I have a dear friend who has trouble considering following Jesus because of the harmful attitudes and actions she has seen on the part of many Christians and churches. While in our conversations I continue to try to point her toward the person of Jesus and how he himself critiques those harmful attitudes and actions, I understand that in her experience the voice of the humans on this planet drowns out any still, small voice of Jesus or the voice of the bible.
Then two days ago a rioting mob attacked the Capitol building with signs and words that made it clear they wanted their actions to be done in the name of Jesus.
More perhaps irreparable harm has now been done to the effort of inviting many into the glorious reign that I have experience in Jesus Christ. I fear that now when I say "Jesus is Lord" my hearers will hear a call to violently dismantle and elected government.
I believe the rioters at the Capitol two days ago were not citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest. I do believe that Jesus often calls us to peacefully protest wrongs in our society, in our government, yes even in our churches (for no humans are immune to the dangers of sin). I believe that the Spirit uses our presence and our words, spoken always in truth and love, to change the world.
I believe in the model of protest offered by Jesus is his own ministry: teaching truth, healing the sick and suffering, and offering his very body as both witness and response to the evils of the world. (This was the model of non-violent civil rights workers and protesters in the mid-20th century.) I believe that his resurrection is the example of entrusting vengeance to God and thereby empowering peaceful action.
As someone called to address the Church from the pulpit regularly, I expect every pastor and preacher to join me in condemning the actions of that rioting mob and make it clear that Jesus did not call for that act of violence.
I will admit that Jesus calls my brothers and sisters around the world to do different things than I am called to do. I will admit that I disagree in many cases with brothers and sisters around the world about what our faith in Christ calls us to do, but I cannot condemn those brothers and sisters for coming to different conclusions than I. However in the case of January 6th, any assertion that following Jesus Christ called these rioters to commit the violence they did is, in fact, condemnable. Followers of Jesus will reject and condemn those actions, pray for the repentance of the perpetrators, and anticipate that the structures of law and order in the United States will deal with them suitably.
Meanwhile, I hope that my brothers and sisters in the faith will seek understanding of why the rioters did what they did and use every peaceable means to introduce them to another, gracious, way to address those concerns. Just as God wrought life from the death of Jesus, I hope that Christ and his Church will discover how good can be brought from this evil.
Maybe, just maybe, some time from now those outside the Church will grant more credibility to the peaceful work of Christians in response to the tragedy of January 6th than to the banners carried by the mob.
~ emrys