Thursday evening, June 28, 2018, I attended a reception at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, TN as part of the Music City SEL Conference. As I was leaving the festive event, I took a few moments to walk through the gallery and reflect on an exhibit entitled Chaos and Awe. It was filled with striking images of all mediums that speak to how we in our modern age are continually experiencing mayhem and wonder through technology, nature and relationship. I was moved by the honesty I witnessed.

Walking down the vestibule toward the exit, I was surrounded on either side by a photography exhibit called We Shall Overcome that chronicled the Civil Rights Movement as it occurred in Nashville, TN from 1957-1968. Again, I was moved, this time by images of sit-ins and protests. Adults and children, both black and white, were depicted in the photos. The pain and agony of their struggle was evident on their faces. I noted how these images from fifty years ago look eerily familiar to those I see now when I tune into the news.

This past Saturday, thousands of people participated in the Keep Families Together march across the country. Six hundred separate marches took place under this same banner, protesting the separation of more than 2,000 immigrant children from their parents.

The chaos of broken families, scared children and shattered lives causes me to wonder: Are we reliving the past? 

Unfortunately, I think many of us Western Christians have become overly comfortable with our Sunday religion. Our current events serve as a reminder of what the Kingdom of God is really like. Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, talked to the woman at the well, and cleansed the leper. He was countercultural because he valued people over policies.

I am not promoting one political party or another; I’m advocating for love — love of God and God’s children. Choosing to love is choosing — in big and small ways — to put God first and to treat others the way we want to be treated each and every day. Why? Because he first loved us. Choosing to love is not about rules… it’s a lifestyle that starts with asking Jesus to so fill us with his love that it spills out onto those around us. Our world is thirsty for living water.