He said to him, “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Matthew 22:37
Once again Christianity in America has failed to live up to my hopes and dreams. Or more acutely the white Evangelical conservatives in the south. I can only speak of the segment of the population that I am familiar with. I fully understand that what I hear online and on social media does not speak for Christianity as a whole. But the voices of those I hear far out weigh those who are speaking truth.
For most if not all of my life I have heard how America is this great “Christian” nation. Yet where is the love of Christ? Where is the grace of the Cross? The mercy of the Lord? The forgiveness of our Savior? The compassion of Jesus? The long suffering of God? The indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Where is the message of Christ going out to the world? Not here,not now. I have spent my entire life reading and listening to what God has and wants to do here on Earth. I can confidently say this is not it.
Playing a political game with the lives of 800,000 people is not ok. These young people came to this country as children and did not understand that they were breaking the law. Their parents willingly broke the law so that their families had the prospect of a better life. How can we hold that against these young people? Better yet how can the Christian justify this?
Far too many people I know have a split worldview. They would argue that this is not about the Bible, Christianity, or Jesus. They would say this is about politics and what’s best for America. I believe the Bible teaches us that the only worldview we can have as Christians is thru the lenses of the Bible. Every action, every policy we support or stand against, every part of our lives should be viewed thru the Bible.
We are to esteem others more highly than ourselves. We are to love our neighbor as ourself. To care for the widow and orphan. To welcome the alien in our land. To love those who hate us and would do us harm. We as Christ’s image bearers are to extend the love, mercy, and grace of our Savior to our neighbor, to the sojourner, to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Behind The Keyhole 