Category: Politics

Loving Enemies, Loving Jesus

‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’ – John 14:15

I’ve never been a fan of the National Prayer Breakfast.  Reason being that it doesn’t seem to be a prayer breakfast.  Oh, I’m sure there are people of faith who go for that purpose, but it’s mostly an opportunity for the wealthy and powerful to meet behind closed doors and make deals.  It’s a place where politicians can be politicians while pretending to be spiritual.  A place where allegiances to America and God are so syncretized that you couldn’t separate them with a knife.

But something happened at this year’s Prayer Breakfast that deserves our attention. Conservative Christian and Washington Post Columnist, Arthur C. Brooks, delivered the keynote address.  His topic was Jesus’ command to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).  Brooks’ hope, it seems, was to temper the acrimony that pervades our national discourse .  It was an attempt at reconciliation, directed at everyone present, including members of Congress and the President of the United States, who was the next speaker at the breakfast. 

Before turning to the President’s response, it is important to note that loving enemies is not a peripheral issue for Christians.  It is a central one.  Love for enemies lies at the center of our theology of the Cross (‘God proves his love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ – Romans 5:8).  Jesus loved his enemies every step along the Via Dolorosa.  He loved the religious council that condemned him, the Roman Governor who sentenced him, the soldiers who flogged him and hung him up to die.  He loved you, me, and everyone else in the world who is ultimately responsible for what happened there.  Yes, love for enemies is central to the Christian faith.  It is a command of Jesus that his followers have no choice but to obey.

The President, however, wasn’t on board.  He took the podium and started his speech by saying, ‘Arthur, I don’t know if I agree with you.’  He then attacked his political opponents and questioned their faith. It was embarrassing. Unfortunately, this was just his opening act on a day when he would prove his complete and utter disregard for the command of Jesus.

The main event came later at a bizarre ‘news conference’ in the east room of the White House, where Trump, surrounded by congressional and other supporters (including evangelical Christians), lambasted his enemies.  In the course of characterizing the investigation into his abuse of power as ‘bullshit,’ he called his political opponents ‘lousy,’ ‘vicious’ and ‘horrible’ people.  They were ‘evil’ and ‘corrupt.’  Undeserving of love.  Undeserving of respect.  Undeserving of even the most basic civil courtesies.  His supporters (including the evangelicals) stood and cheered.  Arthur Brooks had given the President an opportunity to help heal the nation.  Instead, he attacked his opponents, dehumanized them, and deepened the nation’s wounds. 

None of his words surprised me.  Nor was I particularly offended.  The President, you see, is not a follower of Jesus.  He is the leader of an empire.  As such, I do not expect him to love his enemies.  That is not to say I condone the fact that he doesn’t.  It’s just that imperially minded people never do.  That the leader of an empire (and yes, America is an empire) wouldn’t buy into the concept of enemy love should not surprise anyone.  That the world should behave like the world is no more surprising than that a dog barks or a cat meows. 

But what is surprising, although these days it is becoming less so, is that as the President spewed hatred and anger at his opponents, his evangelical minions, both in the room and around the country, clapped and cheered.  That is not what followers of Jesus do.  Followers of Jesus model the way of enemy love before the world.  They show that the way of empire is wrong and that the way of Calvary Love (enemy love) is right.

One might have thought that as the President exemplified the opposite of Jesus’ teaching, they would have come to their senses.  But did they?  Have they?  No.  They continue to proclaim him to be God’s man.  They continue to hold up a hater as the one worthy of Christian support.  They continue to exalt the politics of hate over the politics of Jesus.

It’s time we stated the obvious: these religious charlatans clapped and cheered Trumps shenanigans because they, no less than the President, do not follow Jesus’ command to love enemies.  For them, Jesus’ core teaching is disposable.  They don’t believe it.  Indeed, I’m not sure they ever did.  For years we have seen them working to crush their opponents.  They have spewed hate at people who struggle with particular types of sin.  They have stoked the fires of war and then cheered as the bombs dropped.  They have demonized all who disagree with their politics.  In the wake of President Trump’s election, when asked whether the Trump-Evangelical Christian alliance might hurt the cause of evangelism among younger, more progressive folks, one prominent evangelical leader wrote an op-ed that insisted, ‘those liberals don’t like us anyway.’  In other words, if you’re not already on our side, why should we care if you come to Jesus?  His view is hardly an aberration in the right-wing Evangelical world. Their record is clear: they do not love their enemies any more than the President does. 

But forget about enemies, I’m beginning to question whether these clapping and cheering evangelicals love people at all.   Well, maybe some people – the ones who are like them.  But certainly not those who are different.  They don’t love Democrats.  They don’t love independent minded Republicans.  They don’t love the poor.  They don’t love immigrants or refugees.  They don’t love LGBT people.  Many don’t love people of color.  People who look like them or share their affinities, they love them.  But anyone else, forget it. 

But even that may not be the worst of it.  Given that Jesus commanded us to love everyone, including those who are different from us, including those who might even be our enemies, there is one more conclusion we must reach about the kind of Christian who cheers and claps while the President demeans both his enemies and those who are different. It is a conclusion I’ve tried very hard not to reach but honestly cannot deny any longer.  Even as I come close to writing it I pray that I am wrong. But it is a conclusion as plain as day in light of Jesus’ clear statement, ‘if you love me, you will keep my commandments.’ 

No matter what they say or how loudly they say it, no matter how many church services they attend, no matter how many fish stickers they put on their cars, they don’t love Jesus. 

God help them.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Courage

‘One man with courage is a majority’ – Thomas Jefferson

It’s not that Jefferson couldn’t do math.  He just knew there were moments in the course of human events when a single brave person could make all the difference in the world.  That person might not be able to change the immediate course of events, but they sear consciences for generations, and, even if there be no immediate impact, provide an example that will one day be hailed as just and true.  Jefferson knew that one man or woman with courage could make a greater difference than an entire pantheon of cowards. 

This is of course a Biblical principle.  Consider the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den.  Or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace (OK, in that case it was three men with courage, but the point still holds true).  Or any number of stories regarding the stances of Jeremiah (and other prophets) against the madness of foolish kings and their accomplices.  Or brave Queen Esther.  And then there is Jesus, the bravest man of all, dying at the hands of the maddening crowd, providing an example that forever changed the course of both history and eternity.  Jefferson may or may not have meant to do so, but when he made his famous statement about one courageous person, he was echoing Biblical truth. 

Jefferson’s principle springs to mind today in the wake of the acquittal of Donald Trump.  The President of the United States had stood trial for abusing his power in a manner that threatened the integrity of American democracy.    The evidence was overwhelming, but the verdict was never in doubt.  The jury was dominated by the President’s own party, a shameless assortment of quislings, cowards, and coconspirators whose sole concern was to keep their exalted positions in the United States Senate.  After a sham of a trial, it seemed all but certain that they would march in lockstep in a show of unflinching subservience to their master.  They would, to the last man and woman, vote to acquit, even though doing so would give, not only this President, but future Presidents the kind of power that may very well leave America’s system of checks and balances and constitutional government in shambles.  They all understood this risk.  But they were too cowardly to stand against it.  Too in love with their privilege and status.  Too desirous of power at the cost of their own souls. 

I was certain that none would dare break from the crowd. 

I was wrong. 

Standing on the floor of the Senate, Senator Mitt Romney defied his party and voted to remove the President from office.  He explained that what the President did: ‘was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security interests, and our fundamental values.’  Noting the vicious response he knew would come for daring to break with the pack, he simply referred to his oath to do justice and the overwhelming evidence in the case: ‘Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented, and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.’

In other words, no matter what the crowd did, Romney’s conscience would only permit him to do what he believed to be right. 

Romney is now walking around with a target on his back.  He has invited the hatred and scorn of millions.  I have no doubt that in coming days he will receive tons of hate mail, be booed at public appearances, and maybe even be threatened with harm.  He knew his vote would cost him dearly. 

But in casting that vote, he has gained so much more.  He has gained a place in history.  He has kept his integrity.  He has held on to his soul. 

In this he has proven himself greater than the balance of his Republican colleagues.  He has, as one man, proven himself greater than all of them, individually and collectively.  He has taken a stand that will resonate throughout the halls of time as a testimony to both his honor and the abject cowardice of those who listened to him defend it in a speech that might have, in other, less Trumpian times, pricked the consciences of nobler men and women.

Romney may not have made a difference in the outcome of the trial.  But he has proven Jefferson right. 

One man with courage is greater than a majority.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Photo by Oliver Cole, courtesy of Unsplash.

God, Guns, and Country

‘Drop your sword’ – Matthew 26:52

I remember the first time I saw it.  Driving down the street of my hometown, I noticed the sign on a former neighbor’s front lawn.  Emblazoned in red and white were the words, ‘Trump 2020.’  Eye roll.  Above this were the words that caused me to do more than an eye roll:

‘God, Guns, and Country.’

I nearly puked. 

For starters, I find it almost impossible to believe that people dare to juxtapose the names ‘Trump’ and ‘God’ in a manner that suggests they are on the same team.  Paula White, the prosperity Gospel heretic who serves as the President’s spiritual advisor, has gone so far as to suggest that ‘saying no to Trump is like saying no to God.’  And she’s not alone.  So many Church leaders and politicians have said pretty much the same thing: Trump is ‘God’s anointed;’ ‘the Lord ordained this Presidency; those who oppose him are ‘demonic.’  Yes, somehow, even professing Christians have concluded that a racist, misogynist, white nationalist, fear-mongering bully is God’s man.  Not, mind you, in the Nebuchadnezzarian sense of God sending a wicked king to teach us a lesson and turn us from sin.  Trump is God’s man because he is carrying out God’s moral agenda for America. 

As a follower of Jesus, this flummoxes me.  I wonder what sort of god such people follow.  Trump’s values fly in the face, not just of the Christian faith (which is undoubtedly the professed faith of most who will buy one of those signs), but of all major religions of the world.  No right-thinking Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu could possible look at the policies and manners of Donald Trump and say, ‘Yup.  That’s what God is like!’ 

In the words of Bart Simpson, ‘Aye caramba!’

But beyond that, there is the juxtaposition ‘God and Guns.’  That’s another one that flummoxes me.  Shane Claibourne, citing the fact that 41% of American Evangelicals own guns, echoes my surprise with the exclamation: ‘the followers of Jesus are packing heat!’  In my own experience, it seems that Christians are most often the most likely to at least figuratively stand alongside Charlton Heston and dare the government to pry their guns from their ‘cold dead hands.’  Christians are often the most likely to defend their ‘God given right’ to bear firearms. 

Which is strange given what Jesus said on the subject. 

The scene was the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus wrestled with the cup he was about to drink under the light of the Paschal moon.  His enemies came for him.  Judas.  Temple Guards.  200 Roman soldiers.  All carrying torches to arrest the Light of the World.  Armed to the teeth to arrest the Prince of Peace. 

Jesus was ready for them all, and ready to teach his disciples a crucial, if often neglected, lesson. 

Peter decided not to let Jesus go down without a fight.  After all, if there was ever a moment when the use of force would be justifiable, this was it.  He pulled his sword from his sheath and swung wildly.  His poorly aimed blow glanced off the head of, not a soldier, but Malchus, the High Priest’s servant (you know, collateral damage).  It did nothing more than chop away the small lobe of the servant’s ear.  But soon the disciples were scuffling with the guards and soldiers, as together they teetered on the brink of calamitous violence. 

That’s when Jesus spoke up. 

‘Enough of this!  Drop your sword!  Those who use the sword will die by the sword.’

Seems clear to me.  But just in case you think Jesus didn’t mean it, you should go back and read the rest of the Gospel story, in which Jesus allowed his enemies to have their way with him, never striking back, never taking up the sword, but instead following the way of Calvary Love. 

At the end of the story, the wisdom of Jesus’ way would be vindicated.  Those who use the sword will die by the sword.  Violence begets violence.  But those who follow the way of Calvary Love will find life.  For Calvary Love begets Resurrection. 

There’s a lot to think about in that.  But getting back to what this post is about, I’m pretty sure that when Jesus said to drop our swords, he didn’t mean to pick up guns instead. 

Mind you, followers of Jesus do possess weapons.  It’s not like Jesus sends us into the world defenseless.  He gives us the most powerful weapons of all: prayer and unlimited love. 

Not guns. 

Sorry Trump followers.  The juxtaposition ‘God and Guns’ is antithetical to Christianity.  Maybe not to the violent, nationalistic Christianity you have been taught to believe.  But certainly, to the Biblical Christianity found in the pages of the New Testament.  Followers of Jesus do not carry swords.  And they do not carry guns. 

And if you don’t understand that, well, you just don’t understand the Biblical Jesus. 

Oh, and by the way, the ‘God and country’ thing isn’t right either.  But that’s for another time. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Providence (Video)

Hey folks – trying something different with this one. You can still check out the blog as usual below, but you can also watch it here on video! Let me know what you think!

Providence

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord.  ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’ – Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Back in 2016, at about the time Donald Trump was about to wrap up the Republican Nomination for President, I remember thinking, ‘If this man becomes President, how will I explain it to my children?’  I thought so much about this that I ran a web search looking for answers.  I found an article that I thought was pure gold (I’d provide you with a link, but unfortunately it is no longer available).  The author suggested that Trump’s rise presented the perfect opportunity to teach our children that the words of scripture are true.  Specifically, she quoted Proverbs 16:18: ‘pride goes before the fall,’ and posited that it would only be a matter of time before a blustering narcissist like Trump would crash and burn.  This struck a chord in me.  Having written a book on the pride of Old Testament kings, I had thought long and hard about the truth of Proverbs 16:18, both in Bible times and ever since. I was convinced.  And so I talked to my children about the proverb.  I told them that somehow, in the story that was unfolding, the truth of scripture would once again be affirmed. 

It’s been over three years since I read that article.    My children and I are still waiting for the author’s prediction to come to pass.  Every time I think that it might, it doesn’t.  I have to admit that at times, I am deeply frustrated.  I find myself echoing the classic lament, ‘How long O Lord?’  Waiting, you see, has always been as hard for me as it was for the Psalmist. 

But just the other day, while wallowing in the worry of the wait, I remembered a word I have too often forgotten. 

Providence. 

When theologians speak of Providence, they refer to the guiding hand of God in all things; the fact that whatever happens, God remains in control.  Romans 8:28 makes the point in classic fashion: ‘in all things, God is working for the good of those who love him, for those called according to his purposes.’  That is, in the midst of all things, both the beautiful and the tragic (and everything in between), God is working to bring about His divine purposes. (Please note: this does not mean that God causes tragic circumstances, just that he works in the midst of them).

It’s a beautiful concept, the notion that no matter what, God has the whole world in his hands.  I think of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament (my personal favorite), the history of a man destined for great things, thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his brothers, winding up in a fetid prison, seemingly experiencing the death of his dreams.  But in every circumstance, at every turn, God was with Joseph, shaping and molding him into the man he was meant to be.  When he became that man, God raised him from the prison to prominence in Egypt, from which position he was able to feed the world.  Or I think of Ruth and her tragic history, of how the death of her husband was the death of her dreams, yet God, in His amazing providential care, created beauty from her ashes, fueled her with new life, and through her, brought hope and redemption to both Israel and the world.  In each of these stories, and in so many others, we see the guiding hand of providence, working in the soil of bitterness to bring forth an abundant harvest of joy. 

Such stories bring me great hope.  They remind me that God is at work in history.  He always has been, and always will be (even in circumstances far worse than the ones we are passing through now).   I confess that for the most part I can’t make heads or tails out of what God is up to in these Trumpian days.  I can’t understand what good can come from separating families.  Or how things will get better amidst the rise of racist rhetoric and action.  I can’t fathom how the current effort to ‘Make America White Again’ will improve things in the long run.  I can’t comprehend how Christianity will prosper given its identification with this rancid political movement.  Quite frankly, most of the time I’m at a total loss as to how God has been working all things together for good over the past few years. 

But I know He has been.  I know that His providential care is working in the midst of it all.  And so, sometimes of late, when the news cycle is bouncing around in my head at night and I am having trouble falling asleep, I simply affirm, along with Alistair Begg, that ‘providence is a soft pillow and we may lie down in safety knowing that God is in control.’

Whew.

Yes, God is in control, even in the midst of this reality show we call the Trump Presidency.  God is working.  And perhaps, if we look hard enough, we can see some of what He is up to.  Perhaps God is, among other things, preparing and purifying His Church for a new day of service and witness.  He may well be using this time to reveal the hypocrisy that has long existed in His church – the fact that so many who claim to follow the crucified Christ have in fact been following a god who bears little resemblance to him.  Already we can see God calling forth resisters who, in the spirit of the prophets, are speaking truth to power.  He is revealing the vicious racism that is America’s original and undealt with sin, a sin that has always been present, hiding in plain sight, but can hide no more.  He is calling forth a new generation of Jesus followers to raise their voices for a more just world.  He is, we can hope, doing all of this and more, as he leads his Church to a new day when the children of God will live and walk in the way of the Messiah who brought Good News to the poor, announced liberation to the captives, set the oppressed free, and declared the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18-19).

Just how God will play all of this out, I don’t know.  Just how God will heal the wounds of this era, I don’t know.  But I trust that He will – that He will weave his tapestry of grace even in the midst of all the nonsense, hurt, and pain.  I trust that in the end, His tapestry will be beautiful. 

Until we see that tapestry in all is beauty, it falls to us to trust.  To stand for truth and justice.  To point to what is right.  To love at all costs.  To speak.  To act.  To share solidarity with the suffering and to wait for the day of redemption that is to come.  To do all of this, knowing, in the words of the Apostle Paul, that nothing we ever do in the name of Jesus will ever be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Because in the end, God will have His way. 

In the end, the prideful will fall, and the glory of God will shine from sea to shining sea. 

Providence is indeed a great comfort in times like these.  It reminds us that, though the sorrow may last for the night, and the night may last longer than we would prefer, the joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

Take heart my friends.  Morning is on its way. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

2027

‘They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind‘ – Hosea 8:7 NLT

Washington DC – The impeachment inquiry continues today on Capitol Hill as Republican members of the House of Representatives continue to present their case that Democratic President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (PAOC) abused the power of her office for partisan political purposes.

The story broke over the summer that individuals working at PAOC’s direction had made repeated overtures to the newly elected President of South Korea to announce an investigation into the business activities of Nikki Haley and her family. Haley, who served as Vice President in the Trump administration from 2021-2025, is widely considered to be the front runner for the 2028 Republican Presidential nomination.

Soon after the story broke, PAOC released a transcript of a ‘perfect’ call between herself and the South Korean President that seemed to confirm the allegations. House Republicans immediately launched the current investigation, which has produced both records and testimony from career diplomats and military officers that conclusively prove that PAOC ordered the withholding of military aid to South Korea until such time as an investigation was announced into Ms. Haley and her family. Further evidence indicates that PAOC created a shadow government led by her personal attorney to further pressure South Korea and otherwise dig up dirt on Haley. It should be noted that there is no evidence that either Ms. Haley or her family engaged in any unlawful activity.

Jim Jordan, Republican Chairman of the House Committee for Integrity and Consistency in Government, which is conducting the investigation, raged in his opening statement, ‘The President abused her power for her own personal gain. Never in my congressional tenure have I seen such an explicit abuse of power. If I had I would have done something about it! That woman has invited foreign powers to interfere with our democracy. If this isn’t an impeachable offense, nothing is!’

California Republican and fellow committee member Devin Nunes echoed Jordan’s sentiments. ‘The witnesses before this committee have included lifelong foreign service men and women and a purple heart recipient. These are the most honorable men and women in America. I have always listened to and respected such witnesses. They have laid out a case of bribery, pure and simple, a veritable shakedown against an important American ally, and all the Democrats have in defense are disproved conspiracy theories and lies. I tell you, if this stands, our nation will never be the same again!’

From the other side of the Capital building, Senate Minority Leader Lindsay Graham, channeling a 1998 version of himself, lambasted Democrats in both the House and Senate for refusing to watch the hearings or otherwise listen to the evidence. ‘Our democracy is under attack by foreign powers with the assistance of the Chief Executive, and the party in power is doing nothing! This is outrageous! My friend John McCain would be appalled!’

Donald Trump also weighed in on the scandal. Tweeting from his home in Moscow, where he now lives with his fourth wife, the former President and Russian Oligarch said, ‘AOC is a lightweight! Doesn’t even know how to have a scandal. Mine was way bigger than hers. Bigger than anybodys! Make Russia Great Again! Covefe!’

Trump’s intervention highlights the difficulty Republicans will face in attempting to impeach and remove PAOC from office. Undercutting their case at every turn is the fact that for eight years, the official position of the GOP was that the President had authority to engage in what they now accuse PAOC of doing.

PAOC has been under attack by Republicans ever since she managed to overcame all odds to win the 2024 Presidential election. Much to the consternation of Republicans, she managed to eke out an electoral college win while losing the popular vote by three million votes. The GOP has been furious ever since, and has not surprisingly used the current hearings to highlight what they now believe to be a host of unconstitutional maneuvers by the young President. These include emergency declarations that have transferred monies previously allocated by Congress for the military to, among other things, initiate a mandatory gun buy-back program, institute universal health coverage, provide federal funds to women seeking abortion, and purchase millions of large corks to be used in the President’s ongoing fight against bovine flatulence. She has also been accused of conspiring with the nations of the European Union to push false ads on social media in an attempt to persuade gullible Americans to vote against her rival, Donald Trump Jr., in the 2024 election.

PAOC has defended all of these actions by saying that Article II of the United States Constitution gives her the authority to do anything she darn well pleases, a position that was in fact ratified by the Supreme Court in 2021 shortly after President Trump appointed his third and fourth High Court Justices. She has stated that it is her intention to govern in this manner throughout the next 35 years of her tenure in office.

At press time, it was considered likely that the Republican controlled House would draft and pass articles of impeachment against the President. But in light of fairly recent historical precedent, it is widely assumed that Republicans in the equally divided Senate would not be able to muster sufficient Democratic defections to remove PAOC from office.

As newly elected Democratic Senator Joy Behar put it, ‘The rules for this sort of thing were settled by Republicans during the Trump years. Presidents are within their rights to invite foreign powers to interfere with our democratic processes. And to do anything else they want for that matter.’

‘What goes around comes around.’

Photo courtesy of Louis Velazquez on Unsplash

Uncle Ned

‘Last night I had the strangest dream’ – Matthew Wilder

I had a vivid dream the other night. I was at some sort of family gathering. Maybe it was Thanksgiving, maybe something else, but whatever it was, it was a major league affair. We’re talking Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday party. Everyone was there – parents, grandparents, children, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and spouses. The weird thing was that there were more people there than are actually in my family. It was as if an extra 500 people had been grafted into the family tree for the occasion. This made things super cool, I thought, since my family was now a representation of humanity. There were people of every race, nationality, and ethnicity. It was a foretaste of what heaven on earth will one day look like. I didn’t know everyone from real life, but in my dream, they were all part of my family.

Including Uncle Ned.

I don’t actually have an Uncle Ned. But I’ve heard people on the news talk about him from time to time. Uncle Ned is a name I’ve heard bandied about on TV in reference to that guy who seems to be in everyone’s family tree and who causes trouble at family gatherings. The guy who can’t keep his mouth shut and winds up offending everyone present.

Yes, it was that Uncle Ned. And he proceeded to do just what all proverbial Uncle Neds do.

He started off by talking about ‘colored people.’ He launched into an incoherent rant about NFL protests that before long morphed into a nostalgic longing for the ‘good old days’ when people knew their place. Looking around the room at African American family members, he suggested that none of them had been born in America, that their birth certificates proved it, and that if they had trouble with what he was saying, they really should just get over it. ‘After all,’ he said, ‘Slavery ended hundreds of years ago. What do you have to be so upset about?’

He moved on to immigrants and refugees. He said that ‘bad hombres’ and terrorists were ‘invading’ the country and that we had to do something to get them all out of America. They were taking all our jobs. They were spreading disease. And why the hell couldn’t they learn English? Uncle Ned found it particularly horrific that voicemail systems kept asking him to ‘press one’ for a Spanish menu. It was a sure sign the world was going to hell in a hand basket. He advocated for a wall to keep people from coming in, and immigration policies that favored nations populated by white, English-speaking people. ‘Why,’ asked Uncle Ned, ‘do we have to keep taking in all these people from s—thole countries? They don’t belong here. Put ‘em in cages!’

By this time, many of the attendees were deeply offended and hurt. But Uncle Ned was just getting started. He began riffing on the mentally and physically handicapped, speaking in a slurred voice and gesticulating with his hands as if he suffered from some type of palsy. Everyone sat in shocked silence as Uncle Ned laughed his way through his routine.

Next came the women. Boy did he have a lot to say about them. I won’t even repeat it. As he made his way around the room, he groped several of the ladies present. He said that he would probably date them if they weren’t his relatives. Their horrified looks and tears meant nothing to him. When some protested, he made demeaning comments about their appearances.

This prompted a response. Uncle Bob, who had served in the military, including time as a prisoner of war, told Uncle Ned he needed to settle down. Ned just laughed in his face. ‘Who the heck are you to talk to me? You think you’re a hero? I prefer heroes who don’t get captured.’

Uncle Ned didn’t stop there. He attacked a nephew who worked for a newspaper, calling him an enemy of the state. He told an LGBT family member he was a disgrace to his family. He called a politically liberal cousin a communist. He said that anyone in the room who disagreed with him was unpatriotic. He proceeded to announce to several present, who apparently worked for Uncle Ned in his business, that they were fired because they hadn’t stood up for him as they should have. He ran about the room like a school yard bully, disparaging everyone.

In my dream I was doing a slow burn all the while. I kept wanting to speak up but for some reason could not (you know, like in those dreams when you are trying to run away from something and can’t move). But finally, I found my voice. I told Uncle Ned to shut up. I told him we had no room in our family for racism, xenophobia, and the rest. I told him that if he couldn’t behave himself and treat people respectfully, he needed to leave immediately.

And that’s when everyone cheered. My entire family, both those who are members of it in real life and those who were just part of it for the dream, chimed in and told Uncle Ned they felt the same way. And when Uncle Ned responded by stating that the Constitution gave him the right to do and say whatever he wanted without fear of repercussion, we somehow collectively grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him out the back door.

I woke with a start. It had only been a dream. But the thought that came to mind was this: of course my family had stood up to Uncle Ned. I mean, seriously, who on earth would ever condone such behavior? What decent person would ever, under any circumstances, defend Uncle Ned? How insane would anyone have to be to support the likes of him?

It was then that I remembered: 46% of America elected him President.

And are poised to do it again.

I tried to go back to the solace of sleep but could not.

Some nightmares are all too real.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Photo courtesy of Dyaa Eldin on Unsplash

Fools No More

‘We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment’ – Paul, the Apostle, in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13


Paul just didn’t get it. The church he had helped plant in Corinth had, in his absence, gone off the rails. He had taught them about the folly of the Cross that was in fact the wisdom of God, and still they decided to go in big for something else. The life they were pursuing looked nothing like the life of true discipleship. Paul, as an apostle, a disciple who had been sent to tell others the truth, could not help but draw out the contrast. The Corinthians desired to be seen as wise, strong, and honorable. They yearned for ease, wealth, and power. While the true Jesus followers were mistreated, poorly attired, homeless, and weary from heavy labor. The scum of the earth. The garbage of the world. And yet, when the world treated them as such, they endured. They even blessed their enemies and treated them with kindness. It was as if they expected to be treated poorly. Paul’s point was pretty clear: life as a follower of Jesus wasn’t supposed to be life at the top.

This is what the Corinthians had forgotten.

This may seem an odd segue way, but I was thinking of Paul’s description of true discipleship the other day after finishing the Steven James’ novel Synapse, a story set in a not so distant future in which Artificial Super Intelligence has become a reality. The novel raises ethical questions about AI, questions James wisely leaves lingering for his readers to contemplate on their own. But along the way we are confronted by the thought of what would happen if technology became available to enhance human intelligence. A simple implant in the brain, and suddenly we could be super intelligent, connected to all sorts of digital information, super-human. Who wouldn’t do it? Well, some would not. They would prefer the experience of being natural people. What would become of them? We are left to ponder the possibility that they would become the outcasts of humanity. The scum of the earth. The garbage of the world.

James’ ethical conundrum in turn reminded me of a movie from the 90’s, Gattaca, about a future society where parents can genetically engineer their children to be perfect specimens of humanity, without flaw or defect, handsome, beautiful, able to do great things. Most people go all in. But some opt out. These purists have ‘natural’ children who are less than perfect, even defective. What happens to them? They become the servants, the street-sweepers, the toilet-cleaners, people who do the dirty jobs that the genetically perfect don’t want to do. They live as an under-society in the midst of a ‘great’ society, mostly ignored by the greats. The scum of the earth. The garbage of the world.

I wonder how many Christians today would like it if that’s the way things really were. If we who followed Jesus actually understood that following him meant rejecting the enticing power available from the world. That we didn’t need to play into the power games of the elites. That we were, in fact, supposed to reject the way of power and riches and security in favor of the way of the cross. If we dropped out of our alliances with the empire, alliances that give to us the ability to be rich and secure and safe. If we suddenly became the people everyone else looked down on. Mere servants. If we were mocked and persecuted by those who considered themselves our betters. If we too were seen as the scum of the earth. The garbage of the world.

This may sound as insane to you as Paul’s words may have sounded to the Corinthians. But do you realize that there was a time when such was the lot of the Christian church? I mean, what else can you make of Paul’s description? For the first three centuries of its existence (the most missionally effective in Church history) Christians were despised, and expected to be so. They were the scum of the earth and the garbage of the world, at least in the eyes of the powerful. They were, in those eyes, powerless. And yet…they didn’t feel that way. They knew that despite what the world thought they were in fact powerful. They knew that, as Paul had written earlier in his letter, their foolishness was wiser than human wisdom, and their weakness was stronger than human strength. That their way, Jesus’ way, was the way. The way that led to glory. The way that enabled them to experience God in the midst of the battle of life and the way that would enable them to reign with him in the life of the age to come. This was enough for them. It didn’t matter what the world thought. It didn’t matter if they lacked the world’s power. It didn’t matter if they were made to serve a world that looked down upon them. In fact, that was what they were called to do. And so, they served it. When the world threatened them with hate, they responded with love. When the world cursed them, they offered blessings in return. When the world spoke harshly to them, they responded with kindness. They were even foolish enough to believe that by doing so, they might win some of the world to their side.

Which, of course, they did.

And therein lies the challenge and impotence of the Church today. Certainly in America in the days that are upon us.

For the problem today is that so many in the Church prefer the way of the Corinthians. They crave the ‘synapse,’ the worldly enhancements, that can make them more than mere servants. Don’t believe me? Just turn on the news and you will see it happening. Christians aligning themselves with politicians who promise power, even when doing so means having to ignore just about everything that is true to Jesus. Willing to defend racism, hate, lies, bullying, and misogyny. Willing to overlook, even to deny, gross abuses of power that threaten all that is best about the society they live in. Willing to overlook evidence of such abuse, even when it is as plain as the noses on their faces. Willing to throw away the foolishness of God which is wiser than human wisdom, and the strength of God which is stronger than human strength, to gain the favor of a cruel and brutish king. Willing, for God’s sake, to forsake the call to love and to bless, and instead use the world’s power to crush anyone and everyone who offers so much as a hint of a rumor of a whisper of a threat against them. Willing to classify others as the scum of the earth and the garbage of the world, and to promote policies that put such scum and garbage in their place.

I think this is what bothers me so much about the Trumpian times we live in. I’m not at all thrilled that someone such as he is President. But that shouldn’t really surprise me. A fallen world, you see, will act like a fallen world. Power hungry men and women will from time to time seize the reigns and do terrible, cruel, and heartless things. The Church should of course speak out against such things, should live out an alternative existence that points to another way, but that we should have to should not surprise us at all. Such has always been the way of the fallen world and the calling of the Church within it.

But what does surprise me – although perhaps even this shouldn’t – is when people who are supposed to be following Jesus, who are supposed to be like Paul, who are supposed to live an alternative existence in a mad, mad world, become the supporters and defenders of the madmen who run it.

Something like that was what cut Paul so deeply, what led him to respond to the Corinthians as he did. He saw them beginning a journey that would not end well, and so reminded them of their calling: they were not to live as the ‘wise’ of the world, but as fools. Fools who knew the value of following Jesus, who knew the strength of what the world perceives to be weakness. Fools who understood that to do so was the only way.

But alas, it seems that in today’s Christian world, many have chosen to be fools no more.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Dear Mr. President: A Letter of Faith, Love, and Resistance

Dear Mr. President,

I think I owe you an apology.

For the past few years, I have paid close attention to all you say and do. I have done so because so much of what you say and do scares me. I have been fearful for the safety of people I care about, both those I know and those I don’t know. I have been concerned that much of what you say and do will bring harm to them. I have not been wrong in this, nor have I been wrong to speak out against your cruel policies and hateful rhetoric. But somewhere along the way I forgot something important.

I forgot about you.

I have basically not cared for you as a person, as a human being made in the image of God. My Christian faith teaches me to do so, but I have allowed myself to become so angry over what you have been saying and doing that I have forgotten to see you as such. In this I have sinned, against God and against you. I have asked God to forgive me, and now I ask you to do the same. I doubt you will ever see this letter, but if you do I hope you will accept it as both an apology and expression of a sincere desire to, in the words of scripture, speak the truth to you in love.

I fear I am not alone in having neglected your well-being. Many of the professing Christians who support you have done the same. I think here of the ones who continuously express their support for you, the Christian leaders and pastors who stand in your innermost councils, the ones who have prayed over you and called you ‘God’s anointed.’ Mr. President, these men and women have misled you. They are court prophets and false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing who preach a false Gospel. The Bible tells stories of sycophantic false prophets who tell kings exactly what they want to hear, and I fear that such as these have surrounded you. Theirs is an understanding of God and the Christian faith that is completely at odds with the scriptures. Moreover, I fear that many of them are simply using you. They see you as someone who can give them what they want, e.g., conservatives on the Supreme Court, the end to legal abortion, the preservation of their brand of religious liberty, a theocratic nationalist state. In order to gain these things, they have treated you like a god. They have showered praise upon you. They have given you ‘mulligans’ for conduct they have long preached against. They have engaged in all sorts of theological gymnastics to uphold you in everything you say and do.

But in all this they have failed to do one thing: tell the truth. They have failed to tell you who God is and what God wants. They have failed to tell you the Gospel. And in this failure, they have, I am afraid, led you farther and farther away from the one you need most of all: Jesus.

And so Mr. President, I would like the opportunity to tell you the truth. Because truth matters. Not just for its own sake, but for yours.

It starts with this: God loves you. He doesn’t love you for the things you have done. He doesn’t love you for being a successful businessman or for winning the presidency. He doesn’t love you because you draw big crowds at rallies. He loves you because he is love. God loves us all, limitlessly and without condition. From the foundations of eternity, before you or I or anything else existed, he looked down the corridors of time, saw all the bad things you and I would ever do (imagine the worst thing you have ever done – yes, God saw that) and loved us anyway. He saw us in all our sin, separated from him, and could not bear the thought of spending eternity without us. And so, in the councils of the Holy Trinity, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a plan of action was determined. God decided to come to us in the person of the Son, Jesus. He decided to make atonement for our sins at the Cross and restore us to relationship with Himself. I am sure you know John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life.’ You are part of the ‘world,’ Mr. President. God loved you so much that he sent Jesus to die for you. That’s how much he loves you. That’s how much you matter to him. That’s how much he longs for you to be in his arms. Mr. President, God wants to be the center of your life.

But for him to be that, you must surrender to him. Specifically, the Bible tells us that we need to repent. You have famously said that you don’t feel the need to ask God for forgiveness. Mr. President, we all need to do that. The Bible tells us that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). God is perfect and holy, and none of us measure up to his glorious standard. But he has provided a way for us to be holy, to be cleansed of the sin that separates us from him, by confessing our sins and embracing the gift of Jesus. Mr. President, I don’t know if the Christian pastors and leaders around you have told you this, but this is something you need to do. If you want a relationship with the God who loves you, both now and in eternity, you need to confess your sins. You need to ask for forgiveness. You need to turn to the cross and invite Jesus into your life to be your Savior.

I pray with all my heart that you will do this. But there is more. The Gospel is not lip service. In addition to inviting Jesus into your life to be your Savior, you also need to embrace him as your Lord. Jesus never asked anyone to be a mere believer. He called us to be disciples. A disciple is someone who seeks to be like their Master. For Christians, this means striving to live like Jesus. Not that any of us will ever do that perfectly (Lord knows I don’t). But we need to work at it. We need to do our best to imitate Jesus and care about the things he cares about. To stand up for the people and issues that matter to him.

In this, Mr. President, your Christian advisors and supporters have, at least from what I can see, deeply failed you.

There is much they have not told you. They have not told you, or at least so it would seem, that Jesus would not condone the building of walls to prevent people fleeing for their lives from finding sanctuary. They have not told you that Jesus himself was a refugee (Matthew 2:13-15). They have not told you that the way you treat those seeking asylum, the strangers and sojourners in our midst, is not only the way we treat him but also the basis on which we will one day be judged (see, Matthew 25:31-46). They have not told you that God is affronted when you separate children from their parents. They have not told you that God cannot abide racism or hatred of the other. They have not challenged your hateful words, when you have demeaned black and brown life. They have not told you that Jesus is about love and hope, not hate and fear, and that your use of the latter to advance your political career both devalues human life and runs contrary to the Gospel of Jesus. They have not told you the Parable of the Rich Fool from Luke 12, the one that teaches that our lives do not consist in an abundance of possessions, nor have they told you of Jesus’ love and affinity for the poor, of the Bible’s insistence that we care for the weak and marginalized. They have not told you that bullying and name calling is contrary to Jesus’ way, that Jesus himself said that calling someone a fool, let alone ‘human scum,’ or ‘enemy of the people,’ or ‘bad hombres’ or other racial epithets, puts one in danger of hellfire (Matthew 5:22). They have not told you that when you label others with such names, you put their lives in danger and demean the image of God within them. They have not told you that followers of Jesus are called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), not people who tear up peace treaties without giving a second thought to how to replace them. They have not told you that followers of Jesus walk in the way of nonviolence and peace; they do not encourage their supporters to beat up or otherwise harm their political enemies and critics. They have not told you that to be pro-life is not merely to oppose abortion, but to work to protect and preserve life from womb to tomb. They have not told you that Jesus called his followers to be servants, not abusive autocrats (Mark 10:42-45). And they have not told you that Jesus was a respecter of women, not someone who viciously attacks women the way that you have persistently done.

Mr. President, I know that may sound a little harsh. I hope you believe me when I say that I do not mention any of this out of anger or hatred for you. I mention it out of love for you. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest when I think about you and the things you have done. I refer here to agape love, the love Jesus commanded us to have for everyone, the love that seeks what is best for people, whether they deserve it or not. Mr. President, I write all of this to you out of that spirit of love, because it is my sincerest hope that you will repent and turn to Jesus. Repentance in the Bible means that you turn around, that you stop moving in the direction you are heading and start traveling the other way. It is my deepest hope to see you do this. To see you stop walking in the way of fear and hate, and start walking in the way of hope and love. I long to see the day when you turn and follow Jesus, the day when I can call you, not just ‘Mr. President,’ but ‘brother.’

This is what I hope for. That you will come out of the darkness and into Christ’s marvelous light. Until that day comes, I will continue to peaceably speak out against any and all hatred and cruelty you speak, do, or propose. I will continue to be a prophetic voice for truth and the Kingdom of God. I will continue to do what the false prophets around you won’t. But I hope you know that even as I do so, I will be longing for the day when you will listen to the call of Jesus and walk in his way. If and when that day comes, I will rejoice and be glad.

Mr. President, I wish you life, health, and peace. But most of all, I wish you Jesus.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent D. Miller