Society of Violence

I woke up this morning feeling a tad overwhelmed. A night of sleeping after the events and ensuing discourse of yesterday did not soothe the feelings. If anything, it made me question the “soothing” after past events like the murder of two politicians in Minnesota, shootings in countless schools, attempted murders of presidential candidates, and the day we are called to remember, September 11, 2001. Was I soothed in a healing way or did I just forget and move on?

I’m only 35, but my years of awareness (Middle school through today) speak of a society filled with violence. Yes, countless tragedies of physical violence inflicted on children of God. Endless diatribes filled with violent rhetoric. I’ve seen a society that seems to live and thrive on violence, where the most violent rhetoric is rewarded with clicks and speaking engagements and financial wealth and political ascent. We can all say this is unacceptable, but it seems to be the society in which we find ourselves. No sooner is one moment of violence over, and we are hearing cries of retribution or vengeance or conspiracies about what really caused the violence.

And while I do not know if it is causation or correlation, my life has also seen an intense push of identifying ourselves by our partisan politics. Everything is a left vs right, Republican vs Democrat, Them vs Us situation. It’s not “American murders American.” It’s not “Child of God murders Child of God.” It’s “Crazed Leftist assassinates Paragon of Freedom.” It’s “Conservative zealot kills Defender of the Vulnerable.” Once we’ve identified ourselves and the other, the road from rhetoric to action is a slippery slide. And even if we are lucky enough to keep it at rhetoric, our feed is filled with obituaries we read with great satisfaction along the way.

In the coming weeks, the news we choose to consume and the news the algorithm force-feeds us will continue this pattern. While a house divided against itself cannot stand, it can make some savvy people a lot of money in the ensuing destruction. Here’s the best advice I can give. I give it not because I know better, but because I need to give myself the advice.

Remember who and Whose you are. We are not, at our roots, Republican or Democrat or MAGA or Progressive. We are a creature of the God who speaks, saved by the Christ who came, died, and rose again. It may very well be that our faith bids us to be engaged in partisan politics, but the minute it begins to become our identity, we have forgotten our identity and risk belonging to somebody other than Jesus the Christ.

Where is the log in our eye? I have seen countless people using this time to castigate “the other side.” It seems the way of today is to be steadfast in our belief that violent rhetoric and acts are only ever done by the other side. And even when somebody whose politics we agree with does it? Well, that’s not a real *insert partisan identifier.* At 35, I cannot say “which side” started this new logic, and I’m not sure it matters much. The violence is legion and culpability is everywhere.

True unity can not be achieved through ignoring differences. After yesterday, millions of people feel real pain because of what Charlie Kirk has meant to them. His words and his program were foundations to their daily life and way of being. It’s also true that millions of people have different, if not contradictory, views on his legacy. They may even be some of the people you worship with this Sunday. Is there a space for us to be together, hear the feelings of the other, and maybe even be changed by their presence? What makes the person whose feelings contradict yours feel the way they do?

Enemies are constant. As long as there has been the Church, there have been enemies. Christ said as much. We have also been given the way to defeat enemies, loving them. Christ not only told us, but showed us the way. When we were sinners, Christ died for us. When were enemies, Christ reconciled us. As Jesus was being arrested, we are told a disciple (Peter?) used his sword to strike a member of the group arresting Jesus, Jesus' response is simple and true. "No more of this!"

One of the things I have been doing over the past couple of weeks is helping our siblings from Olivet UMC with their weekly service at the Ripple Center at the old Hollywood Elementary. This is a senior citizen day care center (for lack of a better term) for people with developmental, physical, or memory problems. As I walked out of my house this morning, rain was the first thing I encountered. And y’all know what I have to say about rain. And so I took that with me to the saints of the Ripple Center. 

And so I bring it to you. As a part of the Body of Christ, we are the baptized. We have been claimed by the God who formed us, in whose image we live. The waters are a promise. It was true the day you were baptized. It is true this day. And this water has the power to remove from us our sin, our partisan identities, all the things that would tell us that we are anything other than a child of the Living God. And as baptism is first and foremost about the love of God, there is nothing that can separate us from it.

Not the wrongs we commit 

Not the wrongs committed against us

Not our partisan politics

Not the last administration

Not the current administration

Not the next administration

Not even the violence of this world

There is nothing that can separate you, me, us, Charlie Kirk, leftists, MAGA, anybody from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Be gentle with yourselves. Be gentle with your neighbor. I’ll see you Sunday.