We watched in horror again. Nineteen innocent children and two teachers were murdered in a public school in Uvalde, Texas two weeks ago. A few days earlier, a gunman shot down 10 black shoppers in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
The rightful anger toward these horrible acts is palpable. Our hearts break, our stomachs turn, and our fists clinch, again. Questions rush down like a torrential rain, but answers are a famine.
We don’t all grieve in the same way. Some of us are mad grievers. Some are just sad. Some need to do something. Some need to find a quiet place and do nothing. Still others are ready to speak out. Wrapped in our grief, however, is a sense of powerlessness that creates fear. Fear that we can do nothing to hold back the ocean waves of violence that threaten the people, communities, and nation that we love.
Jesus is hope.
Thankfully, we are not powerless. There is hope. Not just a sentimental hopefulness, but practical, powerful hope.
From the moment sin entered the world, death has been our greatest enemy. Jesus told his followers that Satan’s work is to steal, kill, and destroy. The Gospel, however, is the good news that Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
Jesus died in our place and for our sins and was raised from the dead so that death would not have the final say. But people need more than a home in heaven. They need some help with the hell on earth they are facing today. Jesus knew that too.
So, he came to “preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
And now he calls us to join him as we make disciples and pursue the peace of the city in which we live (Jeremiah 29:7). In a very practical way, we are hope-givers when we do what we can with what we have for the glory of God.
Do what’s in your power to do?
So, the question is, “How will you use the power you have to dispense hope in your home, neighborhood, and community?” We cannot stop every act of violence, but we all can do more to replace the current culture of despair with a revolution of hope.
If you’re a neighbor, reject isolation and befriend the people living near you. If you’re a parent, restrict and engage in your kid’s social media activity, and create more human experiences in the household that nourish their souls. If you’re a legislator, keep working so that all of us may live quiet and peaceable lives. If you’re a pastor, value the health of the community more than the growth of your church.
We have great challenges, but perhaps our greatest failure is assuming someone else is to blame. Conservatives blame liberals. Liberals blame conservatives. Athletes blame lawmakers. Lawmakers blame entertainers. And Christians choose sides and join the fight with equal vigor.
Ideas and Actions
It is true that ideas matter. So, liberal ideologies that reject biblical constructs and Judeo-Christian values heap devastating consequences on children, families, and the public square. The rise of anxiety levels and social-emotional dysfunctions can often be traced back to the confusion created by the abject foolishness and sinfulness promoted in our culture.
It’s also true that actions matter. So, when Christians who affirm the Bible as true and proclaim Jesus as Lord dismiss his lordship and instead seek their own desires, cynicism sets in. When our identity is wrapped up in political power rather than life in the Spirit, when attitudes of condemnation overpower actions of compassion, when we’re quicker to wag our fingers than wash feet, our influence among children, families, and the public square diminishes and the very best we have to offer never gets delivered.
Both ideas and actions matter.
Now is the time.
Perhaps, then, now is the time for a revolution of hope built on love and respect for one another and faithfulness to make disciples of Jesus. Perhaps now is the time we stop warring against one another and begin contending for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Perhaps now is the time the people of God live as preserving salt and illuminating light in the darkness that envelopes our communities. Perhaps now is the time we fulfill Jesus’ prayer to get together so the world may see the beauty of the Gospel and the glory of God.
Now is the time for a revolution of hope!
Adapted from original post in The Chronicle of Mt. Juliet, June 1, 2022.
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