A Time to Kneel

They marched again.

Torches and all.

Right back in Charlottesville, right in everyone's face, deliberate and defiant.

And more is almost certain to come.

And we are more concerned about whether football players kneel during the anthem.

Protect your children.

If you were ever concerned about the influence of popular culture on your child's life, this is the time, and this is the issue. This particular poison, home-grown white supremacy, and the terrorism that goes along with it, will be the ruin of us, far more readily than all the ills and influences we have worried about all of our children's lives.

More than movies, TV shows, music lyrics, unbelieving teachers at school, unchurched kids in the neighborhood.

More than sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.

More than anything any jihadi could ever do.

This idea, this resurrection, this insurrection, will be the ruin of us.

If you happen to be white, a Christian, straight, and a mourner of how things are not as they used to be, this is the time to protect your children, and yourself. White supremacy is an infection with the power to infiltrate your faith. Where do you think it will go next, after it has infiltrated your politics?

Remember their slogans:

"Blood and soil!"

"Jews will not replace us!"

"F*ck you, faggots!"

Remember the car plowing into the crowd, killing a young woman.

There is nothing of Jesus in white supremacy. The Holy Spirit's flame does not light those torches, and the Father is not well pleased.

Now is a time to spend time with your friends who are different from the torch-bearers. Your friends who are not white, who are immigrants, who are not English-speaking, who are gay, and your friends who are not disciples of Jesus. Your friends the white supremacists are trying to frighten, silence, and cause to flee.

And if you don't have any friends like these, now is a time to make some.

Once, a king learned he was sick and would soon die. Heartbroken and scared, he prayed, pleaded, and wept to God, who heard his pleas, extended his life, and held off destruction by an enemy. (Isaiah 38)

The second march on Charlottesville should leave us heartbroken and scared, and convinced that we will soon die.

Now is a time for God to hear our pleas and see our tears as we wonder how on earth we got here. 

Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Are we praying for these white supremacists who rally at night with their torches? 

If not, is it because we do not consider them our enemies?

Whether or not you believe that the one and only way to prove your love for your country is to stand before its flag and during its anthem, please know that the football players at least nailed the stance.

We should all be kneeling now.

Holy Spirit, change the hearts of the white supremacists, and protect the minds of those they seek to influence.

Father, we repent, and, as Hezekiah did, we ask for more time. 

And yet, we also pray, as John did, "Come, Lord Jesus."