How have we gotten things so wrong in our current cultural climate? People who claim the name of Jesus who are clearly not familiar with the way of Jesus seem to be driving a wedge between the American Church™ and the people they're called to serve.
I think I'm usually seen by others as a pretty "left-brained" individual. Logical, analytical, etc. And that's not entirely wrong, to be sure. I'm an engineer, did well in math in school, that sorta thing. But I've always been so drawn to the arts, especially to music and songwriting, as a way to deal with and understand the hard things in the world. I spend a good bit of effort digging into the works of people who are trying to wrestle honestly with topics that are actually relevant to everyday life.
One of those people is a songwriter, Jon Guerra, who has a way of writing and poetry that I've found pretty hard to come by these days. He primarily focuses on what he calls "devotional" songs. Not always corporate worship stuff, but wholly focused on honoring the life of faith and pursuing the love and way of Jesus. And there are certainly times where that comes in contact with what happens in the news. In those times, he's not afraid to take those topics head-on. He wrote a song back in 2017 that feels as relevant as ever today called "Citizens".
As he looked out at the people around him and wrestled with disillusionment and despair about what "his people" may have been clamoring for, he asks:
I have a heart full of questions
Quieting all my suggestions
What is the meaning of 'Christian'
In this American life?
Whew. If you look at the words of a great many modern-day faith leaders and don't wonder what their actual goals are, I have to ask if you're really paying attention. Yet Jon also points to an ultimate hope of restoration and renewal that we see in scripture:
I need to know there is justice,
That it will roll with abundance.
And that you're building a city
Where we arrive as immigrants,
And you call us citizens,
And you welcome us as children home.
So much of our answer to the world needs to come back to this. What is our actual vision of the Good, the Real, the True things in the world? What is God doing and what story is he telling? To be clear, I'd argue that Jesus is not merely looking to "save souls for Heaven". Yes, that's certainly a piece of and one end result of salvation, but the hope of all hopes doesn't just get people to Heaven, it brings Heaven to people!
When we look at the brokenness of the world and speak of a hope for the future, but don't do anything to help them out right now, we're missing the vocation we've been called to. The "home" he's talking about is the end result of the coming of God's Kingdom. We read about it in glimpses all throughout scripture, with the culmination found near the end of Revelation:
4b and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.
5a And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new...'Revelation 21:4b-5a
All. Things. New. That's the hope. That's the vision of what is to come. Not a replacement of all things, but a renewal and restoration.
This isn't necessarily a "partisan" post per se, but it is politcal in the sense that politics is about how we as humans operate together. In a cultural climate mired in extreme polarization, harmful rhetoric, and literal violence against men, women, and so, so many children, we have to do something to stop the madness. No, Jesus is not merely sitting on a throne far away. He has established a Kingdom and invited us in. If we choose to embody the characteristics of that Kingdom, we might just find the world around us a bit more inhabited with the fruits of the spirit that His people are to embody.
There are people among us. They're watching, waiting, and wondering if the people who they hear claim the name of Jesus might look anything like the one we talk about. Will we act to demonstrate the way of Jesus in how we live, speak, and advocate for others? or will we merely bear his name in vain by making Jesus a political mascot, claiming that he's cheering on the things that we want?