To the Christians in America
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” These were the words of the President of the United States this morning.
This president has had the unwavering support of too many Christians for far too long. The key word in that sentence is “unwavering.” It’s idolatrous.
No matter what he has said or done, people who claim to be followers of Jesus have remained steadfast, offering justification after justification, oftentimes quoting Scripture.
Friends in Christ, this is not okay.
“If Paul were here, we would be getting a letter” is a meme that’s been going around, (although I think I’d be more worried about the letter we’d be getting from John).
What would they say to the churches in America today?
My first draft had lots of quotes from different letters, then I realized that it wouldn’t matter. There is no persuading them. The idolaters have deserted the grace of Christ and have turned to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all.*
Then I remembered the thing I often forget, I’m not writing to them, I’m writing to you. You don’t need to be convinced of what you have seen with your eyes and heard with your ears. You know.
You need to be reminded that it’s going to be okay and I think if Paul or John were writing to us, that’s what they would say.
They would tell us that things might indeed get much worse and that some level of destruction might be inevitable. They understood that suffering is what happens when evil is allowed to triumph.
They would encourage us to remain steadfast in our commitment to loving our neighbors, meeting with one another, and finding ways to stay unified.
They would urge us to not grow weary in doing what is right and to work for the good of all.
They would say that even though evil might appear to win, it never has the last word; that even though we don’t know what lies before us, we do know that the God who raised Jesus from the dead is with us and will raise us to new life as well.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.