I feel sorry for Terry Jones

Hopefully the brouhaha caused by the ill-advised Quran burning event has subsided and that we will not hear from Terry Jones at the national level again. A guy who probably for most of his life has labored faithfully for his small congregation with no notoriety and almost no pay was suddenly known around the world and was put into a situation which was well out of his depth. When I saw him on the national news, I didn't see a fame-seeker glorying in his newfound celebrity status. I saw a guy with a "deer in the headlights" look who couldn't really believe what was going on. I believe him when he says he just wants to do what God tells him to do. I just don't believe that God really told him to burn Qurans and then changed His mind when He saw the world outcry.

God, I'm sure, has gotten used to be being blamed for all kinds of crazy behavior. The "God told me to do it" argument has been used as a trump-proof argument for marital affairs, splitting churches, bombing clinics and many other things which directly contradict God's Word, revealed in the Bible. What I suspect happened, happens in churches and ministries everywhere; not just in small independent churches in rural America.

I am a total outsider in my suppositions, and I could be totally off-track with what I think happened, but knowing what I know about people and church culture, I will guess that this is what happened:

Pastor Jones and several of his friends were talking over a several week period. Being of similar backgrounds and interests, they seldom disagree on important matters, so the conversation built over time. One expressed frustration about the national media's failure to point out the shortcomings of Islam, while consistently railing about the perceived shortcomings of Christianity. Another recounted how images of Christ can be subjected to gross desecration under the guise of free speech, but images of Mohammed are sacrosanct. Eventually, one expressed the desire to stand up to the Muslims and try to square up accounts with them. One guy said he knew where he could get a Quran and they ought to burn it. The idea resonated. They remembered that 9/11 was coming and, being on a Saturday, would be a great time to do it. Over the days, the idea grew until they found that many like-minded friends could accumulate quite a pile of Qurans and they could make an event out of giving a black eye to Islam. It came together so easily, and they were so much in agreement, it had to have the hand of God orchestrating it, didn't it? And shortly, what began as a conversation among friends had morphed into a direct order from God. And a few days later, God changed his mind because of a phone call from the attorney general and a plea from the president to do so.

And now the imams look like smooth intelligent voices of reason and tolerance, and the Pentecostal preacher looks like a hateful, fame-seeking doofus. I feel sorry for Terry Jones. I know he is bewildered and humiliated. He thought he had a good idea but it wasn't.

Be careful what you blame on God.