Where Does The Christian Resistance Go From Here?

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” -Isaiah 43:19

Welcome to The Christian Resistance, a way station for Jesus-followers both confounded and heartbroken over the Religious Right’s support of Donald Trump. Here you will find all the information you need to understand what in the world happened, companionship for the journey, and resources for the road ahead.

Question Mark Island

I’m proud of the books we have chosen to sell through Amazon in our bookstore, and I’m thrilled to now offer Brian McLaren’s Faith After Doubt. All of our books offer insights, help, and hope in this new Ex-vangelical world, but Faith After Doubt helped me understand why we think and feel the way we do when it comes to this crazy organizational world of the church.

Our resources also include books by bestselling authors- Jesus and John Wayne by Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, A Rhythm of Prayer by Sarah Bessey, and Freeing Jesus by Diana Butler Bass. I don’t offer any book until I’ve read it, and I can highly recommend these for those of us at this confusing crossroads. For a list of all the books I’ve found helpful in this process, visit The Christian Resistance Bookstore.

My favorite discovery in this new frontier is Brian Allain’s groundbreaking anthology, How To Heal Our Divides. A kaleioscope of thirty-two visionaries illuminate our communal brokenness and where our society has fallen short of loving our brothers and sisters. Jesus gave us explicit instructions on how we are to care for His kids, and these folks are doing it. We can do it, too.

Ready to jump right in and get involved? Visit my Join The Fight page. There you will find all of the organizations and groups I’m involved with.

The links below lead to information from this site as well as articles I’ve published, that provide more depth in knowing how we got here and where we might be going.

Only God Knows

Even though I endeavor to stay current in this ever-changing world, there are some things only God knows. I don’t know what the violent right-wing extremists will do. I don’t know if the QAnons will ever figure out they were duped. I don’t know what the Religious Right’s political juggernaut has up its sleeve. I don’t know if any, or many, or all of the Evangelical leaders who sold their souls for the favor of the presidency will repent. I don’t know how to identify the white-supremacists masquerading as followers of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what church will look like when the dust settles. I don’t know if we can forgive each other for the betrayal of our deepest beliefs.

I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to church, which shocks me even as I say it. Honestly, I wouldn’t know whom to trust.

Here’s What I Do Know

I know Jesus Christ is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, Savior of mankind and the fulfillment of love: The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I know that if I cling to Him and His Word, as is my habit, and if I ask, He will show me what He wants me to do.

I know that He calls us to forgive as we have been forgiven, even when our transgressors do not seek forgiveness.

I know that I learned a lot in the last year and a half that I’ve been writing this blog and maintaining this website. I learned that I am not alone in the heartache of the church’s betrayal. I learned about the courage, talent, and faith that exists in other believers, specifically those who are not white, men, straight, educated, and mainstream. I learned that evil can and did infiltrate the church, and how easily it seemed to do so. I learned about my own weaknesses- my anger and self-righteous tendencies.

I found many organizations that have been working for years to awaken the Evangelical Church to the prejudice that exists against women, people of color, the poor and uneducated, LGBTQ folks, and others who color outside the lines.

I saw the power of God work in astounding ways to excise the evil from our government. Trump and his henchmen did everything in their power to throw the election, and the system held.

There you have it. So where do we, the Christian Resistance, go from here? What is our purpose going forward?

Starting With Questions and Seeking Answers

We know that evil is still out there, but we also know that at some point, healing must begin. Personally, I’m on a year-long listening journey. What would God have me do in regard to involvement in Christian community? How does He want me to serve Him? The questions are so big at this point that I hardly know where to begin, but I will keep you posted in my blog. For now, I thank those of you who have accompanied me on this quest to call out those who “called evil good, and good evil.”

I’ve given some long, hard thought about how to end this message. When I first started this website, I spent much time reading the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His quotes inspire me, put me to shame, spur me to action. So many reflect his belief that only love will conquer the divides among us. My best self wants to list one of those quotes, but I have to be honest: there’s still a gulf of hurt where the trust I had in the Evangelical Church used to be. I have much work to do if I am ever to get back to that point. I may never again be a part of church, but my goal is peace, and God is good. He will not leave me abandoned on the shores of grief. He will show me the way.

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s time for all of us to think, to pray, and to listen. Please write me and let me know what you’re hearing from God, and what you’re learning. If you’re not already signed up for my mailing list, I invite you to become part of the community; you will find the link below. We can all learn a little something from each other; me, most of all.

sunset on shore