Moralistic and Therapeutic Beliefs

Americans today are synchronistic in their beliefs about reality. That means they pick and choose what they believe. They decide what the moral truths are and what is reality. One common combination is “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”. It was popular 30 years ago and still is fairly common in America though what I call Critical Expressive Individualism seems to be the popular belief mashup today. We are going to look at the moralistic and therapeutic belief systems through the lens of some diagnostic questions. I am using Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” taken from a blog post by Jake Meador at Mere Orthodoxy. I am adding answers I would give as Christian to these 5 diagnostic questions.

Questions	Moralistic Answers	Therapeutic Answers	My Christian Answers
What is the purpose of life?	To do good.	To feel peace.	To know God and trust Him, and to live life by loving Him and loving others. This is only possible because of God’s grace.
What is sin?	Oppression that comes from ignorance.	The causing of mental or emotional discomfort or pain.	Self-centered attempts to be God by doing things our way. This makes us broken.
What is the world?	A good place ruined. The world is good but ignorant people create ignorant structures and that creates oppression.	A dangerous place filled with pain, trauma, and discomfort. You’re seeking a smaller world where you don’t feel those things.	A broken place that is full of broken people in need of God’s grace.
What is its attitude toward faith?	The church is immoral.	It can be acceptable when used as a tool for personal peace. It’s utilitarian.	Faith in Jesus Christ brings a full life and it begins the restoration process.
What is the solution to the moral ills of the world?	Virtuous education. Inform everyone through education of what is the new moral code and how we live that. If we do that, the world will slide toward a virtuous future.	Harm minimalization. Create a place that’s safe where harm will not be done.	We cannot solve the ills of this world, but God can. Jesus Christ came and paid the price for our sin. He rose from the dead so that we might have life. God is at work in us.

Most Americans will pick and choose what they believe and how they see reality, so you will find people with combinations of several beliefs. Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” gives a good insight into moralistic, therapeutic, hedonistic, and nihilistic beliefs. But Americans will take what they like from each of these beliefs and from other beliefs too. While they tend to create their own belief systems, many times their beliefs will mostly match one belief system or another. This is because the culture influences Americans and helps guide them into their belief system. So the culture tends to make the personal beliefs of others more consistent with the general population. Over 60 years ago, the culture was supportive of the Christian worldview. The culture has transitioned away from the Christian worldview to beliefs like Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and then today to beliefs like Critical Expressive Individualism. Both of these belief systems have elements of moralistic and therapeutic beliefs in them. Can you see elements of the Moralistic and Therapeutic belief systems in your own beliefs or in the beliefs of others?

As I have studied different worldviews and the modern mashup of different belief systems, it is obvious to me that the Christian Faith has the best view of reality among all the different worldviews. It is what is true.

My next blog post will cover the hedonistic, and nihilistic beliefs from Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart”.

Three Bad Church Words

Today, most people think all of us are naturally good. The Bible says differently (Romans 3:10-18,23), and from what I have observed in people’s interactions and in myself I would have to agree with the Bible. We are naturally bad, and there are three words, church words found in the Bible, that describe our condition, ‘sin’, ‘transgression’, and ‘iniquity’.

‘Sin’ is a bad church word that is defined as a thought, word, or action that breaks God’s moral law. It is wrongdoing, wrong speaking, and wrong thinking. But it is much more than that. The Greek and Hebrew words mean ‘missing the mark’ or ‘missing the goal’ with the Hebrew word also having the meaning of failure. We are to love God and love people (Mark 12:30-31). That sums up God’s moral law. When we fail to love, we sin. Note the love here is about putting others and their concerns ahead of ourselves. It is the selfless sacrificial agape love.

Sin is a big part of our lives. Our selfish desires cause us to act for our own benefit at the expense of others. We hurt others. We are truly self-centered to the core of our being. Sin is like a beast crouching at our door seeking to take us captive (Genesis 4:7). In fact, without Jesus, we are slaves to sin. As Christians we have been set free from sin through our baptism (Romans 6:3-8). Unfortunately, sin still lives in our bodies (Romans 7:15-19). We are not yet totally free from sin.

Another bad church word like ‘sin’ is ‘transgression’ which also may be translated as ‘rebellion’ or ‘trespass’. The word in Hebrew and Greek is about betrayal, that is the breaking trust in a relationship. Adam broke the relationship with God when he disobeyed God, and because of that we all lived in that broken relationship with sin, but Jesus came and graciously restored that relationship by making us righteous (Romans 5:12-17).

And the third bad church word is ‘iniquity’. The word in Hebrew and Greek is about crooked behavior and the crooked consequences due to our choices. It is sometimes translated as “guilt” or “punishment”. Note we call criminals crooks, because they have departed from the straight moral way.

Psalm 32:5 has all three of these bad church words, so I am going to be bold and use the meanings of these three words and create my own version of the verse.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5; ESV)

I acknowledged to you that I missed the mark with my disobedience; I did not hide my crooked behavior; I said, “I will confess my fault in breaking trust with you, oh Lord,” and you forgave the crookedness of my failure. (Psalm 32:5; “my version”)

We need to confess our sin, but how often do we shrug off our sin and do not seek the forgiveness our gracious God offers. Many times these church words have lost their seriousness for me and I need to be reminded of the meaning of these words. These words are life and death words. These words show the bad that we all have in us. We do not love, and we end up hurting ourselves and others. We separate ourselves from God. We are broken and crooked. But “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a). God does forgive us. Jesus paid the price for our sin, our transgressions, and our iniquity. Because of all Jesus has done, we can be set right and made whole and brought into relationship with God (John 3:16). Jesus has done it all for us.

This post was inspired by three great Bible Project videos. Check out “Khata/Sin”, “Pesha/Transgression”, and “Avon/Iniquity”.

Two Kingdoms

American Flag Photo by Lisa Setrini-Espinosa

Christians need to hold a Biblical view of civil government. The Biblical view is that we are citizens of two kingdoms, a spiritual kingdom and an earthly kingdom. For Christians, the head of the spiritual kingdom is Jesus Christ. The Christian Church on earth is the visible component of the spiritual kingdom. The Church shares the Good News of Jesus Christ and offers mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The earthly kingdom, our civil government, is the country we live in, and it offers a stable environment of laws that promote the common good. Neither the visible Church or the civil government are perfect. They both have their problems because we are broken sinful humans. So as Christians and good citizens, we should make our Christian principles known for the betterment of the people.

Some Christians disagree with the idea of two kingdoms, but when we look at what the Bible says, the two kingdoms idea fits. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” to Pilate (John 18:36), and later Jesus also told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). This shows the two kingdoms, God’s spiritual Kingdom and the God instituted civil government. The Apostle Paul explains more about the role of the civil government in Romans 13:1-7. Note Paul, like Jesus, treats the civil government separately from the Church. We are to submit to the governing authorities because they are God’s servants for our good by punishing those who do wrong. We do good, pay our taxes, and give our civil authorities honor and respect. However, because the government is run by humans, there may be times when we have to obey God rather than the civil authorities (Acts 4:19-20), but I believe those cases in America are pretty rare.

There are those in the United States who endorse the idea that Christianity in America should be given preferential treatment and that Christianity in some form should be the official religion of the nation. This did not work out well in Europe. The Christian faith ended up as the secondary partner to the government and in my opinion Christianity was crippled. Having Christian laws and an official Christian religion did not change people’s hearts. Changed hearts is the work of the Gospel message and the Holy Spirit. It is found in the spiritual kingdom, the Church, not in civil government.

This does not mean as Christians we should sit back and do nothing. No, God has called us to be good citizens and to promote the welfare and wellbeing of the land (Jeremiah 29:7). This means we can promote Christian principles that would be good for our land. We are also called to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2). And we also can seek the welfare of the land by becoming leaders and officers in government. We have the examples of Daniel (Daniel 2:48-49) and Joseph (Genesis 41:39-40), who were high ranking officials in pagan governments.

Today, many Christians are concerned with America losing its Christian roots. We can pray, humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14) and let God work. Our job is to share the Gospel message, the good news of what Jesus has done for us, and then let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Changed hearts, not more laws, will restore America.

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

Blessed

Jesus Christ Statue Photo - Myriam Zilles

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have peace with God (Romans 4:24-5:2). He has restored the broken relationship between us and God. Jesus paid the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). Out of love, Jesus died for us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:6-11). Because of Jesus, God forgives our wrongdoing and thoughts and counts us as righteous (Romans 4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-5). We are truly blessed (Ephesians 1:3-8)!

This blessing stretches all the way back to Abraham, when God promised Abraham that he would bless Abraham and through Abraham (in particular, his descendant, Jesus) all peoples would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). The blessing comes to us too through faith (Galatians 3:14, 29).

Blessing may be physical wealth or physical well being but many times it is not. Jesus stretches the definition of blessing. Jesus blesses those who struggle in life for righteousness sake and for those who promote peace and God (Matthew 5:1-12). Jesus blesses those who suffer for his sake. It is a different blessing that assures us and brings hope. In his grace, Jesus calls us to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16). We are to share that blessing. We are not a reservoir, keeping God’s blessing to ourselves, rather we are like a river, sharing God’s blessing. This means we are blessed so that we can abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Ephesians 2:10) and by doing so give glory to God. (Note God does not need our good works but those around us do.)

Since we are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16), we repay evil with blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9), and we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). We are even called to love our enemies and bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27-28). We are to be conduits of God’s love, and not just consumers of his grace. The Jesus revolution is one of blessing and not one of power and control. So because of the great blessing we received, let us share that blessing of God’s love with the world.

Censorship in Finland

I believe clashing worldviews, between the old traditional Biblical Christian worldview and the new worldview which I call “Critical Expressive Individualism” (CEI), has led to a 24 page 22 year old booklet being censored with all copies to be destroyed. The booklet, “Male and Female He Created Them” (English translation), promotes the Biblical worldview of heterosexual marriage and argues against some of the common reasons to support same-sex unions. The booklet was written in 2004 after Finnish legislation that allowed same-sex partnerships to register. I think it might be a little like the idea of civil unions that was kicked around in America. This booklet was written many years before same-sex marriage became legal in Finland. Although the Finnish Supreme Court did not find the booklet to incite hatred or violence, it did find that having the booklet “made available, to the public and kept available to the public, opinions that insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation.” Therefore in a 3-2 vote the Finnish Supreme Court found the two accused guilty and ordered all copies of the booklet to be destroyed.

This was a 7 year battle in the courts. It started with a tweet in 2019, and the tweet and the booklet (and the two authors) went through the courts in Finland. All the lower courts (and the police) found the accused innocent and no laws were broken but the prosecutors kept appealing the rulings. The Finnish Supreme Court found the tweet did not break any laws, but they found that the booklet did insult homosexuals on the basis of their sexual orientation therefore the two accused and the foundation that published the booklet were fined, and the court ordered all copies of the booklet to be destroyed.

Reading the English translation of the booklet, I did not find any inciteful or insulting language. No one or any group was degraded or threatened. It did state we all are sinners, and the Bible declares homosexual behavior to be a sin and homosexuality was not best for society. Interestingly, I did find the booklet felt dated, because the arguments were about homosexual unions and homosexual families. That surprised me and it makes me wonder if American Christians have accepted the premise of homosexual marriage and moved the battle on to Transgenderism. If so, we all need to read this booklet and realize homosexual marriage is not neutral but it changes society and not for the better. I did not find any “hate speech” in my reading of the booklet.

This ruling brings up the question of hate speech and what is it? Unfortunately hate speech is hard to define. Hate speech is offensive and it targets a specific group or individual based on certain intrinsic characteristics. It can be used to intimidate, vilify, demean, and/or humiliate. Its purpose is to incite violence or hostility, to promote discrimination, and/or to create divisions in society.

I believe the CEI worldview is how Western Culture views the world today. CEI is very individualistic. It says that every individual gets to decide what is true and what is false. You look inside yourself at your feelings and desires and you then decide who you are and what you believe. And CEI also wants to remove any oppressive social structures so that all people can express themselves freely. CEI sees people as naturally good, and with proper training and the removal of oppressive social structures a better world can be created. I feel that it was from this perspective that the court made its decision to censor the booklet.

I believe the traditional Biblical Christian worldview is the best description of reality, not CEI. The Christian worldview recognizes that we all are broken self-centered people. It is God, the Creator of everything, who sets the standards of right and wrong, and true and false. We find our identity in him. He created us male and female, and he gave the two sexes characteristics that complement each other. He loves us and wants to have a relationship with each one of us. Following God’s example, as Christians we are called to love and not hate. We love even our enemies and we want the best for everyone. We want to unite people in Christ and not divide. We do not want to oppress anyone and we are against “hate speech”, but in love we want to share with others the better way of life that better matches reality. That is what I think this booklet was trying to do. The booklet was not about insulting the homosexual community, rather it was trying to point out a better way of life. I believe the booklet should not have been censored and copies destroyed.

More information on this ruling can be found with these two articles, “Finnish Lutherans Convicted of ‘Hate Speech’ by Finland Supreme Court” and “Finnish Supreme Court Convicts Päivi Räsänen of ‘Hate Speech’”.

Reconcile

To reconcile means to restore a friendly relationship between two persons. Because of our brokenness, we are at odds with each other and with God. Broken relationships are common. In fact, all our relationships contain elements of brokenness, because we are broken. Reconciliation requires love and forgiveness. People are reconciled when in love forgiveness is given and accepted. It is not easy to love and forgive but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able.

Reconciliation starts with God. Out of his great love for us, while we were still enemies and ungodly sinners, Jesus died for us to reconcile us to God (Romans 5:6-11), not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:18–19). On the cross, Jesus made peace with God by reconciling us with God (Colossians 1:19-20). We are forgiven because of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). It is all God’s doing. He wants to restore that broken relationship he has with us.

With that restored relationship, we are blessed, and since we are blessed we are called to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3). Being a new creation, a blessing, means we are part of the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21), where we share that message of reconciliation to the world. We called to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1-2). That means showing love and forgiveness to those around us . Just as we have been forgiven so very much, so we forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). In imitating God, we get to love our enemies, do good to those who hate and abuse us, and bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27-28). We do not repay evil for evil, instead we bless (1 Peter 6:9) because we are called to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

We are different from those of the world. We are truly countercultural. Today’s culture sees the world in terms of power. Many times it is expressed in terms of oppression. It divides the world into us versus them by pointing out that they have and we want, or they are in control and we are not. This view is very divisive. Christians on the other hand are in the business of reconciliation. We see the world through the lens of God’s love. We want to unite all people under Jesus Christ, because God desires for all people to come to know him (1 Timothy 2:3-6). So let us reach out in love and forgiveness and share that Gospel message of love and reconciliation.

Christian Collapse

There is a video going around called “The Lutheran Collapse”. I believe the concerns expressed in this video are about 20 years late and what is happening today is a Christian collapse. Yes, Lutheran denominations have lost a lot of members. The video focuses on the two largest Lutheran denominations, the much larger theologically liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the smaller theologically conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS). I am a member of the LCMS, so this video is of interest to me, and for a long time now, I have been interested in the reasons behind why there are fewer people from the younger generations attending church.

The mainline churches, like the ELCA, embraced the current cultural values and went theologically liberal. Many people left those churches and many of them went to more theologically conservative churches. Unfortunately, that only slowed the decline in the theologically conservative churches. The problem is the Christian faith is not being passed on to the younger generations. And this is not a new concern.

In 2003, Reggie McNeal wrote a provocative book, “The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church”. In the book he tried to wake up the American church to the decline that was happening. That was 23 years ago and since then I have also read other books addressing the decline in American Christianity. It is not just Lutheranism in decline, and it is not just liberal mainline churches in decline. American Christianity is in decline. American Christians are facing this crisis because the culture is no longer supportive of the Christian faith and its values, and in general the American churches have not successfully transitioned to operate in the new culture.

1517, a theologically conservative Lutheran nonprofit, wrote an article addressing the video (and other similar videos). The article, “The Future of Lutheranism Belongs to Builders”, was well written and I liked most of it. Pastors and lay leaders need to be architects and builders, and not curators or deconstructionists. Discipling and mentoring needs to happen, and we need to keep our Lutheran doctrine. What I disagreed with was the “traditioned innovation”, which I interpreted as we keep our Lutheran traditions and innovate only within the bounds of these traditions. That sounds like curation and not innovation to me. Yes, there is a lot of good theological richness in those Lutheran traditions (e.g. our hymnody) and many are worth keeping in some form, but the question we need to ask is “Do they speak to our young people today?”

I do not know what the best answer to this crisis is, but here are some ideas that I would suggest. We need to make our Christian faith, especially our worship services, accessible to those who have never been in a church. We need to reach out with the good news of Jesus to those who know nothing of our faith. We need to disciple and mentor our church members to inspire them to share the hope we have in Jesus. For the LCMS and other church bodies, we need to put more emphasis on encouraging and training their laity in actively living their faith, and less emphasis on the pastoral office and the institution.

And above all, we need to remember what is most important. It is all about Jesus. He is the one that is important – not our church buildings, not our institutions, not our traditions, and not anything else. The Good News is all about Jesus and what he did on that cross and his rising from the dead, so that we might have life in him. That needs to be our focus.

Secular Christmas

Christmas is celebrated all round the world. Christmas is not a religious holiday for most people. This secular version of Christmas promotes values of love, compassion, generosity, giving, family, hope, peace, and joy. These good values originated with the Christian celebrations of Christmas, but the main point of Christmas, from which these values derive their meaning, is Jesus Christ coming to Earth and being born so that we might have life in him.

I find it interesting that people of other faiths have their version of Christmas. Many Buddhists, Jewish people, Muslims and even atheists celebrate Christmas in some form. They have some of their own traditions but for many of these celebrations what binds them to the secular Christmas is Santa Claus, because many of these celebrations have Santa Claus.

Santa Claus is the icon of the secular Christmas. Folklore of his story has been developed over the last 200 years to what it is today. First, there was a historical person called Saint Nicholas who really did exist and was born about 280 A.D. He was a generous Christian Bishop. Today’s Santa Claus story is very different from the historical story of Saint Nicholas but Saint Nicholas provided the origins from which Santa Claus developed. The Dutch with their Sinterklaas tradition and the English with their Father Christmas tradition were blended together to create the Santa Claus tradition. In 1823, an anonymous author (likely Clement Clarke Moore) penned a poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, which is also known as “Twas the Night before Christmas”. I believe that poem created the foundation for the Santa Claus tradition. From that poem, the story of Santa Claus developed into what it is today.

Secular Christmas is fun and promotes some good values, however it is missing the historical importance of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is meant to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. God, the Father, gave his only begotten Son, Jesus, to us to restore us back to himself and to give us life in him (John 3:16). God in Jesus humbled himself and was born human (Philippians 2:5-8) so that he could live the perfect life we could not (Hebrews 4:15) and to pay the price for our sins by dying on a cross (Colossians 2:13-14) and then rising again 3 days later. Jesus gave himself so that we might have life in him. By the power of the Holy Spirit we have real life. That is the real story of why we celebrate Christmas.

The Christmas story can be found in Luke 2:1-20 and in Matthew 1:18-2:12. This Christmas let us remember the birth of Jesus who is our Lord and Savior.

PS This year I discovered the ancient “O Antiphons” which are short chants that cover 7 days (December 17-23) of Advent, right before Christmas. The hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” incorporates the 7 antiphons into its verses. I am using a devotional based on the antiphons this year from 1517.org.

Saints Past

Photo of crepuscular rays by Peter Hostermann

There are several definitions of the word “saint”, however the biblical definition is simply one who trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior, so we who believe in Jesus Christ are saints. November 1st is known as All Saints Day, among other names. On this day we remember those saints who have gone before us. I think of the many Christians that have influenced me over the years. Many of them have passed on, though many are still here today providing encouragement and support. I am thankful for all they have taught me.

I think especially of my parents, Erwin and Irene. Their Christian example made a huge difference in my life. I owe so much to them. They were not perfect, so there are a couple things that I am having to unlearn, but they ended up shaping my life for the good. I am very appreciative of their influence in my life. I see a lot of their influence in how I act and behave. I thank God for their good influence.

It is not just those who over the years I have had some contact with but it is also those saints from days long gone who influenced others who then influenced a later generation who then influenced the next generation. There is a chain of saints from centuries past that have had an influence on me. I am thankful for them also.

It is somewhat mysterious the way saints from the past, saints today, and saints in the future are all interconnected to form the Body of Christ, the Church. We are not all the same and yet we each bring something needed to the Body. And saints from the past encourage us to live lives of faith. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 encourages us with a list of saints of faith that had looked forward to the coming Messiah and a future where everything would be made right. He ends the list with this encouragement.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

So let us be encouraged to live that good life of faith for Jesus because we are surrounded by a great cloud of saints who have lived a life of faith before us. And let us encourage others in the Faith to also stand firm for Jesus. I am thankful for all the saints past, present and in the future who make up the Body of Christ.

As we remember those who had gone on before us, I am reminded of the hymn “For All the Saints”. Here is a version you can sing along with.

Is Forgiveness Counter-Cultural?

Recently, Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a shooter, and at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service, Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk said,

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.” And she said, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.”

After Erika, President Trump spoke and said,

“[Charlie Kirk] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry,”

Now I think President Trump’s attitude is not that uncommon today. Forgiveness is an unnatural act. We want vengeance. We may want to call it justice, but many times what we really want is vengeance. We want to hate those who hate us or even those who just oppose us. Jesus has a better way of love and forgiveness.

Hatred and vengeance divides people. Love and forgiveness brings people together. People are reconciled when forgiveness is given and accepted. It is not easy to love and forgive but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-48), and he also says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). He does not say to hate them. Rather we are to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21), and “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless” (1 Peter 6:9). It is not easy, but Christians are called to be different, to be counter-cultural.

The culture today sees the world in terms of power. Many times it is expressed in terms of oppression. This view is also divisive. It divides the world into us versus them. They have and we want. They are in control and we are not. This view feeds the hatred and vengeance that was expressed by President Trump. Christians see the world differently. We view the world through the lens of God’s amazing love. Christians are counter-cultural and one way we show our difference and our love is by forgiving people.

So why do we forgive? Because God has forgiven us so very much, and so out of gratitude we forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). God did not wait until we got our act together. No, he loved us while we were still broken ungodly sinners (Romans 5:6-8). We all are broken sinners (Romans 3:23) from the worst of us to the best. There is no difference. There is no us versus them. We are all in need of the Savior. In response to God’s saving love, we love and forgive others as we imitate God (Ephesians 5:1-2). That is why we forgive and in doing so we are counter-cultural.

So instead of being divisive, we Christians need work to reconcile and unite. Let us love those we disagree with. Let us be kind to those who hate us. And let us forgive those who attack us. Let us work to reconcile people to God and to each other. This is what we have been called to do. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). And from the little I know about Charlie Kirk, this appears to have been his goal too. Let us reach out in love and forgiveness and share that Gospel message of love.