Trying to be Good Citizens
With the convergence of Pride Month, a potential ruling on Roe v. Wade awaiting publication, a new gun law in the making, congressional hearings regarding the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Juneteenth, and wars and rumors of wars all over the earth, June is a month to be a highly engaged citizen. More engaged than many of us want to be! Christians who are trying to “live like Jesus” may be feeling uncertain of what our witness should be, possibly still influenced by where you land politically, socially, and emotionally on any given issue. Some just have enough to handle on the homefront and all of these things are in the background adding weight to personal health and family dynamics.
As I ponder how to offer you compassionate support as your pastor, all I seem to be able to come up with is offering you solidarity. I’m with you. After all, it is likely that there is hardly any middle ground to be had in anything mentioned, making conversation possibly tense and offputting. And yet, it is the sheer weight of it all that compels me to want to offer more. Please extend grace.
I offer three paradigms within which to consider our posture toward the current culture and all that is happening right now. One paradigm is the world “as it is.” The second is the world “as it was.” The third is the world as we might “want it to be.” Let me tackle each briefly.
The world “as it is” offers Christians an opportunity to exemplify the love of Christ in every interaction regardless of the situation that people find themselves in. Nothing will endear you to your neighbor, and advance the cause of Christ more than a humble posture of compassionate care. Each person, made in the image of God, deserves love and care regardless of any moral or spiritual differences we think might separate us. Our advocacy for justice will fall on deaf ears if we are not also bending over backward to offer immediate help and support to anyone, regardless of what differences we might have. Let’s love our neighbors well.
Standing on moral high ground, or thinking that winning arguments on any of these matters demonstrates Christ’s love for the world is a fallacy. To the world (and increasingly to me), it simply sounds like clanging gongs and cymbals. Jesus lived a life of compassionate care extending love and aid to those who were often not in positions to receive it, much less expect it. His approach included building relationships (eating with anyone who invited him & even some who didn’t), asking questions, and finding times to be alone with the Father. It was practical, personal, and persuasive precisely because it was compassionate, person-centered, and in partnership with the Father.
There are a variety of ways we as Christians can flex our compassion. It often starts with asking questions and finding ways to make room for people. It must also include developing a culture not rooted in shame but accepting of people for who they are and where they are. This appears to be the success of Jesus. People flocked to him because he saw and met them where there were at, and then walked with them meeting practical needs that opened doors for deeper conversations and awareness. Of course, he also stood up for them against those who were oppressing them and we should never forget our prophetic witness in not just meeting immediate needs, but advocating for and working to change systems that contribute to ongoing discrimination and disparities. How might this play out?
If you advocate for life, then make sure the life of the mother is well-supported not only throughout pregnancy and birth, but through all the child-rearing years as well. And let’s work hard to make this more than just about women. It takes two to make a baby, so let’s seek ways to hold men accountable and be fathers to the children they create. Let’s seek to find the common ground we as Christians can agree upon and work to promote the fullness of life in all ages and stages.
If you advocate for abortion access, don’t “other” those who oppose it and work hard to find some common ground. For most people I know that advocate for life, the life of the woman does matter as much as the life of the unborn, and their circumstances, and those of our broader society (economic and social) are huge factors that contribute to a difficult decision. There’s more common ground here for us as Christians than the common rhetoric often suggests.
Offer friendship, and support to anyone that God leads in your path. Don’t stop at “hello.” Make room for people, especially those that might be different from your own journey, and truly get to know them. Let’s not approach God’s image-bearers with fear or suspicion, but with an assurance of God’s presence and His Holy Spirit within us.
Grow in awareness of systemic issues of racism, white supremacy, gendercide, and their impact on historic and current wages, housing, employment, social services, and other matters, and then choose relationships that give you an opportunity to experience it. These areas offer opportunities for systemic change so necessary to health and life for all people.
If you advocate in the political arena for what you are passionate about, constantly remind yourself that world politics, policies, and power will never produce the outcomes that lead to true and lasting peace. Let’s not let our advocacy create divisions within our church or barriers to a deeper relationship with Christ.
The good news is that the Bible is good news when lived the way Jesus lived it (mostly because He still lives!). Let’s continue to try and live our lives the way Jesus would live them if He were us. He extended compassion, love, and grace. May we be models of His love and not just his rhetoric.
The world “as it was” is no longer. Can we accept that? There’s much to be learned from history in order that it doesn’t repeat itself. That will always be true, in my opinion. There is also a lot to be gained from not trying to go back to something we appreciated in the past and rather find ways to bring the good principles forward into our current context. When we get stuck in the past, we may fail to see the opportunities to be fully engaged right in front of us.
There was a point in God’s ministry to the Israelites where he had to say through the prophet Isaiah “Forget the former things and do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.” (Is. 43:18-19a) They were holding onto habits, patterns of thinking, rituals, and worldviews that didn’t recognize who God was in the present. They wanted more, but they didn’t take steps toward God as He had outlined. They were looking for deliverance like the one from Egypt, but God was saying I will deliver you, but not the way I did before. I’m the same God, but I am doing a new thing for you. Look for it while not neglecting what you know.
May we be reminded today that God is a God of power and abundance, both in the past and present. And may we cling to the worthwhile elements of our history while creating space for that which is new and equally worthy of our time and attention. Let’s become more aware of what God is doing now, and His ways in the present day, and seek to be partners with Him as opposed to trying to fight for what was.
The world “as we want it to be” is a far more difficult ideal to address. Landmines are everywhere. How do we define an ideal world and who gets to define it? The easy answer is “God.” However, the very nature of our underlying beliefs contributes to our differences. I can’t begin to unravel all of this now. I can assure you that the Bible is not unequivocally clear on some of it. What is clear, and must be our guide, is the underlying ethic of love and predisposition toward life that is modeled by Christ. Starting from his opening manifesto which declares justice and the coming of jubilee (think healing, release from debt, and reset to an equal footing in community) to the point he gave up his last breath, everything pointed to an ethic of life that promoted justice (love in action) and abundance. The fullness of life, lived in love, mutually submissive toward all humanity, dependant on God, and recognizing the value and worth of God’s creation, is at the heart of Jesus’ model for living in this world. An invitation for Christians to live untainted by selfishness, murder, anger, contempt, exploitation, manipulation, casual or demeaning sexuality, and so much more. An ethic of life driven first and most by love.
The world as we want it to be will never be achieved by a world political system. Our politics are always going to be rooted in power structures and even in a democracy, there are always going to be winners and losers. It’s rooted in the idea of compromise, but usually, compromise leaves everyone feeling like they lost a little something. It might be the best we have in this life, but it is not the best.
Where we land, then, is on the Christian worldview that ushers in the Kingdom of God through our lives. Our lives cannot be tethered to a world system to achieve this. To be effective for Christ we must be tethered alone to His Kingdom. We must untangle ourselves from the world’s ways and systems and believe that God’s ways can offer hope and practical solutions in every situation. That will not always mean progress by the world’s definitions. Jesus’ life becomes our model. To live our lives like He would live them probably looks like compassion, care, and support for those that we least like (think Good Samaritan, and doing “unto the least of these”). That will likely look like weakness as love often does (laying down one’s life). It may even voluntarily give up power (the cross). It will look like loving our enemies, praying for those persecuting us, and growing in trust in a good God to see us through. It will look like reliance on God and not wealth. It will look like seeking His Kingdom before America’s well-being and before our own. It will look like standing in the gap for those without power and voice and seeking changes that promote dignity, opportunity, and hope. It will look like the church was called to look, and not how so many see it in action today.
These are broad brush and sweeping statements that fail to account for a lot. I simply want to acknowledge that the way of the Kingdom of God is not dependent on any world government. It is not dependent on our political affiliation. God can and will do what is within His will according to His plan. He invites us to participate, in loving submission and obedience to His ways. We know the plan. It is the way of humble love and laying down our lives, wealth, and status for the sake of others. It is the way of service and compassionate concern. It is the way of sharing and generosity. It is the way of humble relationships lived in community.
As we live and navigate the complexities of this June, and life in general, I urge all of you to remember the way of Christ. I urge all of us to embrace more completely His Kingdom ways as defined in the Sermon on the Mount. I urge all of us to embrace a posture of humility and compassion that demonstrates His love in tangible ways. And I urge you not to be afraid. The older I get, and the longer I pastor, the more I understand why Jesus (and God) always had to say “don’t be afraid.” We’re filled with and prone to fear. It is rooted in our separation from God and our fear of alienation. God is on His throne and we can trust Him. This life is only the beginning, and not the end. Our fate in this world is tied to our eternal destiny. We can have hope in Christ, even as we try to live out our faith in this complex world around us.
Please reach out if you want to talk. If you made it through all of this, I’m guessing you’d like more support and I am encouraged that I am not alone. I’d love to hear from you, even if you disagree with me on some of this.
Good Journey!
Pastor Scott