Outrage & Grief
In my pride I know I can be given to ungodly outrage, and in my desperate desire to walk humbly, I can often feel overwhelmed by grief. How to hold these together is a daily battle for me. James 3:17 teaches us that – “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” As a pastor, I feel a great responsibility “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3) as I seek to keep our eyes on Jesus above all things. That said, I have a weight of outrage and grief on my heart these days. My heart is wrecked over President Trump’s post of the Obamas. It sickens me, angers me, and weighs heavy on my heart for many reasons, not the least of which is the offense to my own family and the many black American and African friends that God has blessed with beautiful black skin. Let me be clear – this is wrong, racist, sinful. This kind of behavior cannot be excused or glossed over. Both as a father and a pastor, I want to disciple us in the path of understanding. Genesis 1:27 couldn’t be clearer – “God created man in his own image.” We treat every human being with dignity based on that fact alone. We love, serve, and delight in the amazing and beautiful diversity of people from every tongue and tribe. We long for that great and glorious day when we will join our voices with the colorful redeemed community of the nations doing what we were created for – Exalting in the Lamb of God!
Until then, we must walk a better path than human anger or human complacency. The path of godly grace and truth (John 1:14), where sin is called sin, thanking God that Jesus came to save sinners. As God’s people we neither rant nor excuse, but we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We do not equate morality with godliness, nor see liberal sin as greater than conservative sin. We invite men everywhere to behold the beauty of our risen King Jesus and then as believers we walk in wisdom toward outsiders (Colossians 4:5). If you, like me, feel overwhelmed by opinions or mad that politics invades the church, remember that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20), but our greatest witness as a Church will always be that of a radical, other-worldly love as disciples of Christ (John 13:35). Let us not be distracted by the divisive world around us but speak with peaceable wisdom as we point people to the only answer the Bible ever gives – The saving work of Jesus! “Help me O God to walk with righteous outrage and godly grief for the things that break your heart as I never cease to make much of Jesus during these evil days in which we live. Amen”