Churches on Fire

One of this summer’s hottest news topics has been the so-called "church arson epidemic." Any form of arson is a horrifying crime, but it's especially distressing when someone slaps the face of God by burning a house of worship. Adding fuel to the fire is the possibility that some of the church burnings have been motivated by racial hatred.

Surely all Christians are deeply saddened by such reports, and are moved with compassion for anyone who has suffered the loss of a church building. Since my own family experienced a serious house fire ten years ago, I feel a special burden about this problem, and I'm encouraged to know that Christians have raised money and provided other forms of assistance for the victims.

Nevertheless, a number of questions remain. Are government leaders exploiting the church arson problem for their own political gain? Has all the media attention actually made the problem worse by fanning the flames of racial tension and leading to more "copycat" crimes? At what point does legitimate concern dissolve into hysteria? How accurate are the statistics being tossed around, and what do they really mean? A survey published by USA Today found there have been a total of 148 church fires over the last 18 months—75 at white churches and 73 at black churches. An article in the Wall Street Journal cited statistics from the National Fire Protection Association which show the number of church arsons actually dropped dramatically from 1,420 in 1980 to 520 in 1994.

While church arson is a serious problem, it's important to remember that the church cannot be destroyed by any match or flame. The Lord's church is not made of wood and nails or bricks and mortar; it consists of forgiven people saved by his grace and aflame with his love. No angry arsonist can destroy what God's Son promised to build—a church so powerful it could overcome the very gates of Hell. Our faith is more valuable than gold refined in the fire (1 Peter 1:7). The church is "God's household," the "pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15), established securely on Christ himself (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Perhaps the bigger problem in America is the large number of churches which are not burning with zeal for God. How sad it is that God's people still can be divided into categories like "black churches" or "white churches" nearly two thousand years after Jesus died and arose to make us one. Why aren't we filled with fiery passion to be a church where "there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" (Colossians 3:11)?

Where is our burning love for people of any race who are outside of Christ? Does the fire of compassion flame in our midst when we see the plight of the weak, the sick, the poor, and the hurting? Do our hearts burn with earnest desire to know God and his Word, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus whose hearts burned within them when Jesus explained the Scriptures (Luke 24:32)? Where is our righteous indignation as our culture continues to slip further from God's holiness and truth? Where are people like Jeremiah, who wept for the wounds of his people and felt compelled to proclaim the Word of God which burned within his bones (Jeremiah 8:22, 20:9)?

It's time for Christians to get serious about our mission in the world, fall on our knees in heartfelt prayer, and ask God to fan our dying embers of faith into a blazing flame of revival. Then perhaps the headlines will tell a different story about churches on fire.