#Purple for Royalty

St Mark's Church, Pensnett, Dudley, UK

Not #Red. Not #Blue. #Purple for royalty.

I, like much of the country, am grieving. However, it is not about the election result that I am grieving, but people’s responses to it. I am particularly saddened by people of the church, and truly devastated by the people who provide spiritual leadership in the church…the pastors.

I am part of a group that discusses sermons, and the general consensus is how awful it is that Trump was elected. That’s fine, in and of itself. It was the subsequent (paraphrased), I don’t want to have to pastor those people who voted for Trump. Another chimed in with (again, in effect), I’m so glad our entire church is full of those offended by Trump’s election, though if there are those that did vote for him and didn’t fess up, I’m not worried about hurting them (i.e., I’m not going to be their pastor).

Granted, these are pastor-to-pastor conversations, but these exhibit a serious heart problem.

I will readily grant that there are similar issues with those in more conservative areas (or  pastors who are more conservative themselves) who have been disparaging of the “liberals” in their churches. Though, I don’t recall one saying, I don’t want to be their pastor.

Either impacts our ability to preach the Gospel, but it also shows our inability to live it out. People on both “sides” (and there is also the Green and Libertarians, don’t forget) are calling out others who didn’t vote their way as not Christians! That is obscene! I’m actually tempted to call it blasphemous and sacrilegious.

We pastors must have a higher expectation of ourselves and other pastors. The United States is becoming more factious, not less. We are called to bridge the gap, not belittle others, or elevating others’ pain at the expense of others’ pain, or focusing on injustice, but by focusing on the one who died to save the world. Absolutely, part of the outflow of living out the Gospel is to heal pain and confront injustice, but it starts on our knees looking to the one who bore the nails for our sins. Jesus is supposed to be on the throne of our hearts. We are to be #Purple.