People, Paul and Politics.

Months before I stood in line to vote for the 45th president of the United States I had to choose the candidate for which I would vote. Long before the time to vote ever came, I had to choose whether I would more highly value people or political parties. For me, the decision was easy.

Weeks after the news media roared in celebration of and agony over the 45th president-elect, I was sitting at a 24-hour bakery in Charlotte with two of my dearest friends when a similar question stirred my soul. I asked my friends why we, as American Christians, generally believe our lives to be of more value than the lives of people born outside of this country. Regret echoed throughout our hearts as we dove deeper into the gospel together, an attempt to further understand selfless love.

Then today, mere days after the new president was sworn in, a post in my Twitter feed struck a nerve with me. Verbatim it read, "If you think fertilized eggs are people but refugee kids aren't, you're going to have to stop pretending your concerns are religious." And Christians, it is vital we take this perspective into consideration and begin readjusting our private and public postures immediately.

This single tweet holds a mirror to our Sunday Morning faces and demands we remove our mask. In doing so we will reveal either a heart blossoming with love or hardening in hate; and folks, when it comes to people, our hearts simply cannot harbor both hatred and love. Our souls have been awakened by a river of healing water rushing in and reviving our roots, allowing the fruits of love and peace and kindness and gentleness to grow from our once fragile branches. However, instead of rushing with our abundance of seeds into desolate places and encouraging growth, or inviting weary, unique flowers to grow with us alongside the well that never will run dry, we have decided to whack people out of our "perfectly white American garden" like deadly weeds. All the while we have missed that God knit the Muslims and Hindus and Christians equally in their wombs, and He knows how many hairs are on each of our heads whether blond or blue, and Jesus died for the refugees too. So let us not think for even one single measly moment that our lives are to any degree more valuable than the lives of those oppressed.

To some, the following idea may seem overtly radical. To many, it will ring louder and surer than church bells on a Sunday morning in the South. If anyone is to be fearless in the face of danger and even death, it should be a Christian. It should be the Church. I am so sorry to tell you this, but in choosing to follow Christ you also chose to surrender your vain grasp for control and complacency. As Christ follower,s we pick up the cross and share in its load day after day with the hope of glory lighting our way through the darkness of this world. We have no authority to tell the Creator of heaven and earth and all people who we refuse to love. Refusing to love is not an option, but somehow we as a whole have conveyed a message to the world beyond our church pews that we hold the power and knowledge to decide which people groups are worth some risk and which don't deserve a chance, who is safe and who is not. The time has come for us to refute such false notions and extend our arms in love to the fearful and hungry and oppressed; in fact, it has always been time.

Let us not in our minds belittle the fact that the King who redeemed Saul and made him Paul is the same God who is well alive and working in our lives and the world today! God took the stone heart of an angry, murderous Saul, and from stone turned to soft clay molded a missionary and apostle renamed Paul. We are afraid of terrorists for we are not confident the Kingdom will prevail. Were we to sit down with ourselves and decide to truly believe in the power of Christ's love to cast out unhealthy fears, surely we will find our eyes opened wide enough to see that people are not our enemy, the Devil is. Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy, not innocent, five year old children with beautifully tinted skin and bright eyes despite experiencing more trauma than most of us could ever imagine and their families. And it is not your choice, Church, but your humble obligation to join me in speaking up for the voiceless; casting political agendas aside and placing people first.