Published With Thanksgiving

“And so, someone comes to you proclaiming another Jesus, one who is not the one we proclaimed. You have been sickened by a spirit, alien to the one that should have seized your hearts. This is not the Gospel you received, yet you accept it as truth” (2 Corinthians 11:4).

Make no mistake, those who bore signs declaring the name of Jesus, who carried flags adorned with the symbols of the Christian faith, who acted violently yesterday are sick with a spirit alien to the one that should guide their hearts. They have accepted a false gospel.

The question is, what do we do about it?

I remember reading some years ago a study of what caused men and women to join organizations devoted to terror. Many of them were seeking purpose. They wanted to serve something greater than themselves. They wanted a community that made them feel that their lives had meaning.

False gospels, flowing from malignant spirits are those that seek to exploit the pain of people who feel separated, who are convinced they no longer belong, that their lives have no meaning. These gospels use the words of the Gospel to sound like truth.

For too long, there have been those around us who have been captivated by a false gospel. They have listened to those who preached something other than, as Paul says, Jesus Christ who was crucified. They were taught they must show strength that takes the form of violence, even on a day when we remember that the greatest power came cloaked in vulnerability.

They have listened to words that tickle their ears rather than challenged their hearts. They have taken within themselves ideas that they are chosen, the sole figures walking in the light. They have lost sight of what it means to follow the One who showed us that the greatest strength is in weakness and in love.

And they have done this; because, we have failed them.

There is nothing lacking in our message. We proclaim that love is stronger than death, that the redemption of Creation has already begun, and that we are known by how we love one another. But we have somehow failed to communicate that message to those who have been tempted by words of conspiracy, of falsehood, and of hatred. We have not spoken nor lived in a way that convinces them that the Gospel is not hidden in the anonymous postings on the internet or in the words of those, like Herod, who would command violence rather than concede power. It is in the world around us, declared by the stars at night, the bare branches of trees against a cloudy sky, and the face of each and every person we encounter.

What happened yesterday was the result of not making this Gospel clear. We cannot expect to heal hearts and minds with facts and evidence. Only love can do that. And only the Spirit can exorcise the spirit that has led them astray, a spirit that convinced them to take up the sword rather than the cross.

What do we do about this? We speak. We love.

And we declare, again and again, that any other gospel is false.

Christ, we have seen sights and experienced a day that has left us tired and sad. Renew us, lift our hearts as we enter this new day, one where we are called to speak love and hope. May we help, through love, those who have followed a gospel other than yours so they might turn and follow you.