Running Toward A Cliff On Fire
I’ve been spending a lot of time praying and meditating on things and I’ve come to a good place I think. God is Sovereign.
But for a few days there I was not so good. It wasn’t the outcome of the election that rattled me. It scared me. It still does for reasons I won't address right now. The part that shook me most was the reaction of people on Facebook. Primarily Facebook but other social media as well. And let’s not forget TV and good old fashioned IRL (“in real life”).
The incredible darkness that’s descended on people is like watching the whole country running toward a cliff while on fire. You want to stop them but you’re not sure how to do it and not get burned – or carried off it yourself. So I opted to keep my words unwritten until I could get some clarity from God on why I felt so helpless that all I wanted to do is light a match to myself and go screaming over the edge after them.
"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold."
- Matthew 12:12
The word that’s been wielded most wantonly the past 8 days or so is “hate.” But as I prayed I began to understand that hate, while it may indeed be budding, is not itself the seed. The seed is this: Offense.
It’s why I posted a video link to John Bevere’s “The Bait of Satan”. I should say right now that most of this is addressed to believers in God in general and to Christian’s specifically. But even if you don’t fall into either category, you are certainly welcome to reflect on this.
Clinton supporters are not all sore losers, Trump supporters are not all racists, and neither group are godless villains utterly bent on undermining and trampling the rights of the other. And while you may not yet be ready to accept that, allow for at least the possibility that it is so, in order that I may make this point.
"For as the churning cream produces butter, and as the twisting nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."
- Proverbs 30:33
We don’t ALL hate each other. Not yet. Not completely anyway.
But we have gotten really good at offending each other and being offended.
You tell someone they are a sore loser. How do you think they are going to feel?
You call someone a racist. How do you think they are going to take it?
And once we’ve offended someone, what is the likelihood that they will listen to anything else we’ve said? Zero. There is zero likelihood they will hear us.
But here is the ironic part: if you dig way down deep under the anger, pain and fear that made us speak offensively in the first place and to take offense in the second place, you are going to find the same basic deficiency in all of us.
We desperately, emphatically, almost pathologically NEED TO BE HEARD.
"In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears."
- Psalm 18:6
For nearly a decade almost half of US Citizens have felt like NO ONE WAS LISTENING. That means if you are sitting in a room with a total stranger and you felt like you had a leader that heard you, chances are the guy next you did not share your feelings.
That is tragic.
And this election has not fixed that. Because right now half of US Citizens are terrified that they have been silenced, that NO ONE WILL HEAR THEM for at least another 4 years, maybe longer. So if you’re relieved because FINALLY someone is listening, look at the guy across from you, he’s terrified.
That is tragic.
But it doesn’t have to be.
We need to LISTEN to each other. I beg you to try to hear what the other person is saying. Please, just try. You don’t have to agree or change your position. Just open your ears, soften your heart and while you’re listening…keep your mouth shut. Not forever. Just long enough so that you know that you really heard the other guy. Try to filter out anything hurtful; he’s hurting too and pain has a way of sticking to our words when we talk. Remember, the soul is a mine and you are digging for gold. Once you’ve found it, repeat it back to him. Make sure you’ve got it. Make sure you feel it. And make sure he’s confident you heard him. And then you speak. Speak kindly. Don’t exaggerate. Don’t dredge up the sins of Adam and everyone in between. He can’t climb that mountain and neither can you. But speak your heart, weep if your words fail you, tell your story truthfully, and reveal your fears. Speak until you are sure he’s heard you. Have no goal to win him over, but only to win a small measure of his understanding. In the end you may not come to an agreement but you may find common ground.
"A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense."
- Proverbs 19:11
One last thing…
Beloved Christian, we are not helping people when we make statements to each other like: “How can you call yourself and Christian and vote for: (insert name of candidate)?” After all if we question one another’s authenticity over something as meager and worldly as red and blue politics, dare we be surprised when the world questions our integrity on greater matters of faith?
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
- John 13:35
As a follower of Christ I’m compelled to take a step back and look at myself. Am I offended by some of our new President’s policies and appointments? Yes, I am. But I don’t have to TAKE OFFENSE. I don’t have to seethe with bitterness. I don’t have to roll my eyes at every post celebrating him. I don’t have to look for reasons to hate him. I don’t have to be angry at people for holding him out like the second coming of Christ.
"Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels."
- 2 Timothy 2:23
And I don’t have to GIVE OFFENSE. That is I don’t have to start name-calling. I don’t have to start taking hardline positions against anything and everything he tries to do without bothering to pray on it. And if I disagree with something I can find a way to say that without attacking him and people who support him. I will not defriend people over it, or shut folks down who hold a different opinion. Should I choose to protest a policy I can do it with dignity and respect for law.
"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."
- Colossians 3:8
And because I refuse to allow Offense to infect me, I now hereby build MY OWN WALL. A solid impenetrable wall of prayer around MY President and around MY country. (No, I don't agree with all his policies, but I will NOT disown him with a hashtag. I will own him in prayer, just as I did for President Obama. I didn't like it when people disowned Obama with that same hashtag so I won't offend myself with the hypocrisy of using it now.)
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- Matthew 5: 43-48
Grant, Oh God, that President Trump would receive from You, health, safety, wisdom, integrity, kindness, holiness, fairness, honesty, grace, humility and salvation. And that he might become a man who neither gives nor takes offense. That we as a nation might learn to hear one another. That we might hold our unity so sacred that we strive not to hurt when we are hurting, but to heal so that we may be healed. And that Your children would be the light to show the world the Glory and unifying power of Your Son.
Amen.
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