I’ve been trying to remain silent. I’ve been trying to stay off of social media and the news media.
What that basically amounts to is me on social media while watching news networks stewing that no one is saying what I want them to say.
So I’ll say what I want to hear.
This world is not going to change. The people in power are not going to do what we need them to. Our leaders, for the most part, are more interested in advancing their own interests than in advancing the betterment of the people and our country. They’re exceedingly human in that regard.
But let’s take a moment and look around. How many people have you hidden or blocked on Facebook or Twitter because they were too divisive? Or even just because you disagreed with them? Are you more likely to hide those with whom you disagree? How many people feel safe disagreeing with you on their page or on your own? How many of the phone calls you make are talking about what is wrong “out there?” How many of your anxious hours are spent wondering why the other half of the country has gotten things so wrong?
We, my friends, are the problem. We get the leaders we deserve. If division didn’t work to win votes, our elected officials wouldn’t rely on it. If leaders weren’t able to stir up passions to violence, on both sides, they wouldn’t do it.
In none of the civil unrest over the past 12 months have the leaders participated. They aren’t there marching on the streets protesting racism or storming the halls of Congress protesting elections. They don’t need to. They have us to do their bidding. And in the meantime, we are granting them more and more power.
We live in a world that is so full of chaos that it’s hard to find a moment to think a clear thought.
But we must.
I think we can all see that we need some kind of social and moral revolution here, and I’m sorry to say that we all have an overwhelming amount of work to do. But it’s not on social media and it’s not in writing letters and it’s not in attending protests of any persuasion.
It’s work in our hearts.
We need to heal our own hearts and our own minds before our country can ever heal.
One person with a lot of power can sow a lot of hatred. Millions of people, intent on serving their neighbor with love and respect can sow ever so much more love.
We simply do not have the luxury of waiting for others to do it. We must do it ourselves, and we must start now.
How?
We must pray for our enemy.
We must seek that which we have in common and amplify it.
We must put an absolute stop to demonizing our opponents in our own heads.
We must avoid conversations that pit us versus them.
We must assume good intentions about those with whom we disagree. Believe it or not, we all want what is best for our country.
And we must do all of these things in front of our children.
The revolution we need in this country isn’t out there. It’s inside. This very well might be the single greatest step we can take for our country, our family, our future, and our soul.
The problem isn’t out there, my friends. The brokenness is in every single human heart. The more firmly we believe the other side is the problem, the more intently we have to look into our own hearts.
Be the change can’t just be a pretty quote we read in our planners. It must be what we live by and what we exemplify for others.
I don’t think people want to feel this hate and anger and anxiety. I think if people see us flourishing and peaceful, they will want that too. Our own peace can be the greatest testimony we have.
So please. Close your eyes. Silence your hearts. Turn to God. And please let’s just see each other as human beings again, Imago Dei. After all, he doesn’t love us one single ounce more than he loves our greatest enemy. He also doesn’t love us a single ounce less.
Thanks for this great post.