After Charlottesville (A Christian Response)

After Charlottesville (A Christian Response)

“According to His promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.”  (2 Peter 3:13)

I watched in disbelief the events that took place in Charlottesville last weekend.  I was saddened, angry, and to be honest sickened to see people wielding Nazi flags, carrying signs proclaiming white supremacy, and marching with lit torches.  It was a dark moment in our nation’s story, a chapter that I had hoped, maybe naively, was long over.  When a counter-protester was killed by an act of terror the story became even darker. 

The demonstrations and what they stood for are so counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ that we cannot help but respond.  We cannot sit idly by and wait for the moment to pass.  What can we do, though?  In times like this it is easy to feel overwhelmed and undervalued.  What can one person do that will make any sort of difference?  I want to suggest a few radical but simple things, a Christian response:

1.     Remember that the future is moving in God’s direction:  The prophets promised that there would be a day when the world looked like the Kingdom of God, with no wars and weapons, no hungry people, no more tears or brokenness, all would gather in the grace, love, and holiness of God (e.g. Isaiah 2:1-5, Micah 4:1-5, 2 Peter 3:13). Because this is true, this means that racism and white supremacy have already lost.  How can they prevail against God?  It is true that hate may raise its ugly head, but the promise is that all of time is moving in God’s direction.  Therefore, such darkness will never have the last word and we can live with genuine hope, even in the worst times. 

2.     Remember that evil is not overcome by evil:  The ethics of the New Testament are counter-cultural in many ways, but perhaps no more so than here.  Both Peter and Paul taught that evil should not be paid back with evil, but rather with blessing (see Romans 12:17 and I Peter 3:9).  In our anger, we don’t “produce God’s righteousness”, James warns (James 1:19-20).  Therefore, we don’t have to respond in kind to the heinous actions we saw in Charlottesville.   We don’t have to increase hate to be shown as right.  We must name what the rally stood for as evil, but we must respond with increased love, not increased hate and violence.  In doing so, we boldly proclaim that white supremacy cannot stand in the face of God’s future.  Let us, then, not mistakenly show by our actions and attitudes that hate has the power to conquer love.

3.     Live as if God’s future has already started:  Here’s why…it has!  Jesus came to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand and therefore people should change their hearts and lives.  That was his primary message (Matthew 4:17). He lived and died to show that not even sin and death could conquer the Kingdom.  Further, Jesus raised disciples and built the Church to continue showing what God’s future looks like and inviting them to live into it.  Also, as Jesus told Peter, not even the gates of hell will be able to stand against it (Matthew 16:18).  We are called to stand for and live the things of God’s Kingdom:  love, grace, equality, forgiveness, hospitality, mercy, holiness, and blessing.  Lift your voice in opposition, but your heart in love. 

This is unfortunately not the last time we will have to stand in the face of such evil.  I understand nine more rallies are being planned in various places in the days ahead.  We are not helpless, though.  May we live on the side of God’s future, and may our lives be witness to something better. 

Together we are the hands and feet of Jesus,

Brett