Cleaved

Since 2016 the focus of many pastors, authors and justice workers has been the fight against a newly apparent racism, misogyny and fear-mongering in the United States. It seemed that for many the veneer of civility had been torn away and, for the better possibly, we were all exposed to one another. This inevitably led to a lot of division in our churches, in our families, our schools -- everywhere. Again, this was possibly a good thing. Throughout this era, I've had the honor to bear witness to a church whose hearts' were torn. Politically, morally, and economically many of our members found themselves on sides that they saw as opposite. Our calling was to encourage genuine healing that did not negate the work -- the real spiritual work -- of anti-racism that many people were being encouraged to assume by the Holy Spirit.

Seeing one another as enemies is easy. 

At times, I admit I desperately wanted to do this. There are people who arguably "deserve" to be treated as enemies. People who try very hard to create walls and conflict wherever they go under the guise of righteousness. People who are legitimately dangerous because of their lifestyle of hate. The harder path is to find a way forward together, while desperately calling those who cause harm to come with us, even as we recognize how we participate in that same harm and seek to undo it. Even as we prudently protect ourselves.

We are called to unity, yet, there is a very real evil that is present in our world. The slaveholders of old had their own religion that was not righteous or reflective of anything that the Bible is actually about. There is truly a new heresy that has taken hold of some in the United States, and it is a destructive power in the world. Yet, as Rev. Dr. William J. Barber is fond of saying "we have to produce truth and love." That is our charge. That is our mandate. That is how we combat real evil. 

So, the true Christian stands at a confluence of urgencies. As God described in the book of Amos, we are required to engage with and unmake the evil of this world where we find it. The new gods of false patriotism, division and fear of the "other" run in the same vein that led God's strong admonition of Israel's lack of care for the poor, and the profit they make from the vulnerable. We stand now in a time of God's prophecy to Amos coming true. The people of God wander from shore to shore looking for God's word but who cannot find or hear it. In the midst of that, we are responsible for bringing the Good News to the world, and bearing witness to the real power of God through Jesus Christ against the powerful and wealthy idolaters and heretics.