In the wake of the alt-right, white supremacist, outright insanity that took place in Charlottesville, VA over this past weekend I have gone through a litany of emotions and responses. I have been angry – no, outraged at the sheer audacity of these fools carrying a flag that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers sacrificed life and limb to wage war against. I’ve been stupefied at our President’s absolutely useless response, and even more so at Robert Jeffress’s almost complete silence concerning this overt display of hatred and all that is anti-gospel. I have been saddened that our country’s form of government allows as freedom of speech/expression a flag that has been outlawed in Germany. Now? Now I’m just broken.
Broken for the victims who were physically and emotionally hurt in Charlottesville.
Broken for the victims who were emotionally and categorically declared to be “less than.”
Broken for the poor fools who perpetuated this hate.
Broken for all of us who really thought that these days were behind us, only to discover that the worst of American history has been bubbling under the surface just waiting for the right time to strike us all.
Broken for our government and its utter lack of political leadership concerning this most obvious evil.
Broken for the gospel and the glory of God which must have been tarnished in the eyes of non-Christians by the effective silence of Robert Jeffress.
Broken because I honestly don’t know where to begin to effect the kind of change that we need to send the wicked, evil hatred that is racial supremacy back to the pit of hell from whence it came.
Maybe that’s where we’re supposed to be.
Maybe we’re supposed to be so broken by this that our only recourse is to cry out to God to heal us. Maybe we’re supposed to be so stunned by such visceral hate that our only course of action is to fall down and beg God to pour out his love and Spirit on our country and really awaken us again. Maybe this is supposed to be so drastic that Christians are finally forced out of the silent shadows of political correctness and compelled to stand up against evil and push back this darkness at every juncture and opportunity.
Maybe it’s time for the millions of small voices of every Christian in America to speak up and shut this down. Maybe it’s time for the smaller voices to outweigh the people who have been given a louder voice through political alignment and declare that this is not Christianity and this will not be tolerated, nor will Christian leaders who stay silent and refuse to name sin as sin and evil as evil.
Maybe it’s supposed to be a giant wake-up call for many Americans to really reach out and love their neighbor and live out the beauty of the gospel for the glory of God. Maybe it’s time for Christians to offer the gospel as hope for today and tomorrow to the oppressed, and as hope for repentance to the oppressor. Maybe we need to be broken for God to be strong in our weakness.
Christianity has always been a grassroots movement and has always been viewed negatively when associated with politics and regimes. Maybe it’s time we take Christianity back from the government and started living as if Christ were our only hope.
Trump promised to make America great by taking it back. Christ promises to make His Kingdom great by bringing us forward.
I don’t know about you, but I know which leader I’m going to follow.
