Jesus Is More

 I'm tired. 

Perhaps you are, too. 

I'm tired of a lot of things going on in our world right now and especially, here in our country. 

I'm tired of all the political hate and anger leading up to this year's election cycle - people on opposite sides attacking one another simply for having differing viewpoints, caring more about who's right than loving well. 

I'm tired of the tension in our society associated with the simple refusal to see our fellow humans as created by God in His image, regardless of their appearance. 

I'm tired of folks using the COVID-19 virus as an excuse to force their personal agenda on others, completely unrelated to public safety. 

And I'm tired of how increasingly everything is becoming about me versus you rather than us, together. 

Earlier this year, when we all had to stay at home to protect ourselves and the most vulnerable from the onset of the virus, I witnessed some touching scenes of people coming together in community to help one another through a difficult time. Neighbors talking to each other across the street, the more healthy and robust looking for ways to grab food or assist the more vulnerable. People set aside their personal opinions and simply tried to support one another. It was refreshing. I was hopeful we would all retain some element of this going forward...that this pausing would teach us how to love better. 

But, within weeks, once the country began to reopen and people got busy again, things went back to the way they were. People returned to their own routines and checked in on others less. Political and social upheaval began to dominate the national conversation. Churches debated on how to best handle the continuing restrictions associated with COVID-19. Each day, social media feeds were filling up with public discussion on many issues, people seemingly finding something new all the time to get angry about. 

I'm done with it all, to be honest. It wears at my soul. It's discouraging. 

So many things are trying to tear at the fabric of who we are and what really matters in the long run. We're all feeling a bit more isolated, disconnected, removed. We're all weary of the scenes of passion gone wrong as offended individuals disrupt the peacefulness of our lives and society. We're struggling to get past all the issues so we can actually see one another as God intended. Seems we're becoming more each other's enemy than each other's friend. 

As cities burn and feelings rage and uncertainty looms large, I've thought long and hard about what's really the problem here. All viewpoints aside, why this chaos? 

For Christians, the answers is simple: sin. The problem isn't political parties or skin color or the virus or any of the headlines we see daily. The problem is a fallen humanity and a fallen creation that is groaning, longing for something more - something redemptive - beyond this planet. When sin rules your life, it's only natural that you'll be more offended, more angry, more controlling, more hypocritical, more opinionated and less open,  more self-centered. In a world where all residents of it have fallen short of God's glory and are descendants of their first parents, Adam and Eve, confusion reigns. People take sides. Winning arguments at all costs takes the place of humility and hearts only seek to get their own way. 

Added to this fact is the underlying truth that many of us suffer from a love deficit. When haven't been loved the way we needed to be, failures in love often drive us to treat and see one another in dividing, mistrusting, prideful ways. Our hurts cause us to hurt others and, when we haven't been taught how to properly process and deal with those hurts, we simply take them out on those around us. Our pain inflicts further pain. I would venture to say that many of the people we see in the news who are involved in these protests or political arguments or what else have you...many of them are probably hurting deep inside. They don't know how to deal with their feelings, so the easiest way is to go after other innocent people. To demand that others owe them something, to cry for fairness and insist that if they shout loud enough they will be heard. 

Sometimes the inner cry, the inner scream of pain isn't always about the issue at hand. 

Deep down, I believe that grace is the solution. Love is the answer. Christians will largely agree with me but I truly feel that even those within the religious community need to be reminded that issues aren't the only thing. Perhaps we've lost sight of the Gospel because we're so concerned about the swirling problems of our time. I'm not advocating that we turn a deaf ear and ignore the difficulties in our society, but I am advocating that we perhaps need to take a step back and remember that the Savior we serve told us that the world would know us by our love. 

Not by our politics, not by our opinion, not by our prejudices, not by our biases, not by our causes. What would draw people to the kingdom of God was our love. Our love in the face of persecution, our love in the face of hate. Our love that is bigger than any election or any social issue or any virus or any other thing that can impact our communities and our nation. Love isn't blind to the issues of the day and love chooses to speak out when necessary. But love also looks like giving a cup of cool water in His name. Love looks like paying attention to and reaching out to those others would say you shouldn't interact with. Love looks like crossing boundaries, of saying that how someone looks or what they've done doesn't exclude them from mercy.  Love looks like caring for those who are too vulnerable and weak to do so themselves. Jesus said so Himself. 

Shouting from a street corner maybe isn't always the best solution. It might feel like the most obvious but perhaps love does a brave thing and, instead of joining the angry ones, prays for them instead. Offers their hurts to God when they are unable to recognize and do so themselves. Perhaps the most courageous thing in these times is to simply trust in more than government or decision-makers or sides to an issue. Perhaps the most courageous thing is to trust that somehow God is still present. 

It's been hard to see Him in these challenging times, but He's still here. Buildings may burn and passions may rage and people believe in vain things and hate may consume but...the sovereign King of the Universe is still on the throne. No virus, no election, no lockdown, no hurricane, no racial issues caught Him by surprise. These things may shock us, but God is not startled. He knew all along we'd come to this place. And somehow, even though He could've prevented any and all of it, He still allowed it because just maybe He knew we needed to be tested, tried, proven. Just maybe our faith needed to be exercised and our holiness increased. And just maybe He wanted to see what our love is really made of. 

In these discouraging days, I'm reminded of the possibilities - of the potential. Hope looks beyond. So what if one of these hateful individuals that sees destruction of property and hate for others as the only way...what if one day in the future that individual comes to know Christ and tells their story for His glory? What if, through the response of those who refuse to return hate for hate, God shows somebody that there is a better way? What if, through the tough conversations surrounding these issues, friends come to better understand one another in a more civil way? What if the Church learns that Christ is above all things, even all this? 

What if this is our refiners' fire and in all this we get a chance to see One walking among us here in the flames? 

I know we're all tired. But turning our eyes upward is the only way to look at all of this the right way. And in doing so, to ask God to help us choose love. To help us be known for more than just what we think but how we care. To give us bravery to somehow let people know we're not against them but we're for them because Jesus is for them! So what if we differ in some things - Jesus is more! 

Those on the "the other side," whatever that may be, need Him as much as you do. They're probably hurting just like you are. They need a Savior to forgive them, just like you do. And perhaps, if you were willing, you could be part of how God's love can reach them. If we're followers of the One who called the merciful, the humble, the peacemakers, the pure in heart, and the persecuted "blessed," then we need to let love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control drive the discussion.  We need to find our souls "moved with compassion" as was Christ while He was on the earth. We need to get past problems and see people as God sees them: created image-bearers of Him who need a Savior and His love just as we do. 

Sometimes the best way to respond to the issues of our day isn't to pick a side and join the judging masses but to simply pray as did our Lord, "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing." 

You can't reach everybody and not everybody is willing to be reached. But you can love large in the corner of the world where you are. You can surrender your passion and your pride in this single moment to a God who is over all of this and ask Him to make your life about more than just opinions and issues. To make your love so big that people can't help but see something different about you. That even those who want to force you to lend your voice to the hollering crowd will notice that you're taking a different road.