tear it down and start again.

• Sometimes we just have to start over. 

So many times in the past few weeks, as I've been listening and watching and grieving along with many in our country, I have been reminded of God's promises throughout scripture. Of course it's fun to remember His promises of protection and love and grace. All good things. 

But if you are Jewish or Christian, you also know He promises to remove anything that is, for lack of better words, making you a complete asshole. Eloquent, I know. 

Adam and Eve screwed up a very simple rule, so he took away paradise. 

And then people just kept being jerks so he flooded the earth and Noah was the one cool guy who wasn't being an asshole so he and his family got saved via listening to God and building a freakin boat in the middle of the desert. Sure it may just be made up, but it's a pretty rad story. He was seen as completely insane, but in the end the crazy guy comes out on top. This is the beginning of the "upside down" Kingdom that God tries to drill through our thick skulls on a daily basis- that He is here for the crazy people. He doesn't want the nice, tidy, silent, unifying, peaceful voices. He wants the ones who are gonna stir stuff up. Make us think. Make us wonder. Make us reflect on what we know to be true. God wants our hearts because He can make all things new. 

Let's see... What else do we have to tear down in order to save? Well if you're religious or know anything about Jesus, you know that he came to seriously stir the pot. He wanted people to be done with the law. He came to abolish it. To establish a new way of life based on grace and mercy. He didn't want people to have to earn God's love or favor. Out with that crap. 

Jesus has this fantastic reputation for being blonde (wrong) and peaceful (wrong again). All you have to do is read the gospels to see that He made so many people mad. He was HATED by many. Obviously- they killed him. In Mark 3, Jesus was angry with the Pharisees for their hardness of heart towards someone who needed to be healed. Did you read that? He was angry. Pissed off. Mad. These people placed the law above someone's life. And many of us know the story about how he saw some crap going down in the temple. Did he calmly ask people to stop? Nope. He flipped those tables right over and let everyone know how disappointed he was. It's almost like He knew that this might be the only way to get the people's attention. Sound familiar? 

What are some modern day examples of having to dismantle what we know in order to save it? Marriage is one example that comes to mind. Couples have the potential for a ton of problems. Sometimes the marriage fails- there is simply no way to save it. But sometimes it can be saved. And often, if that is the case, this requires a separation. A tearing apart and starting over. Reassembly. deconstruct what wasn't working and start anew. Let's see... and a computer. What do we do when it isn't working? We shut it down and restart it. Reboot. Start over. 

In American today there is a great divide. But there shouldn't be. We should all be angry, grieving, amd lamenting over what we have done collectively. Any White church that claims to preach the Gospel of Jesus should be absolutely devastated by the sins of our country and the awakening of many White people (finally) around them. My friend Adrianne posted on facebook a video from a pastor. He said "You can't ignore the sorrow and lament of 12-13 million image bearers in our country. You can't do that. We mourn with those who mourn..." 

The first step here is to realize that we are being given a gift. The gift of starting over and trying to make a better place for Black people in this country. So when we call for defunding police, they aren't saying completely do away with police. They are saying that what we have now isn't working. Tear it down and rebuild it to protect lives. To save those the system is hurting most. Stop. Separate. Restart. With a different lens, a different set of ideals, and different goals in mind. It can be done. It needs to be done. This is our moment of reckoning. And as a Christian I believe God is working mightily in our communities to violently, yes violently, tear down what is hurting his Black children. For those in positions of power, He is breaking hearts for what breaks His. He is going to make all things new but he is going to use us to do it. 

When I worked in the ER I would have to do some really painful things to people in order to ultimately help them heal. But as I was stabbing them with a needle or resetting a bone, they trusted me. The patient trusted that the nurse and doctor have a final goal and that was to heal them, and there was no way around the pain. The pain had to come in order for the recovery to begin. 

Stop trying to avoid the pain. Admit the truth- or learn the truth, if that's what is needed. Our country was not founded to serve people equally. It was stolen from original people and then it was built on the backs of Black people who were taken and used as slaves. Many of us have benefited royally from that stolen labor. Black people have continuously and brilliantly overcome what this country has done to them- proving their absolute resilience over and over again, despite white people refusing to see what we have done. It's finally time, white people. Own what we have done. Tear it down, Feel the pain it may stir up in your heart. Face it. Sit with it. And then help build a new, better place for everyone. Jesus is here for that.