Praying for Terrible White Christians to Get Tired

As someone who grew up in the Church and who spent three decades ministering within it, there’s something particularly distressing about the expansive hellscape we’re all stuck in right now: it’s all because of white, professed Christians who are committed to being terrible.They’re the ones persecuting trans people for existing,the ones working incessantly to deny people the right to vote,the ones attempting to take body autonomy away from women,the ones trying to purge America of immigrants,the ones attacking birthright citizenship,the ones warring against our public schools,the ones cheering the brutality of ICE,the ones celebrating wars and genocides.Every day, I look at these people, and I wonder, Don’t they ever get tired?Doesn’t it wear them out to spend so much time and energy monitoring the genders, orientations, bodies, families, and relationships of people they’ve never met? How does it never get old: always being that deeply entrenched in someone else’s business?”Honestly, it’s a miracle more white Evangelicals don’t pass out from sheer exhaustion. It’s incredibly taxing work, policing the world instead of, ya know, loving it.America seems grossly overpopulated with Christians determined to bully others into compliance, shout them into silence, or eliminate them from their midst. It’s all so wasteful, so mean-spirited, and so antithetical to the teachings of Jesus (not to mention fully draining for them and their targets).It’s really hard to pray for these people, as they seem to revel so in their cruelty, finding perverse joy in excluding others in the name of a supposed God of love.But I do pray for them to get tired.I pray that they get tired of the malicious religion that is hardening their hearts and squandering their days. I sincerely believe it would alter both them and the planet in ways they’d never imagine:If Conservative Christians finally got tired of persecuting queer people, they’d realize how fruitless their aggression has been, how much damage it’s done, how unlike Jesus it’s been. They’d see people whose only agenda is to live and work and love and worship, and to spend the fleeting days of this life doing something that gives them joy. They’d see people no different from themselves.If Conservative Christians finally got tired of condemning the world, they’d be able to see it differently. If everyone around them was viewed through a lens of compassion and not damnation, they’d recognize how fragile and precious the humanity around them is, and discover how connected they are to it. They’d cast off the exhausting burden of viewing everyone as a threat and begin to recognize everyone as the neighbor they are called to love as themselves.If Conservative Christians finally got tired of worshiping America, they’d find that every place is holy ground: Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, Mexico, and every inch of this planet. They’d stop needing to fortify themselves, wall themselves off, dig in their heels, and defend God, because they’d realize they don’t own God to begin with. They’d realize that making America great was never the assignment; it was blessing the world.If Conservative Christians finally got tired of a faith characterized by fear, they’d hunger for a faith marked by love. They would become deeply burdened to care for their neighbors, even the ones who do not look, love, or worship the way they do. They’d stop seeing diversity as a menace and recognize it as the greatest gift we’ve been given: the beautiful difference of humanity.If Conservative Christians finally got tired of being terrible in the name of Jesus, they’d be able to accurately reflect him; bring his mercy, empathy, and kindness to the places where such things are not plentiful. They’d be able to see every other as themselves, to see no distinction between them and their neighbor, and to recognize the image of God in every face they encounter.I hope that more white Christians will be able to find a more life-giving, hope-bringing expression of their faith convictions, for their sake and the sake of those who simply want to live today unfettered by anyone else.Life is difficult. People are doing the best they can.I pray that more Conservative Christians get tired of being terrible so that they’ll have more time to be loving.The world needs less terrible. It needs more loving.This should be what people of faith are here to bring.The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnpavlovitz.substack.com/subscribe