Christian Tragedy

It was very interesting - indeed fun to write our own Christian tragedy. At the same time, however, it was disconcerting because in order to create a good tragedy, you must consider what may be the darkest parts of life. We talked in class about searching for the lowest points in Christianity (because it's our worldview), but in reality, a worldview is the filter through which you see life. Therefore, in reality, a tragedy explores the darkest part of life. My group chose to build our tragedy around broken marriages, especially within "Christian" homes. I have struggled with this question a lot over the past few weeks. For some reason, many of my friends' parents' marriages are falling apart. It didn't used to be this way... I have grown up with these people, some since kindergarten... Why are they falling apart now?

I think our tragedy was so emotional and so impactful because all of us have either parents who are fighting/separating or friends whose parents are struggling. This situation is real in people's lives. In fact, even within Christian circles, it is not uncommon to meet someone who is divorced or in the process of separating from or divorcing their spouse. On a spiritual level, I don't understand.

I get the most commonly stated reason - the one about the kids: parents have issues at the beginning with their marriage that they don't address, but they get distracted by kids and focus on them. Then when the kid grows up, the parents don't know how to deal with that/those issue(s) that they have kept buried for 15, 16, 17 plus years, so they split. But does this cut it? Is this just an excuse? If a marriage was truly centered around Christ (it is supposed to model His relationship with the church) these issues would not divide a couple. If they were focused on Christ first, and each other next, yes they would still have problems, but they would be able to work through those problems together "as working for the Lord and not for men" (Col. 3:23). But the best part of the Christian tragedy, is the hope that comes at the end. The good news is that "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

As for my friends, I pray for them as often as I remember. I encourage you to grab a small notebook and give each person their own page. Call them up or talk to them face to face and find out how they're doing, not just "What's up? I'm good" type of thing, but going deeper into their lives and writing specific things down that you pray for every day. Then check in with them periodically to encourage them and ask how things are going. Not only will you be a blessing and encouragement to them, you will begin to witness firsthand the effectiveness of prayer.