A Few Less Bruises and Broken Bones

Emile Sam-Peal did not answer March 9 when Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Denton Lotz called the roll of BWA executive committee members. Sam-Peal chairs the Baptist World Aid committee. In his work life, he is general secretary of the Baptist Convention of Liberia.

Liberia has not been a safe place for years. Civil war left the nation in shambles. Only the intervention of West African troops who are part of Economic Community of West Africa States restored some form of order, but even then it was not for all.

Almost as soon as the civil war ceased, tensions between Baptists began escalating. Unfortunately, former representatives of a missions agency apparently encouraged the tensions.

Just days before Sam-Peal should have answered the roll call, three men burst into his office and attacked him. One grabbed an arm and twisted it violently behind his back. A second hit him in the back of the head with a concrete block. The third man beat him in the stomach and over the head.

The attack was sudden and swift. Sam-Peal was left crumpled on the floor nearly unable to move. Some said only the grace of God left him alive. On the day of the roll call, Sam-Peal still could not use the twisted arm. The throbbing headache created concern about a concussion, and he was sore and bruised from the vicious beating.

It was not the political struggle of civil war that caused the incident. Nor was it the religious violence between Muslims and Christians. This was the action of men who were supposed to be Baptist brothers.

Before one dismisses the episode as the result of war that cheapened life, one should remember that incidents of violence between Christians regularly occur in our nation as well. Recently Terry Ratzmann of Wisconsin made national news when he went on a shooting rampage at church. He shot and killed seven people including his pastor and wounded four others before taking his own life. Newspapers reported he was angry about a sermon preached two weeks earlier.

Not all physical violence between Christians is as violent as the Ratzmann incident nor are the incidents so far away. Consider some recent occurrences here in Alabama.

During a business meeting to call a new pastor in one church, two men got into an argument about the recommended vacation time. The pastor search committee recommended “two weeks including one Sunday.” A member of the church objected, saying two weeks meant two Sundays.

After a couple of verbal exchanges, one of the debaters suddenly turned toward the other and struck him with his fists. The startled church members watched in shock as the two men tumbled across the pews as they fought with one another.

Another church became so divided over the pastor that fistfights frequently broke out between members, including deacons. In one incident, a group gathered around and cheered as one from their side beat one from the other side into unconsciousness.

And who has not heard of violence in church-sponsored sports leagues.

In a youth league, the coach of a regular season champion team beat the coach of a less successful team with a bat after losing to him in a tournament.

The Alabama Baptist has received more than one letter from readers saying they were afraid to go to church on Sunday morning because of threats of violence. One writer told of an unhappy member who stormed out of a business meeting, saying he was sorry he did not have his gun with him to solve the problem the church was debating.

The Ratzmann incident proves that such comments are not just idle threats or someone venting their anger. They can be serious — deadly serious. How amazing that those who profess faith in Jesus Christ can be so vicious to anyone, especially to Christian brothers and sisters.

Behavioral scientists say we often act in the cruelest, meanest ways to members of our own families. Perhaps that applies to Christian families as well.

But that is not an excuse. Colossians 3:8 directs believers in Jesus Christ to “put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander and the like.” All are the evil practices of the “old self.”

The “new self,” that is, the believer, is to be characterized by “kindness, gentleness, patience, forgiving one another and forbearing with one another” (Col. 3:12–13).

If Baptists in Liberia, Alabama and everywhere else practiced this biblical truth as much as we claim to believe this truth, then our life together would not become such a scandal to the cause of Christ, who said, “They shall know that you are my disciples because of your love one for another.”

And, yes, there might also be a few less bruises and broken bones along the way.