13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Dear God, my wife said something interesting a couple of days ago that was really profound. In the gospels, whenever Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…,” it is always something very humble. It is never something that seeks power. It is always portrayed as something that is growing from grass roots. Literally roots since most of the stories are about seeds growing. It makes one wonder why the church today seems more focused on seeking political power and influence than it is on planting seeds and gathering people to you.

It feels like the power struggle began in the 80s with evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson encouraging Christians to make a difference at the ballot box by voting for conservative values. And while there is nothing wrong with encouraging people to vote their conscience, over time this tended to morph into an “us vs. them” mentality among Christians. We started to lose our saltiness and we started to see those who didn’t vote with us as our enemy instead of part of the harvest to be gathered.

So let’s bring this down to me. What am I supposed to do to be part of planting seeds? What kind of light am I supposed to be. I suppose the first step is to practice what I preach and live the life you’ve called me to live. Love you. Love others. Deny myself and take up my cross. Let go of the cares of the world.

Now, assuming I’ve done those things, what’s next? I think the next step is just to speak peace to people. Right now, the divisive debate on Facebook/Twitter is about which medications to use to treat COVID-19. And I’ve kind of fallen into the trap of throwing out my two cents, although I’ve kept it more general. But when I see these posts–especially the ones supporting some controversial medications–the emotions I’m attaching to the motivations behind them are fear and frustration. They are afraid and frustrated that there is a conspiracy against us as Americans. There is a fear that the decisions are politically motivated and will ultimately result in a loss of political power in the election in November. There is a fear that they or a loved one will get sick and the doctor will not be allowed to prescribe the best medication for treatment.

On the other side are people who are tired of conspiracy theories (just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me). They are afraid of fringe beliefs that might influence national policy. They are afraid of losing influential power to people whom they don’t believe are thinking correctly/clearly.

Father, help me to be a light to all of these people that happen to be in my sphere of influence. Help me to not worry about changing their mind, but to draw them to peace in your presence. Help us all to let go and embrace you. Help it to start with me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen