Members of New Life Church are reading through the Bible this year with thebibleproject.com. It's a really great app and I recommend it as it helps non-Biblical scholars like me understand the word of God better. At the same time, I've found John Pavlovitz's blog which I now follow too. He is a social-minded Christian like me and seems to drive home some of the points that I feel, except he is White and I'm not. I feel he's in a better place to actually understand White Evangelicals (more than 80% of them voted for 45) because he's a White Evangelical who happens to be liberal. It's not that I feel all White Evangelical Republicans are evil; it's more that there are too many who believe that 45 is the answer to their prayers and that worries me.
Today's Bible Project reading is about Jonah and how he is angry with God for showing mercy and compassion to God's enemies. In the prior books that we've gone through, we hear about how the Day of the Lord will come and He will judge all nations (yes, that includes America and Israel). 45 and his administration frustrate and anger me; and I pray daily that people will see him for the callous, selfish, authoritarian that he is and that he and his cronies get the punishment they so richly deserve. But the book of Jonah reminds me that 45 and his cronies are still my neighbor and, if they repent and God shows mercy, then I must accept this. No, I should actually pray for this.
I used to pray that God would soften 45's heart, but it seems like I've only seen hearts harden - especially 45's and his followers. Consequently, I now also see that my heart has hardened towards people who support 45. I find myself thinking, "Fine, lose your healthcare because your president and the GOP decided to give the wealthy a tax break while increasing the costs for your pre-existing conditions. That's not trickling down to you any more than it did when Bush was president. Go ahead and go down into the coal mines and get lung cancer because 45 would rather not expand clean energy and jobs with it. Lady, you got what you deserved for voting for him and he deported your law-abiding husband."
Yes, I thought all those things and more; and now I'm a little ashamed for not loving those neighbors. I will continue to pray that God's will be done and that He will help me follow the two greatest commandments - Love God and love my neighbor. While my heart will more naturally go out to the downtrodden before the wealthy corrupt leaders, I will remember that they are all my neighbors. I will still advocate for the people being hurt by this administration and pray that people don't think that all Christians are like these White Evangelicals who voted overwhelmingly for him. And I will pray that my heart won't harden to the point where I rejoice in others' pain, especially if they realize that their support of him caused the pain. God knows I still want 45 and his administration punished, but He also knows that I trust Him no matter what.
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