We were warned to not go along with the crowd. By the very people we just watched go along with the crowd.
Their overwhelming support of a strategic assault on basic human (and Christian) values like honesty, decency and compassion is baffling at best.
We search in vain to understand the widespread empowerment by professing Christians of the most overt public displays of denigration and discrimination since the 1960s.
These demeaning and destructive attitudes and actions stand in stark contrast to the life and teachings of Jesus.
As a result, the Christian witness in America is on life support if not in the grave —further alienating those who might be attracted by just a hint of grace, mercy and compassion.
Some of the poorest advice ever given is, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”
Power-driven politicians, many of whom have long identified as Christian, were quick to jump on board — now commending and enabling the very inaccuracies and atrocities they once publicly condemned.
They quote scripture in social media while aiding acts of cruelty, corruption and chaos. There is always a feeble excuse, a false equivalency or the mangling of some isolated holy text to failingly justify doing so.
Why such hypocritical contortions? Because those who choose power over principles are expected to do by the large number of Americanized Christians who put and keep them in place.
Therefore, a pressing question stands before us: How might we respond to this vast departure from the most basic elements of what it means to be a follower of Jesus who sees and treats all of humanity as children of God?
Is there anything constructive to do? Yes, yes there is.
Arguing partisan politics and doctrinal fine points has proven to be ineffective. But the better response is not silence.
We need stronger, clearer and more voices articulating and advancing the following of Jesus as the defining priority of the Christian faith. Without hesitation.
For anyone who spent some years singing, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus,” now would be a good time to do so.
The favored mantra of America’s grifters who are strangling the nation and defacing the Christian faith today is “Don’t apologize; deflect the blame.”
It carries the blatant message that with power comes no responsibility.
For those who truly seek to follow Jesus, a more-highly-focused application of the “Don’t apologize” mantra is much needed.
Not to be delivered in an equally ugly and dishonest way but in a clear and consistent manner, it is this: Don’t apologize for inserting Jesus into public conversations when those using the Christian brand ignore or contradict his life and teachings.
This is no time for timidity in the name of keeping peace or whatever excuse one finds for not speaking up.
Many long professing Christians have been sucked in by fear, false promises and perversions of both our national intent of “liberty and justice for all” and by what it means to bear Jesus’ name.
Whenever and wherever that occurs, let us not apologize for injecting Jesus — his life, teachings and calling — into the arena of what it means to be Christian.
Even if we get called silly names that hostile provocateurs hand out as weak defense mechanisms and efforts to shut down truthful critiques.
We need more and clearer voices of reason, responsibility and faithfulness to be heard. In the words of Nike — not the Greek goddess, but the shoes — “Just do it.”
In greater force we can be constant reminders of the commitments we made at the times of our baptism. It wasn’t to some fear-driven, self-serving ideology that demeans and dehumanized those who are different from us.
Strangely but surely, professing Christians in large numbers today do not want to hear Jesus’ teachings or be reminded of his example. His red-letter words make them red.
Let us speak up anyway.
Such fragile faith has been comfortably redefined apart from Jesus — except for a cheap, misguided version of salvation that purportedly grants entrance to heaven at Jesus’ expense.
Do not apologize for elevating Jesus — the fullest revelation of God to humanity — into conversations and even confrontations about what it means to be his followers. That is the bold witness needed most today.
Misguided and abusive misuses of the Christian faith need to be countered even if doing so is not well received.
Faithfulness is found only in how we respond to Jesus’ ongoing call to follow him.
When stating clearly that affirmation of faith and practice, no apology is needed.
John D. Pierce is director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative (jesusworldview.org), part of Belmont University’s Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership. Join us for the first Jesus Worldview Conference, October 13-15, in Nashville.