Love Has a Name

The troubles, injustices, anxieties and fears existing today in our constantly globalizing planet are not surprising to Jesus, nor are they a new phenomenon. While Jesus was alive, and before and after, there were constantly riots, civil upheaval and disobedience and unrest. Governments of the time were routinely on a mission to deter and defeat any and all who dared to go against the words spoken & written by the kings, governors, emperors and rulers. Follow the rules or be imprisoned and/ or killed.

Luke Chapter 12: 51-52 clearly illustrates how Jesus came to disrupt the world in an unlikely manner:

⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Before jumping to any conclusions let me quickly elaborate. This does not mean Jesus came to cause war, violence, rioting and civil disobedience, broadly or within families. That would be contrary to His other teachings. Instead, Jesus came to divide good and evil and to provide an object truth to the world that is the only truth to provide a pathway for peace and unity. His division was of the good from the evil and to inspire and encourage evil to turn to good, that is a wicked heart to be surrendered to Jesus to be replaced with a heart of flesh and love that is given from Jesus.

Romans Chapter 13 clearly outlines that we must follow the laws given to us by authorities and governments of the world. The small print is however that if these powers are abused and go against the word of God, the Christian’s duty then becomes one of disobedience.

Does this mean to riot? Does this mean to kill? Does this mean to violently loot and forcefully take power? Emphatically no!

What it does mean though, is that we pray, we vote, we speak words of life and words of truth. We gather and protest lawfully, peacefully and demonstrate the love, peace and truth of Jesus to the world. We turn to the Father of our Great Disruptor to give us words, convictions and the passion to intervene peacefully according to His will, not ours.

If ordered to be silent. We speak up. If ordered to worship government. We defy. If ordered to reject Jesus. We prepare to be a martyr. Seem extreme? It’s already happening all over the world and the western world may not be immune much longer.

This will, as we see around the world, cause division among families, among governments and societies and even result in the persecution of those following Jesus. How great a call it is to join in the suffering of Jesus on the cross. Those of us who follow Jesus are not signing up for a life full of material wealth, indolence and silence. We are in fact signing up to be the voice, hands, feet and face of God to the world, which results in a metaphorical and at times literal crucifixion and persecution.

We join in the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ as He was beaten, mocked, spat on and nailed to a cross in order to divide good from evil. He spoke truth to power and was executed for it. Jesus confronted the religious and institutional powers of His day and his body was beaten and mutilated as a message to those who followed Him. Jesus spoke out against the systematic oppression of the poor by the flipping of tables in the temple of those who drained the poor of their resources in exchange for animals to be ritually sacrificed. (Matthew 21:12-13)

So in our society today with all the injustice, inequality and evils that pervade our culture and society how do we respond? I am in no way an expert yet I know Jesus and to begin this journey my response is written below.

I look first directly to Jesus and respond prayerfully by saying, “send me Lord. Use me to speak truth to power even if this results in my persecution, imprisonment, physical suffering or death.” As a follower of Jesus I cannot stand idly by while evil seeps in.” This is how I challenge each and every follower of Jesus Christ.

Pray. Stand up and protest. Speak truth to power. Be prepared to lose friends, family members and more.

The quelling of injustice, the ending of the oppression of the poor and the bringing of justice can be brought about when the body of Christ rises from its knees and awakens and begins to walk out the call to speak truth and is willing to endure the same fate our Lord Jesus Christ bore, whether or not we receive said fate.

After all, it is not you nor I that will bring about change, yet, we can participate in it by being the bold face, voice and body that is used by the Holy Spirit to inspire it among the governments and powers currently instituted.