Starting Fires

When faith sparks conflict

Sometimes faithfulness starts fires.

This is Part 2 of Living Faith, a four-part series about following Jesus with authenticity, compassion, and courage in everyday life.

After American B-2s bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, I sent out a pastoral note and a set of prayers to the people of the diocese I serve. One recipient scolded me for criticizing President Trump.

For the record, I didn’t criticize Trump. I didn’t comment on the wisdom or folly of that military action. My best guess is that this line sparked the reaction:

Let us remember that we follow one Lord. Neither a political party nor even a nation may rightfully claim our absolute allegiance. That belongs to Christ alone. And so, following his example and teaching, we offer prayer as the paradoxical weapon of grace and justice.

What disturbed this person, I suspect, wasn’t a political critique—it was my view of how Christians relate to the state.

The Church is not a department of government. Supporting the national interest is not our mission.

Photo by Anderson Rian on Unsplash

As I’ve said before, followers of Jesus are resident aliens in every nation. Our role is to bear witness to his teaching within the broader community. That’s likely to stir up what the late Congressman John Lewis called “good trouble.” Or, as Jesus himself put it:

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled... Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (Luke 12:49, 51)

In his classic Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr described five ways Christians relate to the wider world. My own outlook aligns most closely with what he called Christ and Culture in Paradox.

Here’s what that means: We human beings are amphibians. We dwell in two realms at once—the fallen world of temporal power and the eternal Kingdom of God. I borrow the phrase resident aliens from Hauerwas and Willimon to name this spiritual condition.

Imagine being an Israelite in Babylonian captivity. Jerusalem is your true home. Your allegiance belongs there. And yet you’re living in a strange land.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to exiles like you, offering this message from Yahweh:

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

But don’t confuse that welfare with wealth, dominance, or military power. True welfare springs from alignment with God’s justice.

Photo by Rafay Ansari on Unsplash

Here’s how Jeremiah puts it:

“Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3)

And Isaiah:

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17)

We are not called to create a Christian nation. Nor is the Body of Christ meant to be the arm of any state.

We are his hands and feet. We are his voice. Through us, Christ still serves and speaks on behalf of the powerless and the vulnerable.

And sometimes, that starts fires.

In Part 3, we’ll wrestle with the gap between what we say we believe and what our lives actually show.

Food for thought

“Before the truth sets you free, it tends to make you miserable.”—Richard Rohr, Falling Upward

“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”—Brene Brown, Daring Greatly

“Awe is the gateway to compassion. It is a deep awareness that we are creators, creators who work with the Creator, in an ongoing project of crafting a world. If we do not like the world or are afraid of it, we have had a hand in that. And if we made a mess, we can clean it up and do better. We are what we make.”—Diana Butler Bass, Grounded

Let’s get together…

I have enjoyed gathering with so many of you this year. It looks like 2025 is already booked. My colleague Holly Davis is now scheduling 2026. Shoot her an mail by pressing the button below.

Thanks for being here! I am so grateful for you. Be well and God bless.