A new year and a new page. Until it wasn’t. It didn’t take long at all for the chaos and uncertainty of 2020 to rear emerge in 2021.
It was with horror that I watched the storming of the Capitol, seeing US Representatives, Senators, and staff members hiding from an angry mob that was provoked to violence by a bitter and angry narcissist.
What got me most was the flag being waved by one of the insurrectionists that boldly proclaimed “Jesus 2020” and the signs being waved with “Jesus Saves”. Most people believe that the commandment that demands that people not take God’s name in vain has to do with attaching God’s name to “Oh my”. I believe that slapping Jesus on behaviours that are so out of line with what Jesus called us to is a much more relevant application of that command.
I work with teens day in and day out, and so many looked at what happened in the Capitol and what they have been observing about Christians, especially Evangelicals, over the past year and they cannot reconcile what they have been taught, and what they read in their Bible, with the behaviours and beliefs they are seeing acted out in front of them. How can a Christian who is pro-life refuse to wear a mask that would help protect others around him? How can a Christian who believes that we “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) vocally support white supremacy? How can a Christian who believes that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control”, and yet display none of these characteristics in their interactions with people who have a different skin colour or who have other religious beliefs? How can people make a deal with the devil to try to preserve their personal power and influence when that is diametrically opposed to the kingdom of God?
I have no excuses to provide them. All I can do is say that, in the midst of this trying year, the dross in the evangelical church has floated to the top as we have gone through the fire. Now the question remains, are we willing to submit ourselves- individually, corporately- to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit to remove the sin (of greed, arrogance, white supremacy, and more) so that we can come out on the other side better poised to be a light for Christ, rather than a hinderance to the Gospel message? If we don’t, we won’t have to worry about whether having hip enough music or cool enough light shows are enough to keep our young people in our churches- they’re going to be gone. They care more about whether we are being the body of Christ, speaking out for the oppressed and marginalized, than if we have a coffee bar in the foyer.
As I was reading my Bible today, this verse stuck out to me:
“Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord“. Acts 3:19 (emphasis mine).
It seems as if we have lost our understanding of what it means to repent and return, at least for ourselves, as the North American church. What it means to recognize our individual and collective sin, to lament corporately of our duplicity as the church as we have verbally touted the Gospel message for all while acting out a Gospel that in actuality is for me and mine.
We are called to repent of our sins, to humbly recognize where we are wrong. Where we have listened to the lies of the enemy instead of truth from God. Instead, there is a doubling down, a reinforcing of the lie that our perceptions and beliefs are always right, that we are infallible. That we would be happier if things remained the same, regardless of who it hurts, regardless of whether or not we remain in our sin, as long as we are the ones in power.
God help us.
So where do we go from here? We follow the process that Peter set out in Acts:
- We repent. We name and repent of our individual arrogance and biases, of our unwillingness to care for others as much as we care for ourselves. Our tendency to say, “Yes, but what about me and mine?” We give up our individual rights for the greater good of those around us, knowing that, in the Kingdom of God, what we are called to is foolishness to those who don’t believe.
- We return. We return back to Christ, our first love, not to a thirst for power and influence, but only to Christ. We return to the Scriptures, knowing that the Bible will lead us into wisdom. We return to the ministry of reconciliation: “for Christ’s love compels us…He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…All of this is through God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:14-15, 18-19)
- We wait in anticipation for times of refreshing [which] come from the presence of the Lord. And we don’t just anticipate these for ourselves, but we wait expectantly for refreshing for those who have historically been marginalized and oppressed. For those whose voices have been silenced. We listen to those voices, knowing that one way for refreshing to happen is for reconciliation to occur. We actively pursue refreshment for others over our own desires.
This has been a heavy week after a heavy year. We, however, are called to engage in this world to shine the light of Christ, and that has been my sincerest hope behind penning these words. To call others, as well as myself, to living out the call of Jesus in a world where Satan has to do very little to malign the name of Jesus because we’re doing a great job of it ourselves as Christians.
There are wonderful voices who are worth listening to in regards to calling out to the Church, their prophetic words inviting Christ-followers back into right relationship with God. A few that I recommend following are Rich Villodas, Osheta Moore, and Latasha Morrison. Who else do you recommend following?
The Grace Narrative 