills, training and disposition are uniquely suited for problems and issues which challenge us presently.
I believe the same sentiment is true for this journal, Christian Ethics Today. As I consider the issues we face as followers of Jesus Christ, I cannot help but be grateful to Foy Valentine for establishing this publication. Through the years this journal has had relevance in just such a time as the present.
Our society is engaged in epic public discourse on issues of human sexuality. America has public policies regarding executions of mentally disabled, youthful, and sometimes erroneously convicted criminals. More people are living below the poverty line in America than at any time since the 1960s. People are being killed in faraway Syria and in the nearby Mexican border territory. Creation itself is groaning under the weight of pollution, climate change, and destruction. Politicians lie, trust is violated by ministers and coaches and corporate boards.
In times like these we need a word from the Lord, and in the pages of this journal readers consistently find reflections by fellow believers who take time to focus their minds and hearts and understanding of Christian faith on various issues.
Jesus faced the issues of his day head-on, face-forward. While many religious leaders took refuge behind legal pronouncements, Jesus challenged accepted religious understanding when he healed lepers on the Sabbath, cast out money-changers in the Temple, associated with tax collectors and prostitutes, stared down the stoners and oppressors, and brought love where hatred had prevailed.
In our day we need Jesus to shine through us who claim familial identity with him. “What would Jesus do?…or say?” is less a question than an indictment. I think we usually know the answer. I hope you value the content of this journal when you are both in agreement with its contents or not, when you are either comforted or aroused by something expressed.
Feel free to share its contents with others, and help us by contributing to Christian Ethics Today.
