What do we do?
June 4, 2020 § 3 Comments
Knowing how to begin a post like this is a considerable challenge because the current climate is so charged with tensions that practically any angle is likely to be condemned by someone. There are racial tensions, social tensions, political tensions, and spiritual tensions.
As a pastor I believe I am compelled to address these tensions, both in terms of making a biblical assessment and offering pastoral encouragement and advice to my flock.
I watch what is happening right now in our nation’s cities—looting, burning, innocent people losing their lives in the attempt to protect businesses they have worked all of their lives to build, calls to kill police—and I, too, am distressed.
So what do we do?
The answer to this question is not nearly as obvious as many believe. We need direction—but that direction can’t come from within the chaos. We must speak—but not merely to avoid the culture’s ire. What we do must ultimately be done because we belong to Christ and seek to God’s glory in him.
But before we attempt to engage in broader discussions about the root of racism and its deep tap; before we seek to challenge people to consider the possibility there in fact may be a different narrative to guide us—and I very much believe we must do both of these things—first we must mourn, pray—and live.
We mourn.
We mourn that some charged with enforcing the law and protecting us from those who are lawless are also lawless.
We mourn, also, that many lawless voices are inciting fear and chaos and inviting more lawlessness sowing deep and profound social and racial discord.
We mourn that some Christians have made an idol out of politics—left or right—and have replaced the Gospel with human action.
We mourn that people are quick to shout and refuse to hear.
We mourn that people are more afraid and suspicious of each other than perhaps ever.
We pray.
We pray that we will truly believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only answer.
We pray that we our own hearts would be open to proper confrontation and rebuke for our sin.
We pray for repentant hearts that do not despise that exposure.
We pray for discernment to know, biblically, what really is sin and what is not—in spite of what the culture tells us.
We pray for courage to speak when we must—and to act when we must.
We pray that we will love one another from the heart—because the Gospel is true.
We pray that we will not act like God, condemning those who hate us or who do not believe as we do or, perhaps, even persecute us.
We live.
We live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, searching the Scripture and meditating on what God has said to us.
We live without anxiety, confident that God is sovereign and in complete control. Nothing that is happening happens apart from his hand.
We live with the conviction that, from our perspective, all people are redeemable. Yes, it is true that not all people will be redeemed—but that is God’s responsibility. As far as we are concerned we need to leave just as much, if not more, room for God’s mercy as we do for his judgment.
We live with the knowledge that God hates injustice even more than we hate it.
We live in love, reaching out and treating all people as the deserve to be treated, regardless of what they believe or how they treat us—because they are made in the image of God.
We live by the Spirit—and so we keep in step the Spirit, eagerly cultivating his fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
We live with our hands extended and homes opened—reaching out and taking in as God give us opportunity.
I believe we mourn, we pray, and we live because these are the right things to do, not because we aim to transform the world. Transformation is possible—indeed, it is what we hope for. But transformation is up to God. What is up to us is to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received: to love, follow, and obey Jesus.
Roblog 
Amen pastor.
Thank you, Pastor Rob!
Wonderful!