Legacy

I haven’t been looking forward to writing this.

Like many in this country, I grew up in a Christian home.  My parents took me to church on Sundays and Vacation Bible School in the summer.  They monitored the music I listened to and pre-screened the movies I saw to ensure wholesomeness.  They taught me to take a moment to appreciate every meal I ate, even if it was scraped together from leftovers made two nights prior.  Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ was strongly advised.  Because of them, I won’t even use the restroom at a McDonald’s without buying something before I leave.  To do otherwise would be a form of theft and God commanded us not to steal.  We were also commanded not to lie.

So, let me be honest.

I have great respect for the Church.  It builds communities and unites families.  Many work tirelessly year round to help those in need both at home and in distant, unseen places.  It teaches thankfulness and humility and love.  I consider the nobler aspects of my personality a product of being raised among the faithful because so many more people than my parents helped shape me.

That’s where my confusion on our current state of affairs begins.  There is a disconnect—a vast chasm between the faith I was taught and what I see many practice today.  A great number of people who proudly call themselves Christians, including members of my immediate family, voted for our new president, wall and all.  Though he conducts himself in ways incompatible to their faith, they somehow see an agent of the Lord and celebrate his election.

The Bible says:

16 There are six things the Lord hates,

    seven that are detestable to him:

17        haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

        hands that shed innocent blood,

18        a heart that devises wicked schemes,

        feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19        a false witness who pours out lies

        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

--Proverbs 6: 16-19 (NIV)

The president is not a man interested in peace.  He’s already strained relations with allied countries and between people within our borders.  He is not honest.  He is not humble.  He is impulsive and deceitful and he will pursue whatever action is required to get what he wants without concerning himself with the consequences.  He is not a pious man.  He reminds us of all these flaws every single day.  His impenitence hangs in every excuse like withered fruit.  His ego swells in every ill-advised tweet, yet so many refuse to see him as he is and continue to praise God with every executive order.

But, enough of that.  I’m not writing this to complain about who won the election or how poorly he conducts the business of government.  At the end of the day, the president is just a man and his actions are his own, whether I condone them or not.  I was taught he will be judged by the Lord, as will we all, when the time comes to pass on.  Until then, we are expected to conduct ourselves in ways that bring glory to God.  Correct me if I’m wrong.

This makes much of what is happening in our country recently so heartbreaking.  A friend of mine shared the following today (less than 2 weeks after the inauguration):

“So I just had my first experience of being told to STFU because I'm a foreigner. Same person also said you can't be great without hate…Do people really think like this? I feel so heartsick lately over all the hatred going around, especially from those claiming to be Christian. Do Christians not read the new testament [sic] anymore? Is there a part of the Bible I've just missed that says God loves Americans best and all those parts about loving your neighbor and welcoming strangers are just talking about Americans? I just don't get it. My brain is literally incapable of comprehending this arrogance and lack of compassion.”

Her confusion mirrors my own and that of millions around the world.  She’s not the first I’ve known to ask these questions.  She won’t be the last.  Stories like hers increased in frequency the moment our president was nominated, varying in severity from harsh words to hate crimes.  They’ve only gotten worse since his election.  They will continue to get worse the longer he’s in office.  People have been emboldened by his hateful speech to do terrible things.

To those of you who consider yourselves Christian supporters of Trump, this is becoming your legacy.  It isn’t built on love.  It isn’t built on compassion.  It isn’t even built on the teachings of Jesus.  Its foundation is cemented in envy, greed, and pride. 

To the rest of this nation’s Christians, it doesn’t matter if you support the president or not.  It doesn’t matter if you condone the violence or not.  It doesn’t matter how you personally treat people of different skin tones, national origin, or sexual orientation.  Perception shapes reality and the reality is that the loudest and most hateful people are using the name of God to justify their sins.  The narrative is forming that it is not the Christians who are persecuted in the United States.  They are the persecutors, the rejecters, the violent.  They are to be feared.  Their legacy will become yours if your words and deeds do not start outshining theirs as soon as possible.

Conservative Christianity in the US has been hijacked over the course of decades through fear-mongering in the media and economic stress to create a maelstrom of discontent and extremism.  Worse still, people are so distracted and angry at scapegoats that they haven’t even noticed they aren’t walking with God anymore.  Now, they’re willing to trample over anyone in their way to get back to a version of this country that never existed in the first place because the president tells them to do it.

According to the Bible:

21 “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 who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

--Matthew 7: 15-16 (NIV)

Actually, there’s a lot of good advice in Matthew 7 that Christian supporters of the president seem to have forgotten or have chosen to ignore.  Re-reading that whole chapter is probably a good idea.  It’s the one about not judging others, loving thy neighbor, and being vigilant against false prophets.

Now, I’m not going to lie.  I have no idea how to end this piece gracefully.  I have not enjoyed writing it and I’ve mulled over the thing for hours.  It’s difficult telling people—especially people I love—that they’re part of the problem, not the solution, even when it’s necessary.  My heart has been racing the whole time I’ve been writing this in fear of what will happen when I share it publicly.  My hope is that people who read this will gain some perspective on their actions and seek to change.

Words have tremendous power.  Silence has even more.  To not speak against hate and the evil works of men is to sit quietly in support of them.  I’ve spent too much of my life being afraid to say what’s on my mind.  I can’t do that anymore. 

I’m going to write.  I’m going to draw.  I’m going to speak up.  I’m going to be honest.  These are the gifts I’ve been granted and I intend to use them to honor what my parents taught me, even if they don’t seem to agree with me right now, because I love them and am grateful for everything they’ve given me.

That is what I want my legacy to be.

You’ll have to decide what yours will be before others choose for you.