No More of This!
"All you need is love, love, love is all you need."
The Beatles sang about it. William Morris wrote about it. Jesus embodied it. We forgot it.
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." – Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
In the wake of weeks of confirmation hearings, FBI investigations, protests and counter protesting, name calling, meme making, gloating, more "take my ball and go home" rhetoric, and finally questioning the legitimacy of the highest court in the land, it is high time we listened to history. Whether our pain is from the crevasse between Republicans and Democrats following Hon. Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, the cleft between whites and blacks borne by the careless treatment of significant social issues such as that of Michael Brown during the previous administration, or a longstanding fissure between advocates of life and proponents of choice anchored in Roe v. Wade, Americans seem to have forgotten how to love one another.
The year is 2018, but I wonder how much more we have in common with Abraham Lincoln's America of 1860 than with Jean-Luc Picard's Federation of 2379. If it is true that we are closer to the fragmented nation of the Civil War era than the unified and evolved humanity of the Final Frontier, then maybe we should take a page from Lincoln's playbook when he drafted the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction and foster compromise and compassion instead of reverting to segregationist tactics of the 1960's.
In 1863, President Lincoln was facing a very real, painful, and bloody civil war that claimed the lives of 620,000 American men. By official accounting, over 45 percent of the Confederate Military, a whopping 490,309 were killed, wounded, captured or missing during the war. For the North, that number reached 596,670 killed, wounded, captured or missing – more men than the South had non-injured and eligible for its entire army. That is the hatred President Lincoln faced in reconciling the Confederate States with these United States. That is the America to which Lincoln issued the 10 percent plan in his Proclamation of Amnesty.
Christian, our America is already ideologically, politically, racially, sexually, and occupationally divided. Unless we want to wake up and find an America that is also violently divided, we need to get serious about God's commandment to love one another. And don't say Christians aren't a part of the problem. Every day, Christians support Rep. Maxine Waters (D – Calif.), who called for her supporters to "publicly confront and harass members of the Trump administration." Rep. Waters claims she does not advocate violence, but does the very mature politician not understand the weight of her words and the inevitable destination of harassing the opposition?
"If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere."
Not to be outdone, President Trump stirred up the political conservative and religious right by warning of violence if Democrats are successful in retaking control of the House or Senate.
"It's not a question of like or dislike, it's a question that they will overturn everything that we've done and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence. When you look at Antifa, these are violent people."
Don't fall for it! I don't care which side of the political aisle you support, don't be another cog in the wheel that is the virtual American Civil War II. Reject the premise that only more hatred and violence can win the day. Reject the calls to oppose and demonstrate against another just because he or she votes differently on funding Planned Parenthood. Ignore the lies and deceit about gun control and the influence of the National Rifle Association, and take a page from history.
When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns." (Matt 22:49–53, NIV)
Lincoln recognized the benefit of forgiving and loving those who had wronged the nation as a stronger Union. Jesus taught the benefit of loving one's enemy as a stronger Relationship with the Father. So today, when you feel drawn into the water cooler conversation about Kavanaugh or the FBI or when someone tells an off-color joke, remember what Jesus said and emulate what Jesus did.
"No more of this!"
And he touched the man's ear and healed him.
–Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/.