Be a light
I grew up in the Adventist church in the 1990’s. I turned five a few months after that decade started and was old enough to remember some of the more hurtful rhetoric pushed by “devout” Christians, but still young enough to be impressionable.
I had Ellen G. White and last day events shoved down my throat for the next 35 years. Of course it didn’t stop with just those topics. I was told that the Pope and Catholics were the “little horn” found in prophecy. That they would bring about the Sunday law and persecute devout Adventists. I was told that democrats were socialist and communists. I was told that gays were the most sinful of all. I was told a lot of stuff by those within our church that were tasked with teaching us about the love of Jesus.
The thing is, as I got older, I started meeting the sinful “undesirables” that my church had warned me about. And I learned that they weren’t anything like what I was told. I learned more about who Jesus was and who He was not. I learned that as Christians, we were supposed to not just tell people about Jesus, but that we were to have compassion on them too. We were supposed to love them.
Which is why I find it so baffling that there are those within the Adventist Church and mainstream Christianity, that have embraced the MAGA movement and Trump. It just doesn’t make sense at all.
If you were a 1990’s kid, I have a question for you. WWJD? “What Would Jesus Do?” Yes, it’s a corny acronym. But it is a simple thing to ask yourself. And after what we’ve seen the last two weeks. I think it is an important question to ask.
What would Jesus do?
Jesus would show compassion on the world. He would give aid to the poor, the foreign, the widows, the outcasts, the orphaned, and the sinful. He would meet their immediate needs and tell them about what the Kingdom of Heaven was like. We can read about His ministry in the Gospels. He shown light into the darkness and brought hope to the hopeless.
No sin was more sinful to Jesus than that of purposeful neglect. The teachers of the law in His day were more concerned with themselves than the people they were supposed to care for. The same is true today.
Empathy is not a sin. It has never been a sin to show compassion and mercy to others. It is, however, a sin to withhold it. Many of our leaders today are more interested in having power than they are in helping the least of these. They are okay with purposeful neglect. Because by neglecting the world, they become richer. Whether they realize it or not, we will all be held accountable for our actions (see Matthew 25:31-46).
That is what we are seeing right now. That is the pretense behind “Make America Great Again” and “America First”. That is what those executive orders are showcasing. Purposeful neglect being portrayed as goodness. When in actually, it is pure evilness masquerading as righteousness.
Our world is on hospice. What she needs are people willing to care about her. Through taking care of her oceans, her lands, and the people that live on this planet. Jesus taught us to show compassion to those suffering around us. That is the point of the Gospels. They were written to tell us about Jesus. And how He had compassion on people. All people. He gave up His life in order to save us—all of us. Because for Him, Heaven wouldn’t be complete if we were not there.
That is why those that seek absolute power find compassion and mercy to be so uncomfortable. That is why Trump and his supporters have been so busy placing blame on Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. Because her words showed everyone that they don’t give a damn about the people of this country. That they never have and most likely never will. That they have used Christianity to gain power. That if Jesus walked among us today, they would hate Him too. Just like they hate those that have asked them to show mercy.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them
a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
—2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV
This is why I cried on November 6, 2024. Because I knew what would happen. Donald Trump had said what he would do. And he is doing it. What I don’t understand is why anyone claiming to love Jesus would allow someone this dangerous to be President of the United States of America. I don’t understand why they would vote for this. Why they would spit in Jesus’ face and say “we want Barabbas!” Why they would ignore the command to love our neighbors as themselves.
That is why I cried. I cried for those that will miss out on salvation because of how Christianity is being portrayed. I cried for those that would lose their salvation, because they followed the beast instead of the lamb. I cried for all of us.
Our job as Christians is to keep our eyes on Jesus. We are to love Jesus. And through that love, we are to tell people about Jesus. We are to show compassion on people. We are to take care of their needs. And be merciful. It should not matter to us what their pronouns are, where they came from, which political party they belong to, or the color of their skin. Our world is dying, our time is short. There are people that need Jesus. The REAL Jesus. The one that is not connected to any political party. The one that loves you exactly where you are at. The one that was also a refugee and still chose to die, so that we may live. That is the Jesus that we need to be showing our world.
I’m going to end with this. We all know this parable, but sometimes we forget the underlining meaning. Especially right now, when certain higher ups get flustered with being asked to show mercy.
“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37 NIV
When we start feeling lost about who our neighbor is, remember the parable of the Good Samaritan. When we feel discouraged about getting caught up in the promise of earthly power and glory, remember the disciples of Jesus. They too had to learn to let go of their want for earthly power and glory. They too had to learn to focus on Jesus and not on the ideals of those that craved power.
Let your light shine so brightly
that others can see their way out of the dark.
—Katrina Mayer
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