When Lawrence Ware came to speak in chapel on Martin Luther King Day, he started his sermon with the message, “We gon’ be alright.” After a year full of mass shootings, riots, rallies and distrust, such a message was difficult to hear. Bitterness has spewed from pulpits, blogs, social media and even the Oval Office. Doubt and distrust seem to be waiting for graduating college seniors. Truth seems like mist for upcoming high school graduates.
But we’re gonna be alright.
Thousands sing the anthem of “fake news” across the nation and world. Some sing as a joke, some as an accusation, but all with some measure of concern. Journalism is under attack, and those in power seek to control knowledge and information. Interviewers and interviewees use doublespeak, dancing in a passive aggressive waltz around what they really mean. Sources of informational claims have no foundation. Arguments dissolve into personality struggles and referenced statistics that may or may not exist.
But we’re gonna be alright.
Washington D.C. is suffering. The government shut down and reopened because of partisan fighting and disagreements over definitions of right and wrong. Christians in government thump Bibles and expect the world to understand the music of the book they hold. We’re tearing each other to shreds in secret, afraid to tell the truth because of libel lawsuits and confidentiality contracts. Tyrants topple only when faced with a flood of voices and the whip of economic blacklists.
But we’re gonna be alright.
The world bites its nails as Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump hold a flame war. Meanwhile, people are starving in Venezuela and Syria’s war is ongoing, the conflict and crisis nearly forgotten by the public. Unrest in Libya, Turkey and Iraq pushes borders and slaughters men and women. All this occurs while those in the United States can’t decide the best path for reconciliation, and the statement “black lives matter,” makes blood boil as if every human being didn’t bear God’s image, as though the Christ didn’t die for all.
But we’re gonna be alright.
Why?
Because while nobody can decide what truth is, the Church has determined the Truth. While the world can’t figure out the meaning of the words true, right, and good, we’ve already made that decision. While the United States is worried about what their forebears will think of them, we’ve already given up that luxury for the sake of doing what’s best. We’re gonna be alright because there is a Truth, and It’s on our side.
We the Threefold Advocate stand ready for that Truth. We’ll tell it as best we can and tell it straight. We aren’t an answer; that’s not our delusion. We are instead Advocates for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, fighting to reclaim truth in a world that’s forgotten it amidst petty disputes and errant hearts. We the Threefold Advocate see a beauty that is beyond this world and we call you to look with us. Let’s tie one another together under a single cruciform flag and raise it above every nation and ideology.
We the Threefold Advocate are your brothers and sisters, and stand ready with you to carry this message of hope and Truth even unto death. The Lord, standing ready at the forefront, is a bright and shining star whose light and love will break every barrier between us so that we may stand with Him in His holy kingdom.
So we’re gonna be alright.