I write this post with both sadness and anger and I pray that it is not an unrighteous or sinful anger. Church of the USA, we are divided. Once again we can’t seem to agree on what it means to love one another, to treat others as we would want to be treated, to be peacemakers, or to abhor what is evil and to cling to what is good. The thing is, Jesus leaves no room for cruelty in following him. Too many times this month I have seen people using Romans 13 as a way to silence protests against cruelty. The worst part is that they use it against Christians who support protests using the words of Jesus to justify the protesting. My go to verse has been the same as many people these days. Matthew 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ He included people in prison as those who were the least of these. People in prison are those who do illegal things. He didn’t specify crimes committed or laws broken, but he made sure to let us know that we should treat them with kindness.

Final thoughts, Church, please do not use Romans 13 to justify staying silent against injustice. That verse has been used to justify not speaking up against cruelty for far too long. This goes for both the government of whatever land you live in or whatever church you attend. Talk to your pastors and elders and priests if you see or hear them condoning cruelty towards anyone and if they won’t listen to you, take another witness with you. If they won’t listen, bring them before the congregation. (Matthew 18:15-20; Galatians 6:1) We are being watched on a very large global stage and should be representing Christ, not our government.