As long as we follow Jesus, love wins.
I have been on a hiatus for the past month and I still may not be back full time. I went on a mission trip and then spent lots of time with out of town family. My daughter had dental surgery that went well. I simply have had very little time to breathe and compose my thoughts.
When I have had time to check Facebook, a war seems to have broken out. From flags to Supreme Court decisions, everyone has an opinion and as near as I can tell, there’s little tolerance on either side for the other guy’s views. Social media has become a noisy place and I find myself tuning out more than in. I suppose I took a bit of a hiatus from Facebook too.
I happened to have been in South Carolina on a mission trip when Dylan Roof shot those nine Christians. That’s the headline, by the way, they were Christians first. As believers, we know that the soul is what lives eternally. Skin color is secondary. God doesn’t care that they were black Christians and neither did Jesus when he welcomed them home with open arms. We shouldn’t care about their skin color either. Christians were gunned down in their house of worship by someone under Satan’s influence.
Who else would kill Christians? Hate does not come from God.
Merely two days later, many of the families of the victims forgave Dylan in open court and openly told him they were praying for his soul. Could they have humanly done that? Nope, but the Holy Spirit was clearly on the scene. He doesn’t care about skin color either. One by one, family members addressed the killer. One even said, “Hate won’t win.”
There have been some serious race riots going on in this country lately when a black person was killed by a white police officer. As the country held its collective breath to see what would happen in Charleston, I believe Satan danced with joy expecting the worst. After all, nine black people were killed a white guy.
But, those nine people were disciples of Jesus, the “Prince of Peace.” A mere four days later, organizers in Charleston put together a walk to the Ravenal Bridge called the “Bridge of Peace.” Would anyone show? Would there be riots and looting as in other cities?
Police estimate anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand people showed up and held hands for peace many singing hymns along the way. There was a nine minute moment of silence for the nine victims. I imagine Heaven rejoiced.
But, peace and unity have never made for big headlines. In no time flat, the news media as well as social media began to focus on South Carolina’s flag. Hackles went up and insults began to fly. Who do you think loves division? Who do you think was laughing with delight?
God is still at work here. The earth has always been a dangerous place and for Christians in particular, because we are not of it, but live in it. The nine people who died were saints. Their families and fellow church members are the very picture of Christ, something we should all strive to be. On the day of the peace march, the city of Charleston shone like a beacon in the darkness.
That’s what we should all focus on. That’s the headline. Don’t miss it.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂