An Open Letter to My Brothers and Sisters in Christ

I am coming to you in love. And it’s important to say this right up front. I know you are a person of character. Of high moral fiber and a person who loves. Deeply.

In so many ways, I aspire to be more like you.

I know you embrace your role of ambassador of the kingdom of heaven. That is your calling, and I so deeply respect and honor your decades-long commitment to Christ, and your commitment to represent his kingdom through your unwavering commitment to the well-being of his children, through your adherence to truth, and through your living example.

But also, God has laid something on my heart, and I think I am supposed to share it with you.

Perhaps, as ambassadors of the true and just king, the manner in which we are perceived by both those inside and outside of His kingdom matters. I recognize that it’s sometimes difficult to step out of our own space, and to view ourselves as others view us. So I am offering to hold up a mirror. Without judgment. To let you see how some may see us.

We are ambassadors, after all.

First, I truly and deeply admire your commitment and passion for the sanctity of all human life. For both the born and the unborn, and your unwavering stand that every single human being has been created in God’s very image. That He loves every single person so deeply that he gave his son — his son! — to make that person whole. It takes courage to stand on this principle when the entire world seems to have forgotten that each person is an actual creation of God, beloved of the Father, and more than worthy of our love. It takes courage and determination to stand firm when it seems so many people of the world focus on themselves and those who can do something for them, and view with contempt, those refuse to compromise their commitment to human life.

It is this commitment that makes it so difficult when people see us grieve for the unborn dead, and yet appear so unmoved by the 200,000 Americans who have died in the current pandemic. It is so hard to hear many members of the church explain their deaths away because they were old, or because they had existing medical conditions, as if that somehow makes the tragedy less tragic, or that their deaths are somehow less worthy of mourning.

It is hard to see us rightfully grieve for fallen police officers, but suggest that the people who die at the hands of police officers somehow deserved to die. That they are less worthy of our compassion. To many this suggests that our commitment to the sanctity of human life is not quite what we claim it to be.

Continuing, I truly and deeply admire your commitment to truth, even when it is unpopular. That you are determined to hold up that which you know to be true even as the rest of the world turns its collective back on truth. Again, this takes unimaginable courage. You risk being ostracized, rejected, and ridiculed just as Christ was ostracized, rejected and ridiculed. I recognize this, and I respect your respect for the truth more than you know.

And yet, it’s increasingly difficult to see members of the church appear to dismiss what is objectively true over and over again when the truth does not fit neatly into our narrative or political agenda. To hear us deny that our president said things that have literally been recorded in his own voice, or to explain them away as hyperbole. To hear us deny the impact of the pandemic as the United States surpasses two-hundred-thousand deaths. To suggest that our government has handled the pandemic better than any other nation when the objective evidence so clearly demonstrates that is simply false. To call out the hypocrisy of the left (which is certainly real) while passionately defending the hypocrisy on the right. It’s beyond hard to hear many of us dismiss, demean, and make false conspiratorial accusations against people who speak truth when it is inconvenient to our agenda. Perhaps that is not what is happening. But it appears that way to many.

As ambassador of Christ, of course we would not want others to associate the kingdom of heaven with lies and the denial of truth. With attacking those who speak the truth. It is almost inconceivable that we would want, by our actions, to associate the Kingdom with hypocrisy. And yet, to many, that is precisely what is happening. What we are doing.

Finally, I admire how you celebrate Christ’s example of servant leadership. How you claim him as the servant king of a new Kingdom, for which you are a willing ambassador. And how you model that behavior in your own life. A friend writes:

“We are ambassadors for a radically different Kingdom, one where the first are last, the poor are blessed, and the meek inherit the earth. A Kingdom whose citizens walk the extra mile, turn the other cheek, bless those who persecute them, and lay down their lives for their enemies. Who associate with the lowly, abstain from vengeance, and overcome evil with good. Whose citizens welcome grief and hardship like a friend, stand in solidarity with the marginalized. We aspire to be like our King, the one who emptied himself, took on the form of a servant, washed the feet of his betrayer, pleaded for the salvation of his murderers, and mocked the principalities that teach power-grabbing and selfishness by willingly giving up his life.”

Is that a fair description of the kingdom (and the King) we represent?

Perhaps that is why it is so difficult for many to reconcile our current choice of standard bearers for our nation. To many, not only does he fail to live up to the ideals of the Kingdom, the very ideals you have dedicated your life to, but he seems to ridicule these ideals. He seems to mock those who would give their lives in sacrifice to others. He appears to value dominance and selfishness over sacrifice and selflessness. He wear his disdain for decency like a badge of honor. And yet, not only do many of us embrace him, we often appear to celebrate his contempt for the very example Christ gave us of a servant leader.

Perhaps this is not the intent at all. But when we rightfully and publicly claim our positions as a child of God, many will conclude that the values we espouse in our choice of a leader represent the values of the kingdom for which we have been called to represent. That our chosen leader represents the values of Christ. It is hard for many to understand how the president, represents these values. Very hard.

Again, I am coming to you in love, respect and admiration for your long-standing commitment to Christ, even when it was difficult. I am not judging your heart because I am not qualified to judge, and I recognize there is ample hypocrisy in my own life of which I am not proud. This is not about my being holier than you. Because I am not.

I am writing because I believe you have dedicated your life to shining the brightest possible light on Christ — through your words and deeds — so that those who do not know him may come to know him. Because I believe that your earnest desire is to be an example of his love, so that others may come to know his love. Because you are an ambassador to the new kingdom.

I am coming to you because this has weighed heavy on my heart for months, and because I feel led to share how, as ambassadors to the kingdom of heaven, our words and actions might be perceived. In fact, how they are being perceived.

Does it matter? Should it matter? Are we representing our King as he would have us represent him?

I cannot speak for you, but it does matter to me, and I do not think we are. And I share, in love and respect, and leave the rest to you and the King you serve with such dedication.