LIGHTS IN THE DARK

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote those words in a time when the hate of men between one another ran thick and heavy in society. It existed before that time and it lingers still today. The veneer of politics tells us we are championing a righteous cause but ultimately it boils down to division and hostility against another that lies just under the skin of our land.

It all seems so overwhelming and one might ask then why do I bother to write? What foolishness am I about and who am I to keep going on about such things when minds have been settled and hard lines dug into in our way of thinking. We know what is right and we believe our ways are the only right way. But are we, really sure? Have we done deep introspection about why we believe what we believe or do we consider that sometimes we might be in error?

I feel a heavy unction to speak to the truth of such things. I believe that as followers of Christ, sometimes we need to be challenged about what we believe. We need to be challenged about our preconceptions of the other. Rather give deep reflection as to how our faith life is to be effective in the greater world. Not just to be told how to think because that is what is expected of us and we must tow a party line because we’ve been told our faith must embrace it.

And what about me? Have I turned to embrace a zealot’s life and have I gone off the deep end banging a drum that only I hear and march to? I’m sure that there are those who will ignore this, gloss over it or simply think, stick with art and be quiet.

Maybe all these things are true. Or maybe I am just a man who has been through many a dark night of the soul, who has experienced the highs of a life well lived in my faith and the dark despondent valleys where I questioned all I believed to be true and good. Even so, I firmly believe that each one of us has been hard wired for a task. I make art. I have an artistic vision that holds me fast and drives me forward. I also hold to a life of faith that has grown from an ember into a flame. And were it not for the greater Faith which I hold dear, being hijacked and warped for the means of politics I might not have said as much as I have said.

But I do feel a weight, an unction to speak what I’ve learned by years in my own valley and what I’ve learned from my own walk.

In the addictive age of social media, it’s easy to offer up wan and watered-down platitudes that others like ourselves can cheer on and cry out amen to. It is easy and comes naturally to insulate within our own tribes and tell one another we are being virtuous and righteous without sorely needed self-reflection.

We hear what we want to hear and we feel safe and unchallenged and cozy in our warm cocoons of our own Christendoms.

I have no illusions about myself. I am no great orator, I hold no office, I hold no vast influence over anyone, people don’t bend over backwards to hear my words. But I do have a small slice of this place in the world, a small corner of it that hopefully I can have some influence in. I have seeds that I can plant that perhaps another down the road one day can water and down the line from that another might harvest.

I write because I feel guided by a determination to in a very small way, help recover the foundation of our human values of truth, love, beauty, goodness, family, faith and freedom. We are people of the light and we should be living as such. In faith, equity and love. Not in darkness or anger, rage and accusations and not holding onto lies and misreport.

We are called to model His life and we are called to model the ethics of the sermon on the Mount.

Love the unlovely, take the beam out of your own eye before you call out the speck in your brother’s eye. Love your neighbor as you would yourself.

None of this is ever comfortable and it should never be on our own terms. It’s on His terms. We cannot cherry pick the parts we feel justify our goals but we must take in the whole of His teaching. Otherwise we are fools and we turn into the blind leading the blind and our endeavors will be built on weak ground which will topple and crush us. We must be shrewd yet understanding. And we are called to be in the truth. Do we only follow our own news sources that tell us what we want to hear? Sources that feed into our worldview? Or do we look to cast a wider net to try to have a better understanding of something we may not have the full picture of?

Do we really want truth or do we only want validation for what we believe to be true? We’ve seen this with accusations of the young Algerian boxer in the summer’s Olympics as to her perceived gender or the video of the cat eating woman that was widely shared all over social media this past summer as one of many immigrants come to do harm?

We cannot ask the unbeliever to listen to the gospel if we are about warring and holding to ideologues who crow fear and division and don’t express the truth of the fruit of the spirit. Why would they listen to us? Why would they hear the hope we talk of if we repeat slander and use nicknames for our rivals to create offense and set ourselves up as the high standing moral majority when our tongues demonize the other?

And I am not leaning on cheap grace either. There are absolutes and yes there is a deadly cost to sin. But we were told to go and do “likewise.” To love your neighbor and break bread with them in life and show grace and who He really is.

Jesus isn’t American, nor does He wear a spangled flag over His shoulders and carry a flag emblazoned bible. Yes, He has blessed this nation with a special standing in the world but He isn’t an American God. That is idolatry, He is the savior of the world and moves through the whole of it. Not in one country alone.

I write because I feel impassioned over Him and His message. Because He has done a great work in my life and I have seen Him heal hearts that were once broken and because He is kind and good. Despite all the foolish and callous things I have done and said in my life and the hearts I have hurt in my time, He has overcome my failures. I feel no penitence to exact at my cost. I feel thankfulness. And I feel a great care over you. I may look a fool and sound like one and I’d imagine that there are those who take umbrage with the things I write. But I don’t do it for their approval or likes, I do it for Him.

I have heard the fear of things going badly after the elections. And this may be true. That subject might be for another time but fear presses many with the need to act quickly and decisively because many things are at risk in this land. I know there is fear in the air about the other. I understand that. It is easy to lean on change brought about by the hand of politics and a simple and easy act of voting.

It is easy because it requires nothing of us. We walk up to a ballot box and choose our candidate. The law of the land enacted but politics will never change a heart. It may change the exterior but the inside will still be in ruin. True change comes about by blood, tears and time spent in other’s lives. Others not like yourself. It is a messy thing that requires you to get your hands dirty. Politics is an ineffective way for the believer to enact true change in our world. It asks little of you other than your ire and rage.

There is nothing of the power of the Fruit of The Spirit in this. Political power does not bring about the deep lasting change that Jesus envisioned. We would do well to recall what He said to the religious in His day. First cleanse the inside of the cup and then the outside of the vessel would be clean. Matthew 23:24-26

Making disciples is what Christ commanded, not being about politicking.

And so, what if all were to fall after the election? What then, do we gather together in fear and set up insulated communes self-protected and guarded? Has He not told us that “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

We should take comfort in that. And we should take all comfort in the fact that history proves to us that Christianity despite going underground or persecuted in other lands and times throughout history was never crushed, never grew weak or died out. Faith flourished and its faithful numbers grew exponentially. And it wasn’t because of politics or a president that it has thrived. We have though seen the ill fruits of misguided trust with Constantine’s normalization of Christianity that only served to bring about corruption within the church. It was the church of the catacombs that grew and increased, the persecuted church thrived despite men’s efforts to destroy it and it grew bright and hot. We need not forget who we serve and trust in. We need to take heart in what we preach. Faith must outweigh fear. We have been living it backwards.

Even so I plan on standing secure despite it all, I was obedient to His call, sharing my voice and my heart with you. Exposing myself and becoming vulnerable in an age where men are “strong” and where strength and silence is valued above all. So, I will write ‘til I feel it’s time to hang up my pen. But you reading this. If nothing else I want you to remember one thing. The words that Christ spoke about His Kingdom.

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” – John 18:36

It isn’t about the power of the kingdom of men. It isn’t ultimately about who wins the election or what the YouTube prophet told you. It is about Him and His kingdom that does the ultimate work in your heart. It is about being His hands and feet, going out into the world, getting your hands dirty and living life with others not like yourself. It is about loving people beyond your own agenda and offering up hope and your full being. It is not about you.

But, be of good courage and know that despite whatever happens, He is still Lord, He is still good and He has told you what to do. Now go out and do “likewise” with all humility and trust in His grace. Only then will we see the change we hope for. We can all do this. Together. I believe in you.