A recent article in the “Faith & Leadership” Duke Divinity School blog has been weighing heavily on my mind. Peter Storey, the retired South African Methodist Bishop, asks us in America what is the church for? What should be the work of the church in a time of division? How are we as Christians to respond to Christian nationalism?
In this age of deep division and polarization, people seem to pick their churches based on their politics. Creating a bubble mentality where everyone agrees with you may be less stressful, but Jesus didn’t tell us to live stress-free lives. This just doesn’t apply to churches but to our lives as individuals. Jesus challenges us to live truthful lives.
That means we must confront those who preach a Christianity that is based on fear of the other, people who are believed to take away rights we thought only belonged to us. That’s certainly the message we hear from Christian nationalism. As Christians we need to tackle this misrepresentation of the Gospel wherever we find it.
Prayer for the Day
Healing God, who knows our inmost thoughts, fears, and sorrows,
Move us beyond our boundaries of black and white into the gray wash of Everyday life, beyond our familiar blindness into the light.
Push us beyond the security of the center into the margins; and forgive us
When we look inward instead of outward in fear of losing what we have
Rather than having the courage to give what we are.
We ask this in the name of the One who shows us how to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Break the silence between you and those people who are on the other side of this chasm. Find a way, even if it’s just having a cup of coffee with someone and asking, “I really need to know why you are so angry.” Now, that’s not easy.
- Peter Storey, Retired Methodist Bishop
Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.
- Krista Tippett, journalist, author, host of “On Being,” radio program
For if anyone is just a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away ad forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, that person will be blessed in doing.
Epistle of James, 1:23-25