Stop The Political Posturing And Preach The Gospel

Like everyone old enough to have been cognizant on September 11, 2001, I have vivid memories of finding out about the attack on the world trade center, as well as the response that occurred afterward. The months following this devastating attack, while a difficult time, is the last time I remember Americans joining together to mourn this horrific loss of life. Yes, the political divides soon became apparent regarding exactly how this situation was to be dealt with, but at least for a time, there was some kind of sense of unity in this nation.

As tragic events seem to have become more regular in this nation, or at least through the rise of social media they have been documented more clearly, this nation has become more and more divided. When mass shootings started becoming a more regular occurrence, at first it took at least a couple days before people began using these tragedies as an opportunity to preach their own particular political perspective. Not, its merely a matter of hours, or even minutes, before everyone jumps to conclusions and begins using these horrific acts of violence as an excuse to attack political enemies.

In recent weeks, there have been two mass shootings which have devastated this nation. First, there was the attack on the Florida night club, which just so happened to be a place where homosexuals gathered. Immediately, even before anyone had the information about the motive, history, etc. of the shooter, blame began. And was the blame placed on the shooter? No, it was placed on one’s political and cultural enemies. Look at this tweet as an example:

This is not a unique problem of the political and cultural left, but over the last 12 hours or so since the second recent shooting, which happened in Texas, the political and cultural right has begun echoing the exact same sentiments. One popular right-wing writer, quickly tweeted that all Black Lives Matter activists are to blame for the shooting. Thankfully, it looks like the tweet has been deleted, so perhaps this statement was simply made in haste and he soon realized the insensitivity and illogical nature of such a statement.

Even more disheartening than the divisions that appear culturally are those that have shown up among Christians. From some arguing that the ability to own assault rifle is a God-given and Biblical right, to others claiming that those believers who do not back the black lives matter movement are hateful racists, we have let our cultural divisions set up barriers between Christians.

Don’t get me wrong, I think these cultural and political issues are important, and I have my opinions on gun control, black lives matter, etc. However, can’t we as a church just set aside some time for mourning and prayer? Not every horrific event in this world should be used as an opportunity to attack ones political enemies.

For once, let us just shut up and pray. Let us preach the gospel to a broken world, to protesters, cops, NRA members, gun control activists, and all others we come across. As we’ve become more and more politically divided as a nation, I fear that we have sometimes let those cultural concerns become our primary focus and concern. Let’s get back to the proclamation of Christ crucified.