This Little Light of Mine

Protecting our Christian witness in an anxious age

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

I woke up at 3 am yesterday morning, and for a few blessed seconds, I forgot I went to bed wondering which presidential candidate would be declared victor, but wasn't long before I remembered. I don't know if it was the Holy Spirit or whether it was an intuition, but in my mind's eye, I saw Trump standing in front of me with that smirk for which he is both loved and loathed. I thought, "I should stay off the internet," knowing if I got on I wouldn't be able to sleep. But as 3 am turned to 3:10, then 3:15 while I turned over and over again in bed, it became clear I wasn't going to be asleep anyway. For better or worse, I checked the results. They stood at 267 for Trump and 224 for Harris. At 4:01 am, the results were the same, and the states which still need to be counted were shaded red, meaning they leaned toward Trump.

At 5:05, as I was writing the first draft for this post, I clicked back onto Google and saw that Trump had 277 votes, going beyond the necessary 270 to win. My readers won’t be surprised to hear that I’m not thrilled. As I write, I’m not really thinking about today, I’m thinking about tomorrow, and next week, and the next four years. I’m thinking not mostly about what Trump will do but about how I will live as a disciple of Jesus for the next four years.

Where we stand

It’s going to be a struggle over the next several weeks and months to act peaceably with our neighbors, especially our Christian neighbors who voted in the opposite direction than we did. Yet, as I wrote a couple weeks ago, it’s imperative that we, as Christians, do our part to contribute to the harmony and shalom of the world around us. This does not mean we cannot have hard conversations and ask hard questions of people and their voting choices. This does not mean we cannot critique and criticize the powers that be, in fact, it is part of our prophetic witness as Christians to speak truth to power. This will be easy for those who did not vote for Trump, but it is essential for those who did. What it does mean is that we are never exempt from being a good neighbor to those around us in the spirit of Jesus. As we look at the days ahead, we must ask ourselves if we want to be above all disciples of Jesus or citizens of an earthly city.

I need to be honest and say that Trump’s rhetoric concerns me. What concerns me more is the way it has bolstered racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and bigotry of all kinds. Something about his speech and presence has emboldened people like this to come very publicly into the open, with barely a peep from Trump. Christian Nationalists like Joel Webbon, William Wolfe, and Stephen Wolfe (author of The Case for Christian Nationalism) are advocating for things like kinism,¹ taking away women’s right to vote, and the death penalty for “homosexuals” and women who lie about sexual abuse. These and others like them are all Trump supporters and many of them have had a major influence on JD Vance.

Trump might be good for the economy, but I don’t think he will be good for much else, especially the well-being of the nation. He will be bad for the land and the environment. His promised tariff policies will harm consumers in the US. He will likely be a full supporter of Israel’s genocidal policies against Palestinians. In light of all this, it’s as important as ever that Christians dive headlong into the teachings of Jesus and allow themselves to be formed by the words there.

I’m struggling to write because I want to vent. I know good Christian people who voted for Trump, and I think, “How?” I also know that many of them look at me, a Christian, and think “How?” when they hear I voted for Harris. If anything, this should remind us that the teachings of Jesus and the kingdom of God are bigger and higher than the kingdoms of the world. The world that we struggle for is one that is redeemed by Jesus Christ and goes along the grain of his life, and we catch glimpses of it at work when we read the Gospels. It’s that life to which Jesus has called us, and it is a life of patience and humility, like a mustard seed that dies and goes into the ground.

And Now What?

With the rise of Christian Nationalism in its worst forms, I feel the call of the Holy Spirit to commit to walking the good way of Jesus. This call would also be present with us if CN was still brewing under the surface or if Harris had won the presidency. I want to be really clear, this is not about conservatives. Would I have felt as bad if Harris had won? I don’t think so, but I think at best, I would have felt relieved. If she had won, we would still have, at least, the issues of Israel’s war on Gaza and her unconscionable stances on abortion before us, as well as the reality that Democrats can be swift to talk about climate action and slow to implement. The challenge that lies before us, the call that is always before us, is to submit ourselves in loving obedience to the way of Jesus.

If we have a struggle against Christian Nationalism or any other ideology, we are not meant to defeat our opponents through violence or argument. Rather, we are called to act in the world from a place of rest. We begin in the Sabbath that is Jesus Christ. We are not called to change the minds of the Christian Nationalists, Republicans, Democrats, or anyone else for that matter. We are called to witness to Jesus Christ by testifying of his goodness in our lives and by doing the good works of Jesus’ teachings “so that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

That work doesn’t begin or end in the polls. It begins in our homes, neighborhoods, jobs, cities, and churches. When Jesus was questioned about who the “neighbor” is in the commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus saw through the Torah expert’s crafty ploy to avoid responsibility. Was it his kin, his literal neighbor, all Jews? Jesus blew up the question by responding, essentially, that the expert had it entirely backwards. We weren’t meant to figure out who the neighbor was, but instead, like the good Samaritan, we were meant to be the neighbor who would take care of even our enemies.

Today, Jesus is calling his disciples to be good neighbors. Our love, and the way we embody God's love must guide our treatment of one another. This need not be a flimsy, don’t rock the boat “love” that’s only agreeable and never bold. The way of Jesus is hard work. It takes strength and courage to look at your enemy and bless them, to turn the other cheek, to hold all one’s possessions with an open hand, and to seek the good of others before one’s own good. That is the strength that disarms the powers and defeats principalities, and that is the strength that took Jesus to the cross.

Concluding Remarks

When I first started working on this post, around five this morning, I kept writing and deleting. Writing and rewriting. Deleting and starting over. I wanted to rant, I wanted to bemoan the election, and I am in my own ways over here, but I also wanted to do more than that. After every election, I remember why I didn’t think I should vote in the first place. This is not the kingdom of God. These politicians do not care about the kingdom of God. They will not seek the kingdom of God. Every post-election season is a good time for us to remember that seeking the kingdom is our job, and before anything else, that means living the Sermon on the Mount.

I don’t know what lies in the days ahead, but what I do know is that we are never off the hook from following the way of Jesus. I have a hard time imagining much good coming from the next four years of another Trump presidency, and for any “good” policy that is put in place—let’s say the economy actually does get better—I can’t help but ask the question, “At what cost?” At the cost of our well-being? At the cost of the land and climate? At the cost of our witness? There’s always a lot at stake, but for the next four years, the pressure will be on for Christians, left and right. The only thing we can do is continue to walk the way of Jesus exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount.

For the Democrats and left-leaning among us, there’s a lot of work and struggle in front of us. For me, the issues of land and climate way quite heavily on me, as well as border and immigration issues. Still, the voice of Jesus calls me to discipleship. He calls us to the side of the immigrant, to responsible relationship with the land, to continue to speak truth to power. We will be challenged again and again to remember that we are to pray for our political opponents, not act or react in anger. Retaliation is not given to us. Our call is still to act for the sake of others.

For the Republicans, I would ask that you consider the kind of hate that blooms under Trump’s influence, and ask yourself why that happens. I’m assuming any Republican or conservative reading my Substack is not from the far-right extremes like I mentioned above. I know that many of you voted this way because of the economy. I am asking you, when the extremists act out, to speak up and denounce them, to defend those they rage against, and to remind them their ideologies are evil. I’m asking you to remember that these people call themselves Christians, and thereby blaspheme the name of Jesus.

Days like this feel more intense, scarier, and unmoored, but the reality is that this is the reality of the world between the times we’re shaken awake by national or world events. The principalities and powers that rule, no matter the political face they wear, are always at work to steal, kill, and destroy God’s good world and God’s beloved humanity, but that’s why Jesus leaves us in the world instead of taking us out. We are the salt and light, and days like these are reminders of that. Power will always want more power, and Jesus’ word to us remains, “It shall not be so among you. Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26).

A friend texted me yesterday saying, “I just want to hide under a rock.” I had nothing to say, but immediately the Holy Spirit came to me and said, “You are the Rock that is higher than I.” So I sent that message to him, also saying, “It’s okay. Hide under the Rock.” I don’t know many people in my circles who actually feel good about Trump’s victory, and I know a lot of people who are discouraged and distraught by it, including myself. Here, at the end, asking you to remember our call, I also remind you that there is a Rock from which all sustenance and comfort flows, a Rock to whom we cling, and say to you, “It’s okay. Hide under the Rock.”

1. Kinism is the “Reformed” belief that God created different races and wants them to be separate in all areas of life, including marriage, church, work, etc. Read more about it here.