We need people who can hold two very different polarities simultaneously right now. A deep abiding joy-peace-shalom AND a radical commitment to living love, pursuing justice, and participating with God’s reconciliation of all, right there in the chaos and brokenness.  

In this current situation, with all its chaos, confusion, and angst, we need salt and light. We need the presence and influence of Christ embodied in God’s Church (you and me). We need a certain kind of Christian in the muck and mess of our world. In fact, it will take this kind of Christian in order to sustain faithful living in our current situation.  

AND Christians.

Disciples of Jesus who can remain centered in Christ, internally at peace, regardless of the chaos and brokenness around them AND disciples of Jesus who join God’s mission to renew, reconcile, redeem, and restore God’s good creation (including humankind of course).  

Here’s what I mean. Experiencing and maintaining the joy-peace-shalom of Christ in us during extreme circumstances is challenging, to say the least. Living in this culture, wherein it seems that chaos, lying, selfishness, and willful neglect of others is culturally sanctioned and affirmed….the joy of the Lord can seem like a fairy tale. We need to work for change and progress for sure.  

At the same time though, if we allow these circumstances to steal our joy-peace-shalom, then there are three life-draining states awaiting us:

1. Overwhelming and debilitating anger, along with his cousins rage, bitterness, and resentment.  
2. Exhaustion, draining our spirits and parching our souls.
3. Hopelessness, growing discouraged and apathetic, seeing no way forward.

Instead, we need Christians who are connected to the renewable and sustainable energy of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need Christ-followers who center down, going deep. We need Christians who can eliminate the distractions, tuning into the Spirit, receiving the life-giving grace and love available to all who will ask. As a result, these Christians experience a kind of joy-peace-shalom that’s beyond our comprehension. Certainly they remain aware of the brokenness, yet they are not controlled by it. These Christians are so centered in Christ that the peace of Christ, surpassing all understanding, guards their hearts and minds even while working and living in chaotic environments. And as you know, living with joy-peace-shalom in the chaos is itself a form of resistance to the powers and principalities who benefit from and promote brokenness.

AND Christians.

And they are working for the Commonwealth of Christ to come more fully on earth, as it is in heaven. These Christians are right there with others, should to shoulder, serving in God’s vineyard. They have dirt on their faces, sweaty shirts, and muddy shoes. They recognize the call to be salt and light, living into a better way than the vitriolic accusatory culture around them. They are able to confront injustice in its various forms, while offering bridges of reconciliation with those who will engage in fruitful ways. These are no wall flower, standby type Christians…caught up in the restorative mission of God instead.  

If we don’t go there, if we build ivory towers or walls around our cathedrals, we won’t join God’s mission to reconcile this world, with these three life-draining states awaiting us:

1. Isolation, constantly living in retreat mode, disengaging from the great needs around us.
2. Willful neglect, ignoring the plight of our neighbors while offering our sacrifices of worship at the altar on our safe church campuses.
3. Selfishness, using self as the reference point for all our decisions, creating indifference toward our neighbors.

AND Christians.

We need them now, Christ-followers who can hold both polarities simultaneously. Christianity-as-we-have-known-it during more tame times won’t likely meet the need. Nothing less than a very radical, intentional, proactive, fierce kind of love will even begin to address the toxic level of hate, division, and selfishness now. At the very same time, we must center ourselves in Christ, receiving the joy-peace-shalom found in Christ, allowing this to permeate our beings. Those who are “in Christ,” as Apostle Paul would say, are far less likely to dry up and blow away in the current atmosphere.  

AND Christians.

Following the Lord of Love into the mud, joining the Holy Spirit in pushing and pulling this human family toward healing and renewal – AND – remaining joyful, peaceful, and shalom-filled as we go. Like Sojourner Truth, that most excellent abolitionist during and after the Civil War said, “If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.”

Yes, I know, this is no small thing, requiring power beyond ourselves (Holy Spirit). Yet I believe this may be our mission, should we choose to accept it, here in this current situation. Through the radical love expressed through Jesus Christ our Lord, let's go friends, let's go.

AND Christians we are.

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This article was written by Mark Tidsworth and was originally published on the Pinnacle Leadership blog. Used with permission.