Now More Than Ever

By Rich Pancoast

As the band R.E.M. said years ago, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”. 

I believe that’s a good thing. I don’t want the same world. I cannot stand all the injustice we see (and so much of it we don’t!) Will Smith’s quote from a few years ago, “Racism isn’t getting worse. It’s getting filmed” is very eye opening to me. I cannot imagine how much more of this is not filmed and never exposed. It breaks my heart. 

In the last several years, it’s become painfully evident how messed up we are. I guess Social Media has certainly confirmed a lot of it. When we look back one year, ten years, or even fifty years, we see how easily swayed many of us were and still are. I often wonder if I lived back in the 50’s and 60’s (or even further back for that matter!) would I ‘go with the flow’? Would I go along with separate water fountains, front of the bus white, back of the bus black, separate schools, keep to your own color mentality? Or would Jesus have been enough in my heart to see how wrong it all is? Correction: He is enough but would I have leaned into Him enough? 

My time with Jesus refreshes me daily but it also makes me sad. It is so evident in today’s world the need for Him. Jesus has shown all of us how to live and sadly, we handpick what we follow through on. I know too many Christians who forget the biggest proof of us following Him: LOVING OTHERS LOVING EVERYONE.

John 13:34 Jesus Himself says, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” How did He love us? Yes, He died for us. Sacrificially. All in. No conditions. No agenda. No race. 

Today more than ever, I am calling on the Christian community to practice what we preach. No more cookie cutter Christianity. If we believe in Him, follow Him. If we believe in Him, spend time with Him. If we believe in Him, be like Him. 

Don’t tell someone you’re a Christian unless you’re willing to act like one.

I read this quote recently by the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathon Swift. He said, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”  I’m thankful I don’t follow a religion. Religion is man’s way of getting to God. As a Christian, I believe Jesus is the only way. (John 14:6). Religion historically has done some terrible things. Jesus has not. Jesus saved my life and many of you reading this. Everything I learn and apply from Him has made me better, happier and more willing to DO SOMETHING than ever before.

Let’s not wait for all of this to end. Let’s do our part today to end it. Love goes beyond feeling sorry for someone. Love is empathetic. It puts us in other people’s shoes and helps us better understand what they’ve been through. Listen, no white person will ever know what a black person has gone through but we can do our best to learn. Let’s have the conversations - as uncomfortable as they may be.

Remember, it is love that is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus.