Now is the time to let go of our worldly attachments, gird our loins for battle and raise the banner of Christ! Now is the time to join together, despite our differences of denomination, tradition, politics and geography. Now is the time to act!
Look at our world! Violence abounds - corruption keeps peoples in poverty and ignorance - politics moves ever farther from the common good - rhetoric has replaced action - knee-jerk action has replaced careful consideration - insult has replaced thoughtful conversation - disdain and offence have replaced dialog
We can tolerate this no more. It must end with our generations whether boomer or millennial. We must rise as one and put an end to this on the field of battle. and that battle must be first and foremost waged in our own hearts.
Jesus promised us hardships and persecution:
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:10–11)
But do we act "blessed"? Do we "rejoice"? I can speak for my self that I, when insulted, have reacted poorly and added to the tension of the world by being offended. But if we truly believe, if we truly take His words to heart, we must not be offended, we should rejoice and understand our blessings. And then, we must act:
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Mat 5:44)
So how do we do this? We do not do it by being offended, posting snarky comments on social media, telling others that they are damned, cry out that we are being persecuted, or call others out as hypocrites. We must rise up to the example of our Lord. We must come to love those who hate us and care for them as we would be cared for ourselves. And to do that we must ACT. Prayer is one action but it is not the only action Jesus himself told us to take.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ (Matt 25 31-46)
As Christians we are called to action. If we love our enemies, we must feed them. If we love our enemies, we must care for them. If we love our enemies, we must treat them with the same respect we would treat Christ Himself! He commands it.
So what of the refugees? We must find ways to care for them: here or there. We MUST help them, even if they would kill us. Donate to a relief organization, organize a fundraiser, get a group to sponsor a family. Something - anything to bring relief.
What of ISIS? We must protect the innocent and ISIS is a real threat to peace. But, we must still see the humanity in our enemy and respect that humanity, no matter how hard. We must set real examples of both strength and love as we fight so that the ideology can be destroyed. And we cannot paint all Muslims as the enemy, they simply are not.
What of mass shootings and violence at home? We cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into hate. We must set aside our politics and see the human face behind what is going on. We must seek common ground and set aside the rhetoric of politics. We must act as intermediaries to help those lost in ideology (on all sides) see the path to common ground.
The hard part, we must be consistent, untiring, mutually supportive and courageous in our actions. We can not longer cry "persecution!", we must instead be steadfast and rejoice. Let that rejoicing turn us again to action with renewed energy.
So let us raise the banner, fight with all our might. Our weapon, LOVE!
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