As Christians, or people who admire Jesus without the religious label, we are to do our best to love one another with the integrity of Christ. However, this is a challenge, because not all Christians or people who say we love Jesus are equally devoted to living from integrity to discern right and wrong, truth from fiction, trustworthiness from conspiracy, and justice from injustice.
Without the discernment of integrity we cannot identify the dishonest from the honest and the accountable from the irresponsible. Without the values of integrity to guide our reasoning we do not acknowledge and condemn propaganda, fake news, or conspiracy theories. Without integrity we do not have the ability to accurately evaluate a person’s character. Without a shared devotion to walk in the footsteps of integrity as Jesus did, we do not have a willingness or the compassion to put ourselves in the position of others.
Sure we have lots to work on to fix what is broken within Christianity, politics, and society. And, you and I may ultimately agree on the topics we must address. But you and I, or anyone in a conflicting situation, cannot begin to find common ground to develop real solutions if there is no common devotion to respect, honesty, compassion, and justice.
To find common ground we must jointly acknowledge the clear danger of defending, as simply having a different view, tabloid media, white supremacists, racial bigots, those prejudiced against people with handicaps, gays, women, the poor, blacks, immigrants, Muslims etc.
Jesus would remind us there are awful outcomes that arise from defending biased agendas and judgmental hearts. It is extremely dangerous to give a voice or power to people who do not care to hold themselves accountable for the damage hate speech and unjust policies do. Therefore, hesitation on any Christian’s part to clearly identify and vilify purveyors of persecution, division, injustice, and lies, results in a real danger to our society and to our relationships.
A refusal to stand up to tyranny as Jesus would certainly endangers the relationship we have with God. And, Christ.
