Four years ago, we were in the midst of a nasty presidential election. (I was still living in North Carolina back then.) One of our ELCA colleges, Lenoir Rhyne University, allowed candidates to speak at their campus. I was among those who were outraged when I learned Donald Trump was coming. But then, from the perspective of the university, which encouraged the free exchange of ideas, I got it (sort of).
Still, that didn’t diminish my concern that somehow his presence on the campus of a Lutheran university would be associated with Lutherans in general. My problem was his hate-filled rhetoric that went against everything Jesus. There were other Christians who supported Trump and, for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why. I thought that if they were just reminded of the teachings of Jesus, the contradiction would become apparent. So, I was all about doubling down on Jesus.
I wasn’t the only Lutheran who felt this way. There were enough of us in our synod and neighboring synods, in our nearby seminary and others, including our synod bishop, that we decided to do what we could to bring our understanding of Jesus to this Trump rally in Hickory, NC. We couldn’t let this happen without presenting an alternative message.
A couple hundred clergy and lay folks gathered at the campus chapel that morning as the crowd lined up outside the auditorium to hear Donald Trump speak. Thousands of people snaked around the sidewalks waiting patiently to get in. As it happened, a lot more tickets were given out than the auditorium could accommodate, and the featured attraction was late arriving, so they waited for hours. We held up signs with faith-filled messages of peace, love and justice and sang hymns without ceasing; we sang until we were hoarse. All the while, we prayed our message would cut through to the hearts of those who were listening.
Protesters were on the scene who had a variety of reasons for being there. I wouldn't have called the group I was with protesters. We were going more for a presence than a protest, but honestly, we were as passionate in our concerns about Donald Trump as anybody. Our concern was about his message. My sense of the Lutheran group was that we didn't see our role as political, but more as defenders of the faith. Naively, it never occurred to us that he might actually be elected President, or we might have been thinking in other ways.
The media also showed up for the event with cameras taking it all in. I didn’t pay much attention to them until after the doors for the rally were closed. Then the shut-out Trump supporters and protesters were left standing face to face. The two groups were headed toward one another, shouting and shaking their fists (among other things). Suddenly, they were only a few yards apart and about to collide. When we saw what was happening, a group of clergy (wearing collars) swiftly linked arms and formed a line blocking the two groups from one another. We spontaneously started singing “Jesus Loves You” and that was the end of the confrontation. It was amazing.
Here’s what I remember the most about that scene. When it looked like there was going to be mass violence, the cameras came swooping in. As soon as our clergy group intervened, they put their cameras down and walked away. There was no story there for them. (Or it was not the story they wanted to tell.)
That moment has been indelibly etched in my brain. For the TV cameras, there was no story in a group of Lutherans singing hymns to an angry crowd. There was no story in a group of collared clergy forming a barrier to violence. There was no story in the love of Jesus standing face to face with hatred. No story there.
At that moment I witnessed how the Jesus story is being stolen from the world I’m living in. It is stolen when the media decides that the narrative of hatred sells, and the narrative of love doesn’t. It is stolen when Christians twist the message of Jesus to fit their own hate-filled agenda. It is stolen whenever anyone rationalizes choosing hatred over love.
Lately, I’ve been watching my son post videos of the peaceful protests he has been participating in. I know those protests are happening all over the country, but we don’t see them on the news. The only protests we see are the ones that show violence. And people come to believe that’s the story. Although these violent incidents represent a tiny fraction of what is happening, you wouldn’t know that from watching TV and social media. There is a story that people aren’t seeing because that story is being stolen from us.
That leaves it to people who have a story worth telling, a story people need to hear, to do all we can to present the story that’s being stolen from us. For me, as an American, it’s a story of peace, persistence and patriotism. For me, as a Christian, it remains the story of Jesus, which is the only way through this shit-show we’re living in.
