Before we get started, I feel it necessary to make this disclaimer:
These words I’m getting ready to share are for those in my life who would self-identify as “Christian”
If you do not find yourself in that category, PLEASE KEEP READING, because there is a message in here for you too.
The word the Bible uses to describe the gathering together of those who choose to follow Jesus is “family.” Within the call to become His follower, is a call to commit to becoming “brothers” and “sisters” with others who have done likewise. The Bible sets out ways in which we are to live with one another within this new community. We are called to support one another. We are called to encourage one another. We are called to speak the truth to one another. And more than anything, we are called to love one another. All of these things are there as gifts to us, as gifts to our brothers and sisters AND as gifts to those outside of the family, who are always welcome to come inside.
So, what I hope to create in the weeks and months to come is a little Family Meeting.
We have these “family meetings” every so often in our home. Sometimes it’s because we are entering a new season, and we need to decide together what it is going to look like, and how we can support and love one another through it. Sometimes it’s because we have exciting news, like inviting a new pet into the family. That meeting is full of joy and expectation, but also grounded in the mundane of figuring out who will feed it and take it for walks. Other meetings are not so fun. We may meet together because someone in the family is ill, or because a major offense has taken place. We may meet to announce a death or to break the news that a geographic move is imminent. All these meetings are necessary.
The things that are burning in my soul to talk about in this series of my blog are things that are specifically for that family. They are rooted deeply in my love for God and my love for neighbor. My starting place is not some political ideology or philosophy; it is my theology. The things I will share have come from sitting with a Bible in one hand and my news app in the other. They have come from me listening to someone’s story and then listening to the words of Jesus. They have come in meditation on God’s Word and in prayer.
I know that for some of you who wouldn’t consider yourself a part of this family I speak of, the word “evangelical” has a very negative connotation. It has a negative connotation because someone who bore that name treated you disgracefully. It has a negative connotation because you see people doing things in the name of “evangelical Christianity” that make you sick. I get it. I have been Evangelicalism’s victim, and I have been disgusted in the same ways you have been. And if I am honest, I am sure I have been a perpetrator as well. The way this word has turned into a negative term is sad and shameful. The things we have done are sad and shameful and for that, I am sorry.
At many times I have wanted to throw my “evangelical hat” in the garbage and simply walk away. But here is why I can’t. I can’t because I refuse to let a false evangelicalism win. I can’t because as much as we “Evangelicals” have done wrong to so many people, I believe that if we were to really get back to God with honest, sincere, repentant and open hearts, the word could be revived in a beautiful way. Because here is what evangelical means: it means “bringing good news.”
When I was introduced to Jesus as a teenager, THAT was who Jesus was to me. He was good news. He was the best news. He was one who loved me despite my sin. He was one who stood with the underdog and the oppressed. He was one who cared more about people than about rules. He was one who saw me when no one else did. He was one who made me better. He was one who dreamed a future and a life for me that was way more beautiful and amazing than I ever thought possible. He was one who dreams the same thing for all of us.
For those who have been hurt by people and institutions who are by self-definition supposed to be bringing you good news, I am so sorry. Please forgive us. Please know that we are sinners; that we are imperfect; that even after being rescued, we continue to be rescued. But God is none of those things. God is perfect. He is the rescuer and He comes with real, true, unconditional, healing and redeeming love. I hope that this comes through in the things I write here. If it doesn’t, I will be the first to repent.
So, to my brothers and sisters, here is why I write. I write because I want us, especially those of us who dare to call ourselves “good news bringers” to consider what it means to do so in the political realm at all times, but especially in this particular moment. You know that my heart is for seeing all people flourish,for seeing all people free. So that is what I want to explore in these days to come.
How can we live freedom and flourishing in this political season?
How can we promote freedom and flourishing in this political season?
How can we seek freedom and flourishing for our nation in this political season?
I 100% admit that the things I am about to write are my opinions, my convictions, my interpretations of Scripture. I am obviously human just like all of you. I may be off on things. I may be straight up wrong about some things. Each day as I write I look to a picture of a flame my group of women in ministry gave me when I left Philadelphia to move to Atlanta. On it are these words:
May God’s Word light your path each day while grace & patience guide your way.
“The Lord shall be a light unto me.” Micah 7:8
This is my hope. This is my prayer. This is my commitment.