It’s six in the morning
on a Saturday and I am wide awake writing this blog post. On my one day to
sleep in I am awake because I am extremely scared and deeply saddened by the
state of my Facebook feed.
If I was an average
person, I would simply block the updates of people that were troubling me or
I’d just delete them altogether. Being a follower of Jesus however, I just
can’t bring myself to do that. There’s this whole love your neighbor thing that
gets in the way. And according to Jesus I have to love the ones I don’t really
like all that much.
Some people are posting
how they can’t wait for this election to be over. I’m extremely scared that my
Facebook feed isn’t going to look that much different after the election.
Instead of posting the
positive reasons why they are voting for their candidate they are
But not only has this
election been about the candidates running for office but how horrible the
current president of the United States is. President Obama is doing the most difficult
job in the world, making decisions no average person would ever have to make
and yet any average Joe who has a Facebook account feels no remorse for
showering him with utter disrespect. Forget the whole if you don’t vote, you
can’t complain rule. If you’ve never held public office and don’t plan to, then
show some respect. If you want change, it starts with you.
And it gets worse. These
same Obama bashing people are the same people who will defend every police
officer simply because that person is a police officer. We have a problem when
there is more respect for the police force than for the president of the United
States. We have a problem when we can support the injustices in our police
force but we cannot support our president. We have a problem when we think a
presidential election is about stepping on, tearing down and ripping apart the
opposing candidate.
As an almost pastor, I
am about to take on the pulpit. In accepting that role, I am bound to speak the
words of the Bible and live by the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus would not be
happy with my Facebook feed. Will the church I serve be half empty because they
don’t want to hear the message of Jesus Christ? Will I be fired because their
right to free speech is more important than loving God and loving their neighbor?
I realize that I too am
part of the problem because I have kept silent this entire election season out
of fear. When Jesus came knocking on my door this morning, I could no longer
hide behind my “almost a pastor” status.
So, who is knocking at
your door this morning?
