If you are a fire-baptized, Holy Ghost-filled disciple whose deepest allegiance is to Jesus Christ, then we need to talk as adopted brothers and sisters of every tribe, tongue, nation, race, language and ethnicity, who strive to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
The topic I want to cover is godliness.
I wish I weren’t, as the saying goes, “well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” But I am. And I suspect you are, too. Disappointment and anger have become fast friends, like strangers at the barber shop who quickly bond over the Jordan-versus-LeBron debate.
At times, I am shaken by the depravity on display — most notably what is prominent within me (1 Timothy 1:15). To believe otherwise is not only inaccurate, but arrogant. My own duffel bag of sin trips me up all the time.
James Ellis III
We are, all of us, a mixed-up, dastardly group of contrarians. Rather than trying to hide from God, I just want a one-way ticket to somewhere far, far away — some land over the rainbow where I don’t have to deal with people. A place where vitriol, entitlement, pride, prejudice and violence are forbidden.
But that’s just me wanting to avoid being my brother’s and sister’s keeper. And I suspect that’s partly why God sometimes wrecks my plans and forces me to lie down — so I will relearn to prefer him and what is right over what simply feels right, familiar or easy. I regularly ask God for forgiveness for the sins of omission and commission, and I beg him to create in me a pure heart. What about you?
I’ve noticed a pattern concerning godliness. We tolerate classless, damaging commentary, so long as it’s directed at those we disagree with. We overlook how labeling people as irredeemable villains or heralding them as messianic idols never correctly highlights the narrow path. “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:35).
Too often, what we choose to boldly “say with our chest,” whether in person or behind a keyboard, reflects a godlike complex, not meek submission to the Lord. But as the Haitian rapper Fridayy says, “We done came way too far.” We have no business condoning this appalling behavior, let alone claiming that Jesus has co-signed it.
“Sadly, we are amplifying the voices of the unhinged — who can be found in every theological group.”
So, whatever theological tribe you hold membership in, I ask: How long do you think we can justify rejecting the posture of being “broken and contrite” (Psalm 51:17)? Every Christian is called to speak and live in ways that defy the impulses of the human heart. Sadly, we are amplifying the voices of the unhinged — who, make no mistake, can be found in every theological group.
We are standardizing selective holiness, granting sainthood to those who look, speak or think like us. That is not godliness, however. It’s country club partiality, a kind of sociocultural nepotism. And it’s making Christians look like they are in cahoots with Satan. Going against the grain for the sake of the gospel — ringing the alarm, so to speak — is one thing. But hate and holiness repel each other.
Take the recent killing of Charlie Kirk. Some — though not all — who claim godliness as their own have essentially said, “He had it coming.” Others have framed it as a prophetic fulfillment of Scripture: “You reap what you sow,” or “Those who live by the sword die by the sword.”
When we view someone’s murder as merely a natural consequence of chickens coming home to roost — because they lawfully and peacefully exercised their right to free speech, even if their speech was egregious to us — we reveal our own deep moral decay. Kirk’s death was the innocent loss of life, not an act of pre-emptive self-defense. I double-dog dare anyone to “make it make sense.”
Many of us are drunk on what James Weldon Johnson’s convicting anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” refers to as “the wine of the world,” and we would be better off if we had the guts to confess that. Whether it’s the bombing of abortion clinics; shooting up schools, churches or supermarkets; or the incitement of insurrection or anarchy — from the left, the right and everywhere in-between — these acts only confirm the bad logic, indecency and debasement that is now trending, often by those called to be in the world without being of it (John 17:13-19).
“To categorically disagree with someone without unleashing your own worst behavior is a basic act of godliness.”
To categorically disagree with someone without unleashing your own worst behavior is, one might say, a basic act of godliness. Christian African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement demonstrated this through nonviolence and systemic dissent — resisting without losing their souls.
One way to understand godliness is as “accurate devotion.” Many people — across the spectrum of assorted convictions and sojourns — are passionate about their faith. However, the way they live it out is formed by a severely distorted view of God and Scripture. So, yes, they may be committed, but their comprehension of those commitments is full of holes.
I don’t enjoy living in a country where the commander-in-chief — President Trump, in this case — stands at Charlie Kirk’s funeral and declares, “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.” But it falls in line with who he continues showing up as in the world — which grieves me, especially since he professes to be a Christian.
At the same time, I was disheartened by something Howard-John Wesley said in his Sept. 14 sermon at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va. While I recognize some of what we preach as pastors can be misunderstood by those who weren’t there, I respectfully disagree with his reflection on Kirk’s demise, when he declared, “How you die does not redeem how you lived.”
According to Jesus in Matthew 7:2: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” I find that sobering in the best of ways. I am not the gatekeeper of heaven or hell. The Hebrews 11 “roll call of faith” includes some unsavory individuals — or minimally some people who made a host of unsavory choices. Just like us.
God has been too good and brought us too far for us to continue acting like we have no home training or ability to wrestle, as a spiritual family, with the real tensions of how to remain unified without agreeing on everything.
I strongly disagree with Christians and non-Christians on a wide range of issues, but I want no part of silencing — literally or figuratively — those with whom I may never fully see eye-to-eye.
I pray the Spirit of the living God will start revival in your heart and mine before it spreads anywhere else. May we proclaim the unmatched, transforming exclusivity of Jesus Christ — who was, and is, and is to come — our only hope in life and in death.
James Ellis III is an ordained Baptist pastor and assistant professor of practical theology at Winebrenner Theological Seminary. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Theological Seminary, alongside master’s degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, and a bachelor’s degree in African-American studies from the University of Maryland. His latest book is Dysfunction in the Name of Jesus: Confronting the Idol of Pastoral Workaholism. In Those Days as Today: Preaching through the Book of Judges by Wipf and Stock is to be released next. Learn more at his website.
Related articles:
A call to Christian discernment: Faith, politics and divine protection
Ungodly? That all depends upon what God you serve