Just Be Faithful

It’s a very snowy Sunday morning. The church isn’t gathered today, which is too bad because being with the people of God is always a joy and a blessing. So, instead, I’m doing some Bible reading in the quiet of my home office in a comfy chair, sipping a cup of coffee. It’s a great place to think. And I have been doing just that.

Over the past few weeks (it’s been longer, but it feels more recent), the temperature in society has been steadily increasing. There’s a palpable tension in the air (or on the internet, at least). The division our society has felt over the past two elections (three?) does not seem to be healing and, in my estimation, is getting worse.

At times, I am convinced I know where I stand, and at times I am confused. My algorithm does its best to feed me what it thinks I want to know, which is why I don’t feel like I can trust it. The same could be said for my friends’ algorithms, which seem equally curated and therefore equally untrustworthy. I feel under pressure to instantly have the correct opinion when the news hits. It seems necessary to instantly render a verdict, pick a side. When someone has been arrested; quick, are they guilty or not? A Church service has been interrupted. Quick, what are the specific laws about that? Hurry up and post something condemning it! Someone has been shot! Hurry, tell me if they deserve it? No. Was it inevitable? Maybe? Yes… Wait, could there have been something else done? Yes. Ok, so No? Hurry, make up your mind, get it right.

Also, no matter what you think, someone, maybe someone you know, is going to be upset or disappointed that you feel that way. And, as the details come in, assuming you can trust them and they aren’t AI-generated, you might have to shift your thinking. Oh, and you’re a pastor, so make sure you don’t upset anyone at all. Also, the testimony of Christ is at stake, so you’d better not tarnish that because then you’re guilty of much, much more than misreading a situation. Are you guilty of turning people away from the gospel or leading people to worship a false god? A false Jesus?

What to do? What is the responsibility of Christians in Society? How should we engage if indeed we should? When two people are fighting, and you jump in and pick a side, aren’t you just making the fight more violent? Yet, if we stand by and do nothing, are we just giving passive approval to one side? If we do nothing and say nothing, are we muddying the water even more? Or are we ignoring our duty to spread peace? Romans 12:18 says, If possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all. How does the church participate in society when society is at war? Maybe Quakerism isn’t so bad after all? No, that’s not it. People need to know Jesus, and they won’t hear unless someone tells them. If we remove ourselves from the conversation, then nobody is there to speak truth.

My dear brother or sister in Christ. When we can’t trust the information swirling around us with the intensity of a hurricane, turn to what is true, the Word of God! Here’s where I turned. 1 Peter 4. I implore you to read this chapter carefully. Read it slowly and read it more than once because this format does not allow me to unpack this passage to its fullest. I will, however, point out some of what stands out to me. I believe it to be incredibly pertinent to life as an American believer.

• Verse 1: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking
  • Arm yourselves… not with guns, not with vitriolic rhetoric, arm yourselves with the same thinking process that Christ had. He suffered; you may have to as well if you are his follower.

• Verse 4-5: ⁴ With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; ⁵ but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
  • Don’t join in the sinfulness of the “fight.” There are a lot of wrong responses happening on both sides of the societal debate right now. My algorithm seems to think I want to see a bunch of conservatives dunking on liberals. I don’t. I want the truth. If I join in, then nothing changes.

• Verse 7-11: I’m going to break this up a bit and make some comments.
• ⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
  • Yep, it definitely feels like the end of the world. Interesting that Peter felt the same way 2000 years ago.
  • If I do engage… What should it look like? Self Control, Sober-minded
  • Why? Apparently, my prayers are hindered if I’m not.

• ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
  • Above all… Above my desire to be right, above the chaos of internet conversations, above my need to be loved, above my genuine opinion.
  • What does love look like right now? It starts by acknowledging that everyone involved (myself included) is going to bring some sin to the table, and I shouldn’t be surprised. It means that if a loved one or friend is stressed, angry, confused, or otherwise, and says something that hurts, offends, or frustrates, I can lovingly respond by being willing to understand they aren’t perfect.
  • Simply put… My first reaction shouldn’t be to fire back and place blame. More often than not, the loving first reaction is patience.

• ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
  • How welcoming am I to those with whom I disagree? Am I opening doors for them to come in and share? Or am I closing them? It means I don’t name-call. It means I don’t rush to judgment
  • It means I don’t grumble… Yeah, that one isn’t easy, especially when I’m around people I perceive to agree with me.

• ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
  • God has gifted me… With what? Let’s start with eternal life and freedom from the well-earned guilt of my sin. God has been gracious to me. In my sin, I WAS FIGHTING HIM… and he showed me grace. HE GAVE ME LIFE when I, in my sin, cried out, “CRUCIFY HIM!”
  • So… I’m supposed to give that grace to others. To all, including the ones who are in opposition to that which I believe to be true and right. (quick reminder here, this applies to both sides of the aisle.)
  • God has made me a steward (one responsible for the faithful management) of his grace. Regardless of my position on any socio-political issue, I must demonstrate and give away the grace of God that he showed me.

• ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  • Apparently, whenever I speak (this includes posting on the internet), it should sound as if it were coming from one who speaks for God. Yikes… I’ll be honest, this makes me want to limit my internet posting to sports opinions and pics of my kids doing cool stuff.
  • Speaking isn’t the only expectation. It’s implied that I’ll be serving others, too. Am I? How am I serving others with my societal and cultural involvement?
  • IN ORDER THAT… Here’s the goal of all of this… IN EVERYTHING… yes, everything, not just my interactions at church, this includes my thoughts, posts, texts, and in-person interactions… GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. That’s it. That’s the goal. Every time I walk out the front door, turn my computer on, answer a text, or share a meme, I am to be pointing others to the glory of God in Christ.

So, what must I do with the anxiety produced by my algorithm, this world, and the happenings in it? Turn to the Savior in His Word. Remind myself that involvement isn’t forbidden in scripture, but hostility is. I must remember that I will likely suffer as a proponent of the gospel, and that’s ok, Jesus did. I must remember that the glory of my country, my political party, or myself is not the goal. The glory of God is.