As this pandemic continues and its effects take a toll on our communities and collective morale, I feel a responsibility to spur fellow white American evangelical Christians away from the grotesque roleplay of the political martyr--a role I admit we have been trained in for at least two generations--so that we can mobilize to meet our neighbors' needs. Churches should be thinking creatively and compassionately about how to bring healing where there is suffering, and to do so with the confidence that we are welcoming the presence of Jesus each step of the way.
I am more convinced than ever that the white American evangelical church has utterly forgotten cruciformity--meaning that we are a people who, as Jesus taught, deny ourselves and carry our crosses. Said differently, we are a people shaped by the cross and its implications.
I fear we have forgotten this basic truth, and along the way, our imaginations shriveled up. We have become so consumed with obtaining political power to achieve what we consider to be "noble" ends that we are willing to justify almost any "means" to get there.
Christianity isn't about pragmatics and tactics--we are supposed to be a people who choose peace at the tip of the sword, blessing when spit upon with curses, and love towards anyone we might consider our enemy. We don't demand our "rights"--we willingly relinquish them, emptying ourselves in the likeness of our savior, descending rather than elevating ourselves. We serve the King who washed his betrayer's feet, who confronted the powers and was killed for it, and who ultimately conquered death through the willing sacrifice of his own life.
I fear we have forgotten this basic truth, and along the way, our imaginations shriveled up. We have become so consumed with obtaining political power to achieve what we consider to be "noble" ends that we are willing to justify almost any "means" to get there.
Christianity isn't about pragmatics and tactics--we are supposed to be a people who choose peace at the tip of the sword, blessing when spit upon with curses, and love towards anyone we might consider our enemy. We don't demand our "rights"--we willingly relinquish them, emptying ourselves in the likeness of our savior, descending rather than elevating ourselves. We serve the King who washed his betrayer's feet, who confronted the powers and was killed for it, and who ultimately conquered death through the willing sacrifice of his own life.
Reclaiming that identity won't be easy. Cultivating communities of cruciformity will require the kind of persevering creativity necessary to adopt radically new relational postures and community dynamics that embody genuine faith and gospel hope. My prayer is that this pandemic will spark a conviction among some of us to rekindle that lost way of discipleship.
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