My head and my heart have been in a never-ending loop of thoughts recently. This past weekend our President made his way to McKenzie arena and participated in his civil right to endorse Marsha Blackburn for Senate. The excitement and tension was tangibly present on our campus as the day finally arrived this Sunday. I myself did not attend neither protest nor rally for personal concerns. However, I did witness the aftermath, an influx of social media posts of protestors and happy attendees, equal amounts of support for our president and his administration and equal amounts of defiance.
But whether or not you are a Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or Independent, I think one thing we can agree on is we are all called to be challenged by the call of Christianity. So, tell me how we can all identify as Christians yet be so divided? Tell me how I see my Christianity manifested in the support of a peaceful protest against bigotry and violence, yet there are too many of my fellow Christians, Adventists and peers displaying their faith with a sign that says “Finish the Wall,” Jesus was breaking barriers while on Earth, so why are we building them? There is diversity and there is divide. One we should embrace, and the other we are stuck in.
I see too many people being taught the pillars of Christianity and using them to instill fear and hate to the most vulnerable children of God, and it needs to end. When people look at what we say and what we support, how we represent ourselves and our church, will they see the character of Christ? Or the intolerant ramblings of a man in power who uses Christianity as a political tool to gain votes?
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Love and support cannot go hand in hand with intolerance and hate. And John 1:15 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” We have a serious disconnect going on in our church, and it needs to be addressed. Because the Christianity I know and Trump’s Christianity cannot be in the same space according to my God.
I want to conclude this article with a challenge presented by a friend of mine, Haro Lorenzo, who said it oh so well, “ I challenge you to be mindful: think about what you represent when you support the rhetoric that is used by your party to describe humans…Think about the words spewed by the president, his ‘solutions’ to the ‘problem,’ and where you as a Christ follower, fit into all of this…”. I think it is time we start holding each other accountable. Because in all honesty, if this is what “Christianity” looks like, then I want no part of it.