Enough is enough! As Christians, we must start speaking clearly and loudly against hate speech of any kind, whether it is directed at our Muslim or Jewish neighbours, at LGBTQ2 or neighbors of any particular cultural background, or immigrants, refugees, women or any other group that is targeted because they are deemed to be in some way different. Hate speech gives permission, for those who will take it, to carry out violent actions against those groups – such as the shootings at the mosques in New Zealand this past week.
It is time to say, Enough is enough! We as Christians have a key role to play in saying, “No,” to the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, racist rhetoric that is rampant these days. We have a key role for 2 reasons:
First, we have had a role in causing it. The minute someone decided that the Greek words of Matthew 28:19 meant “make disciples of all nations” instead of how it reads in Greek, “teach in all nations,” Christians were on a path that would destroy cultures and people. Yes, we are asked to share the Good News wherever we go. That is a very different task than the belief that we must make all people into Christians, which has led to forced baptisms and cultural genocide.
Another scripture, often cited in judgmental theology, is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” It is used to declare that everyone must be Christian in order to enter the after-life. Remember that these words were being written to Christians in a chaotic time. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. Judaism was wondering if they would continue to exist. The full split between Judaism and Christianity occurred at this point. In addition, Christians were being persecuted by the Roman Empire. Into this very tumultuous and uncertain time, John was writing the story of Jesus and offering hope and reassurance. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” are words that Christians in John’s time could lean into and in which they could find courage for what they were facing. These words are meant to be words of hope, not words that lead to hate-filled speech and violent acts against those who have another path of faith.
Which leads to my second point – Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. LOVE! that is the Way of Jesus. He told us over and over again to live this love. Love our neighbours, and in fact, love the stranger in our midst, and even love those we consider enemies. LOVE! was what Jesus lived. LOVE! was what Jesus taught. LOVE! was what Jesus expected of those who followed him. And this love was unconditional – no strings attached. When the lawyer tries to get Jesus to define who we should consider neighbours, Jesus will have none of it. He responds with the parable we name as “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) and ends it by saying, “Go and do likewise.” We are to be the good neighbour; we are to show love. We don’t get to define who should be our neighbour. We don’t’ get to place conditions on our love. Our neighbour doesn’t have to meet our expectations. We are to show the love of God to everyone.
So enough is enough. Christianity has for far too long been part of inciting hatred against other groups. We have incited hatred with our subtle and not-so-subtle messages that people in various groups must change because we can’t possibly believe that God would love them the way they are. We have been destructive with our messages that anyone who is not Christian is a lesser human being and that everyone ultimately must be Christian. These messages make us culpable in the hate-filled speech and actions directed against Jewish people, Muslims, LGBTQ, women, immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous people everywhere. We have lost our way. We have trampled on the Way of Jesus by embracing judgement of others, even though Jesus warned us not to judge others, lest we be judged. (Matthew 7:1)
I don’t even like calling myself a Christian anymore because of all the racism, sexism, homophobia and many more judgemental declarations that are now associated with the word Christian. As Christians, we must accept that we are in some part responsible for the hate-filled speech and hate-filled actions that are too rampant in our world, because we exchanged Jesus’ Way of Love for a way of judgement and condemnation.
I seek to follow the Way of Jesus. I believe in the Way of Jesus as defining for my life. I believe in his Way of Love, which is not about judging another person or determining what their path to life should be. The more that I seek to deepen my practice of the loving Way of Jesus, the more I see the ways I judge others, the more I see my own racism. Deep humility is required as I learn what it really means to follow Jesus’ Way of Love.
I invite others who have embraced the Way of Jesus to join me in saying, “Enough is enough.” It isn’t always easy to speak up when someone starts telling racist jokes or makes a racist comment, especially if it is a family member or friend. But we must find our ways of doing so. We must, as Christians, say, “No,” to words or actions that are filled with judgement against Jewish people, Muslims, LGBTQ, women, immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous people everywhere. We must love our neighbours and not judge our neighbours.
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