Speaking truth to power is hard.
Doing what is right is hard.
We are told to stick to our guns and push back the hands of oppression and deceit. As Christians, we are also taught that we need to be a home for all people. Yet, when we spread our message of love and acceptance, we are still met by a loud minority that wishes to demonize us and our cause. Sometimes these individuals even use threats of violence against us to denounce the message God tells us to send. It raises a fair question; how are we uniting people if we are also dividing people?
Jesus knew that this was going to be the case for his message as well. Although our circumstances are different considering our access to social media, there was so much we share with his own struggles. We hear him question our understanding of his message in the book of Luke; “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” Jesus knew that absolute peace of Earth was impossible because there will always be people who rather live with their pride and prejudice instead of opening their minds. We see this through his Journey as he uplifts the poor and needy while making enemies with the elites and tax collectors. These people saw his message as a threat to their power since it questioned their morals. We, too, make enemies with people who are greedy and self-loathing because they are empowered by their hatred and bigotry.
We must remind ourselves that we will never be able to please everyone. The bigoted people around us may never see the wrong of their ways. However, we can remind ourselves that we have done far much more good for the innocent people in our lives. All of the threats in the world should not break down our will to do what is right. As we go about our week, we should make it our goal to do what others refuse to do. If our will to help those in need anger those too self-centered to lend a hand then we can rest assured knowing we have done a good job.
Luna Godsey