Churches in Providence

“The church isn't here to be ignored, but it's not here to be a voting block either. It's what one writer calls an unreliable ally. It should always have prophetic distance. Issam Akali wrote this. My prayer is that whoever wins discovers the church as an ally when they do right and a critic when they do evil. Sometimes we stand with one group, other times we stand against them, but always distinct. Stanley Harawa says, when the church is the church, the world will see itself as the world. Sit on that one for a minute. Our role is to be god's people wherever and whenever. And I will just say this, if I had to choose, I'd much rather have a church ignored than catered to as a voting block. After all, Jesus and his disciples basically were ignored by the powers all the time. Being offered power, man, that's so seductive, such a dangerous trap. And it's a trap that I fear that many of us and many of our brothers and sisters in this country are really tempted by. Maybe you could say it like this. We can lose the world and gain the kingdom, or we can gain the world and lose our soul.”

“We can lose the world and gain the kingdom, or we can gain the world and lose our soul. So as followers of Jesus, the ends never ever justify the means because the process shapes the outcome. way we go about achieving something affects the integrity and the impact and the sustainability of that outcome. If we compromise our values or we use methods that are antithetical to the way of Jesus to reach a goal, we end up distorting the goal itself. If we say we are pursuing the way of Jesus, of justice, of peace, but we rely on anger and manipulation or violence to get there, we're weak. We're weak. Not in the right sort of ways, in all the wrong sorts of ways. We undermine our very values. Our means are the message, and they reveal what we truly believe. We do un Christlike means to get pro Christian results.”

“Our role is to be god's people wherever and whenever. And I will just say this, if I had to choose, I'd much rather have a church ignored than catered to as a voting block. After all, Jesus and his disciples basically were ignored by the powers all the time. Being offered power, man, that's so seductive, such a dangerous trap. And it's a trap that I fear that many of us and many of our brothers and sisters in this country are really tempted by. Maybe you could say it like this. We can lose the world and gain the kingdom, or we can gain the world and lose our soul.”

“So in Revelation 13, we get this vivid vision of these two beasts, one from the sea, one from the earth. These beasts represent these oppressive power structures, basically, that demand loyalty. And they are symbols of empire and governments and systems that turn their backs on god, and they control, dominate, and corrupt. The writer here, by the way, is talking about Rome, and he uses this apocalyptic language that is the book of Revelation. But it is the warning for every generation as well that for any power that tries to take the place of God, that demands allegiance and asks us to compromise, we are to resist.”

“I have a last one though. Imagine this one, Jesus on the cross. Imagine him there. With every reason and every opportunity to win, he is the son of God after all. The one who in an instant, we're told could summon angels and overthrow the enemies, to take himself down from the cross. He's even taunted to do that, to prove every doubter and every mocker wrong, and he doesn't. Instead, chooses a different way, the way of witness.”

“Which means at times we will be faced with a choice. Do we win or do we witness? Do we seemingly win in the moment or do we bear witness which might look like losing in the moment? This is gonna happen, right, Because we are playing the long game. Our history is filled with people who were willing to forego immediate political victory, and I put that in quotes, in favor of faithful witness. Our history, not The US, our history as followers of Jesus is filled with people who choose to let go of the need for immediate political victory in favor of being faithful to the what and the how.”

“Because you vote every single day with your feet and you vote with your hands, and you vote with your lips, and you vote with your wallets. Who are the masters and Caesars that you pledge allegiance to by the way you go about your everyday life? Who do you put your trust in? Friends, boiling down our political engagement to a vote on one day every four years is insufficient. It is an impoverished view of God's call to love your neighbor. You can vote, you just can't just vote.”

“Their role of a witness is to tell the truth, to give an honest account of what they have seen and an honest account of what they have experienced. They're not there to convince everyone in the room or win the case themselves. They are there to faithfully share what they know to be true. In an incredibly similar way, followers of Jesus are called to bear witness to Jesus, to tell the world about who he is, what he's done, and the hope and transformation they've experienced because of him.”

“Joining the politics of Jesus means joining God's plan to redeem and renew all things. It's about a new allegiance, a new kingdom, a new hope. Hope that isn't in the donkey of the democrats or the elephant of the republicans. Our hope is in the lamb of god, and the lamb never fails. It is the same god at work throughout every generation.”

“So as followers of Jesus, the ends never ever justify the means because the process shapes the outcome. way we go about achieving something affects the integrity and the impact and the sustainability of that outcome. If we compromise our values or we use methods that are antithetical to the way of Jesus to reach a goal, we end up distorting the goal itself.”