The Light Is Not Overcome By Darkness--Speaking Truth

I haven’t written a blog entry for a very long time. Not much since Will’s death. I have gone through the long grieving process. It will no doubt continue. Grief comes in waves. I never know when it will wash over me, but it does. The second anniversary of his death is fast approaching.

But this entry is not about my grief over Will's death. It is a call for the Church to grieve; to lament, repent, and then take action. It’s going to be a lengthy read, as I will be quoting scripture. I have discovered many people do not read scripture references if just the address is given. So, I am going to spell it out. Bear with me. I am not writing this lightly. I'm going to let the word of God speak.

I agonized over this for several weeks, but the burden would not go away. I sought the Lord for his wisdom and discernment, not mine. I believe and hope I am preaching to the choir. But if not, this isn't intended to offend, though it might. It is also not political or partisan. Its purpose is to give truth to lies, light to darkness, righteousness to unrighteousness.

 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; ⁴⁴ for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:43-45. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15-20.

As I look at the current leadership of America, I only see bad fruit. I do not see the fruits of the Holy Spirit, nor fruit consistent with repentant and transformed hearts. And the people of this administration profess to be Christians. Thus, I am compelled to speak the words of Jesus and the words of the Holy Spirit-inspired scriptures. John the Baptist confronted the evil of Herod, the Roman-installed ruler of Judea. He was murdered for it. The theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer called out the complicity of the Church in Germany with the Nazis, whom he also confronted. To the Church, he said silence in the face of evil is itself evil. The Nazis sent him to a concentration camp where he was executed for speaking truth. Standing up and fearlessly speaking the truth cost them their lives. We saints cannot keep silent. It is complicity. 

^16 “There are six things that the Lord hates,  seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,  and hands that shed innocent blood,¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,  feet that hurry to run to evil,¹⁹ a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.” Proverbs 6:16-19. Are you able to see that this administration is guilty of all this list of abominations that the Lord hates? It is glaring to me. Hands that shed innocent blood. Immigrants and citizens alike have been murdered, and the first declarations from the government were lies and bearing false witness against them. A heart that devises wicked plans, and feet that run to evil. Murdering people on the high seas without a shred of evidence that they were drug runners. And even if they were, they were executed without proof or having their day in a court of law.

Jesus warned his listeners in Matthew 25:42-46, “…for I was hungry and you gave me no food,” (Ending USAID to what the president has called “shithole” countries. Countries that are racked by famine, so parents are having to watch their children die the horrible death of starvation. Cutting off medications for preventable and even curable deadly diseases. Cutting SNAP so families living below the poverty line will have a much harder time buying food as prices continue to rise. Cutting funding for Meals on Wheels so elderly shut-ins no longer get at least one nutritious hot meal a day, five days a week. Refusing to fund free breakfast and lunch for hungry school children. But thinking God approves of posting the Ten Commandments instead. All these we supposedly cannot afford, while further cutting taxes of the wealthiest people and corporations in the world and adding hundreds of billions for the Department of “War” and ICE.)

“I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink”, (Slashing EPA clean water standards so corporations don’t have to worry about polluting. Destroying and fouling water sources for Indigenous peoples.)

“³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me”, (ICE is cruelly and violently snatching immigrants, legal and nonlegal, separating young children from their families, deporting without obeying our constitutional right to due process and giving them their day in court. Even US citizens have been roughed up and thrown into detention, not allowing them to prove their citizenship for hours. All because they are not white and/or speak with an accent. Ending entry into the US for people seeking asylum from 75 pretty much non-white countries. White supremacy and racism at work, but that’s a whole other thing.)

“I was naked and you did not give me clothing,” (The minimum wage is still $7.25 per hour despite the inflated cost of living. Even a single person working 60 hours a week cannot afford rent, food, utilities, or much in the way of thrift store clothing. Children are wearing worn-out, ill-fitting shoes all year round. They use the excuse of “welfare queens.” Please. There is no doubt some fraud, but Christians are to feed the hungry without demanding proof of worthiness, regardless of the few frauds. And sometimes, those fashionable shoes and newer car were purchased when that person had a good job. Most of us are one job loss or one hospital bill away from needing assistance.)

“I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me,” (Cutting Medicaid, cutting funding for research for cancer and other deadly diseases, casting doubt on medical science to the point of even saying the Polio vaccine really isn't necessary. ICE cruelly refuses to allow family, lawyers, or clergy to visit immigrant detainees.)

 ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”

Now is the time for the Church to repent and lament, for the white Evangelical Church in America has embraced political power and the wealth it brings. The Christian Nationalists, as they call themselves, applaud and encourage evil policies. They have forsaken Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who said in his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-11, verse 5: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Verse 7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” (Rev. Budde asked Trump to be merciful at the inaugural church service, and he said she was nasty, the worst sermon he had ever heard.) Verse 9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” A man who ran to a podiatrist five times to keep from serving in the military during the Vietnam War is more than willing to send our young sons and daughters to fight wars on a whim.

Christian Nationalists have embraced a false messiah who is draped in an American flag and wearing a red ballcap. They grasp for political power and wealth, and empower and enbolden a prideful, greedy, amoral person, committing idolatry in the process. Their clergy preaches a warrior Jesus and, like the false teachers and prophets of old, tell their followers God is on their side and will bless America, as they twist scripture, teaching heresy and blasphemy. They take scriptures out of context, cherry-picking to mislead and justify their god made in their image. Their plans to create a theocracy based on their beliefs are anti-Christ.

Jesus didn’t come to make America great again. He came to bring the Kingdom of God to the entire world, spread by grace, love, and carrying the good news of Jesus, not the sword of political power. Donald Trump is not anointed by God, unless it is to test the purity of the American Evangelical Church. In that case, the Church has failed the test and lost its way. The blind leading the blind. Preachers speak soothing words to those with itching ears. Jesus died for the world. The harm toward those who are not white, who are image bearers of God, is not being overlooked by God.

Matthew 7:21-23: ^“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’” Trying to establish a theocracy that is built on injustice, lies, and no mercy, using earthly power is not okay with the Savior who overturned tables in the temple because of the corruption.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of that day, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27. Sadly, I sometimes read in the news of fornication and adultery of leadership in evangelical churches. There is as much sexual sin covered up in the evangelical Church as the same sin they attack Catholic priests for. Yes, they can be forgiven, but they are all too often allowed back in the position of leadership where they can still be predators.

Years ago, when I was a newbie believer, I got caught up in a fundamental evangelical church. Every pastor lorded their pulpit authority and preached a theology that was very selective with scripture. One pastor committed adultery with the secretary, destroying two marriages. He was not removed from ministry leadership. He was simply transferred to another church. All the while, victims of sexual misconduct are silenced for the “good” of the Church. Forgive and accept back their abusers; submit as biblical wives to adulterous or abusive husbands.

I escaped that type of church when I began studying the bible on my own and saw how off the mark it was. Like Martin Luther, reading the bible on his own and discovering salvation is given by grace through faith. Not by works, not adherence to denominational rules, not by voting the right way. By grace through faith in the atoning death of Christ.

“When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21.

Jesus made clear whose side he was on. Not that the wealthy and powerful cannot be saved, but love of those things does not make it easy. The Christian Nationalists and this administration are dehumanizing and treating unjustly the very people Jesus spoke of.

I have said all this not to judge and condemn. But to give my brothers and sisters in Christ, God’s elect, the spiritual sword of the word to cut through all the lies of Satan, who masquerades as an angel of light: “¹³ For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness...” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

I said at the beginning, I hope I am preaching to the choir. But if anyone chose this leadership on one issue, perhaps because you wanted abortion outlawed nationally, or no gay marriage, or the promises made of a better economy, and secure borders, I hope and pray you are growing uneasy with the policies that have been enacted; uneasy with the cruelty, the violence, the perpetual lies, and the immorality that so many excuse or turn a blind eye to. The true spiritual condition of the president was made clear to me during his campaign in 2015. In an interview, which I watched, he said he had never asked for forgiveness from God because he had never done anything requiring it. 1 John 1:5-10:

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷ but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I truly do pray daily for salvation to come to Trump, Vance, Stephen Miller, even with his blackened, hard heart, and seared conscience, the entire cabinet, and the congresspeople who support this administration. I pray for eyes to be opened and ears unstopped for the misled citizens who are called MAGA. The same people who carried Jesus is Lord signs, pictures of him draped in a flag, wearing a MAGA hat, and building gallows and screaming to hang Mike Pence, as they attacked and brutally beat the police trying to protect Congress. 

I am most burdened for my brothers and sisters in Christ who are temporarily off the path. Jesus is calling them back. They are not lost; they cannot be snatched from the hand of God. But if they are regretting their votes, I pray the Holy Spirit quickens their consciences and helps them walk away.

The cost of following in the footsteps of the Savior is high. If what is being preached in the church you attend is not the gospel of the meek and lowly suffering servant who died for everyone, speak to the leadership. If you are spurned, leave. It will cause lost relationships and loss of your familiar comfort zone. But we are not above the Master, who came as a servant, and was persecuted by the religious leaders who conspired with the Empire to crucify him.

Christian Nationalism can be likened to someone looking at Jesus on the cross and saying, “He should have followed the law.” When man’s law contradicts God’s law as expressed through Jesus, we must obey him and not acquiesce to manmade unrighteous and unjust laws.

I do not claim to have everything correct. I'm a fallible human. But I am trying my best to see clearly through the lens of scripture, guided by the Holy Spirit. I'm not accusing or condemning. Read the verses I have cited in context. I have done my utmost not to cherry-pick. 

Maybe you aren’t comfortable with or are unable to protest peacefully. That’s fine. But you can write letters and make phone calls to your senators and representatives. You can pray and reach out to your brothers and sisters who are caught in this web of lies. A good book to read is “Disarming Levithan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor” by Caleb E. Campbell. 

Press into Jesus, seek the Truth, and read, read, read the bible. Do not be silent. Be a light in the gathering darkness. John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.